2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments

[acharya]

<b>The BJP and the cynical plot</b>

Neena Vyas

In one stroke, the party degraded the Prime Ministerial position as well as the office of President.

The disclosure by the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Jaswant Singh, on Saturday that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was ready to offer the prime ministership of the country to “any candidate of the United National Progressive Alliance’s choice” in the summer of last year has surely come as a shock to all who care about upholding constitutional values.

It now seems there was more to this cynical plot to destabilise a government legitimately elected and sworn in to office in May 2004. It was not a well-kept secret that the BJP and its NDA partners were simply not ready to accept the defeat at the hustings, certain in their belief that their high-decibel India Shining campaign was bringing them back to office. From day one of the new government various plots were hatched.

Immediately after the results were out some senior BJP leaders declared that they would shave off their heads and eat “only chanas [gram]” if Congress president Sonia Gandhi were to become prime minister. It was an open threat to the Constitution for there was no legal way for them to stop her from assuming that office. In the event, however, Ms Gandhi herself showed reluctance to assume the prime minister’s office and Manmohan Singh became the United Progressive Alliance’s choice for the top job.

There were other strategies the BJP adopted, among them stalling Parliament on the flimsiest of excuses and threatening to initiate proceedings to remove the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, charging him with political bias.

Then came the presidential election. Initially, the BJP said it would like the then President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to get a second term in office. When the Congress showed its determination not to disturb a precedent set after the first President of India Rajendra Prasad got a second term in office and no other president was accommodated in this manner, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, then Vice-President, jumped into the contest knowing very well that the NDA simply did not have the strength to get him elected. A most vicious campaign followed with a senior BJP leader who was a minister in the Vajpayee government issuing a booklet making all kinds of charges against Pratibha Patil (who was elected President in July 2007).

It was during the run-up to this election that a powerful faction within the BJP — it was this faction that was most active in maligning Ms Patil — came up with a plan to somehow get Mr. Shekhawat elected and then topple the Manmohan Singh government.

On Saturday, no one less than Mr. Jaswant Singh, in the presence of the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, admitted to the plot. Mr. Singh said that he had been “authorised and deputed” by the BJP-backed NDA “to meet leaders of the UNPA.” He further clarified that he met AIADMK leader J. Jayalalithaa at Maurya Sheraton Hotel in Delhi and conveyed to her that if the UNPA were to commit its votes for Mr. Shekhawat, the NDA would back for the prime minister’s post “any candidate of the UNPA’s choice.” He further added that he also met other UNPA leaders individually.

It was clear to all that the “offer” in fact amounted to an offer to Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh as his was the only constituent of the UNPA with a double-digit presence in the Lok Sabha.

Mr. Jaswant Singh’s startling disclosure, it seems, was less than voluntary. For a couple of days before this the BJP had been denying a statement attributed to SP leader Amar Singh that the BJP had offered prime ministership to his party president Mulayam Singh. BJP’s spokespersons had cleared with Jaswant Singh before they went to the press to describe Mr. Amar Singh’s charge as a “figment of his wild imagination.” So, why did Mr. Jaswant Singh choose to come clean a couple of days later?

There are reports coming from political circles that Mr. Amar Singh let it be known to Mr. Jaswant Singh that if he did not own up in public what he had indeed offered in June-July 2007, he would release to the press evidence of that meeting and that offer. Some BJP leaders told The Hindu that this was a possibility since Mr. Amar Singh had a passion for “tapes.”

Top sources in the BJP pointed out there were voices within the party during that presidential contest warning that the anti-Pratibha Patil tirade was being taken too far. But there were others who felt this was the right time to bring down the government. A senior BJP leader confessed in private that the view was Mr. Shekhawat would win the contest and become President. Dr. Manmohan Singh would either resign or the Opposition would make sufficient noise to prevent the government from functioning. With Mr. Shekhawat in Rashtrapati Bhawan things could be managed in a way that would ensure the UPA term was cut short. The UNPA would then claim to form the next government with the full backing of the BJP-led NDA.

This also brings to mind the episode in 1996 when a Vajpayee government first took office. Both Mr. Vajpayee and L.K. Advani had issued a joint appeal asking anyone, including Congressmen, to join the new government. It was an open call to defection. However, this government was not able to get even one independent MP and it lasted just 13 days.

The cynicism with which some BJP leaders are admitting to all this is quite scary. Not many in the party are able to see that what Mr. Jaswant Singh did that day was offer the Prime Minister’s Office as a bribe in return for the favour of votes in a presidential election. In one stroke, the BJP had degraded, as it has never been done before, both the Prime Ministerial position as well as the office of President of India.