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MATTERS AROUND US

Vajpayee and Regional Allies

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury
***The regional allies are asking the BJP to exert its influence on its party government in Gujrat to cancel the permission to the government officials to join the RSS, but so far the issue has not been resolved. Some influential BJP ministers at the Centre are not in favour of annulling this move.***
THE multi-party coalition government of Prime Minister Atal Biharl Vajpayee in India is facing threats from the regional allies whose support to the hardly less than five-month-old government is essential to keep the combine remain in power. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is otherwise in a firm footing with a clear majority in the Loksaba. But a variety of issues are putting pressure on the main constituent of the government - the Bharitiya Janata Party (BJP) which may eventually snowball into serious ruptures to threat the ruling coalition.
Two issues are at the foremost which are being considered as the potentially divisive subjects to damage the unity in the 16-party rainbow coalition that swept to power in the last September/October general elections. The coalition, in fact, returned to power because it served as an interim government during the interregnum of the fall of the previous government and the fresh pons that were necessitated by unexpected collapse of the same multi-party ruling authority led by Mr. Vajpayee. The combine had. however, gone, through some changes as some parties like the AIADMK of the southern Tamil Nadu state led by Ms. Jayalalitha deserted it while new partners like the Janata Dal (United) joined it before the elections. The combine with some new allies did better this than the last time when it had Just managed to form the government but it collapsed when one single
party. A1ADMAK. pulled out of the government.
Last balloting gave the coalition a wider majority and ii appears that the government will be able to rule for a longer period without facing the instability unless some of its crucial partners fall apart causing unlikely problems for the sunaval of the government. The two issues that may create divisions within the ruling circles are the differences between the main partner of the noveriunent BJP and et least live regional parties on the issue of the government allowing the civil servants in the western Gujrat state to join RSS.
Gujrat is ruled by the BJP and the fact that the government there has allowed the government servants to join the RSS organisation has caused a furore in the Indian political scene with ihe opposition Congress, leftists and others severely criticising the move. They are demanding the BJP leadership at the centre to ask the Gujrat government to cancel the decision which is being seen by many as violation of the code for the civil servants since the RSS is considered widely as a fanatic Hindu nationalist outfit. But it is the regional allies of the BJP whose reactions to the development are causing problems for the government. These parties like the DMK in the Tamil Nadu, the TDP in the
Andhra Pradesh, the Janata Dal (United) are keen to see the secular credentials of the NDA government is not tarnished by the RSS issue. They say this will only give the impression that the central government has lost the secular credibility since Gujrat is ruled by BJP which is once again the main driving force of the present Indian government.
The RSS has close links with the BJP and many of the top BJP leaders were, or are. members of the RSS as well. There is nothing unusual in that since BJP itself has emerged largely from a hardline communal stance but the party has undergone a lot of changes after coming to power. And the presence of liberal leaders like Mr. Vajpayee himself is noteworthy. Still, the RSS enjoys tremendous clout in the BJP. The RSS leadership feels that it is time that some of its policies should be implemented through the NDA government since the BJP is now in power. Bui the liberal sections within the party and the secular allies are thwarting such designs and hence some
problems are cropping up from time to time.
The regional allies are asking the B.JP to exert its influence on its party government in Gujrat to cancel the permission to the government official on joining the RSS but so far the issue has not been resolved.
Some influential BJP ministers in the central government are not in favour of annulling this move by the Gujrat government. There are also problems between the secular partners of the NDA and the BJP on some policymaking matters in the important state of Uttar Pradesh which is ruled by the BJP. These partners of the NDA ieel that the decisions have communal overtones.
The other issue that is cropping up is centring the formation of new government in Bihar. Here, the Rastriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by state's former Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has emerged single largest party in the 334-mem-ber assembly with 124 seats and the NDA secured 123 seats. No one is in a position to form
■a government without other's support but Laloo should get the first opportunity to explore a new government and it looked possible as the Congress extended support to him. But the governor of the state has invited Mr. Nitish Kumar of the NDA lo form the government and this has caused a serious political problem. Mr. Kumar is a central minister and he has resigned to become the chief minister in Bihar but Mr. Laloo Yadav and the opposition spy he is being favoured by the central government although the RJD should be preferred to form a new government. It is assumed that Prime Minister Vajpayee was not willing for creating a situation that projects him and the central government as unduly favouring the ruling NDA in Bihar because this may undermine the democratic credentials. But Mr. Nitish Kumar comes from the regional party of Bihar and is keen to become chief minister there.
It appears that Mr. Vajpayee has succumbed to ihe pressures by the regional parties from Bihar in his coalition but this may become counterproductive at one stage. The political situation is Bihar remains fluid when this column is printed but the state may be a source of political Instability in the coming days. However, the point that is being
made here is that the Bihar issue may create problems within the ruling NDA because all the partners do not see eye to eye on the controversial invitation to Mr. Nitish Kumar to form new government. Mr. Vajpayee's government to a great extent depends on the regional allies to remain in power. The BJP may have differences with the allies but cannot jettison them because it needs their critical support regardless of the mutual likings or dislikings. And for die regional parties, they are having a taste of power because of the main partner BJP. As such, it looks that no one can abandon the other for own interests.
Nevertheless, controlling politics at times becomes too difficult and goes out of hand. The desire to maintain the image of one particular party or parties as well as their interests does get precedence over the collective interest also causes problems. In such cases the differences rule supreme and it was evident at the fall of the Vajpayee-led NDA government earlier. Now. there is no such big threat at the moment because the government is new. Still, certain dangers are there to subvert the unity of the ruling coalition. This may take serious turn at one stage unless the main party. BJP. can tackle the potentially divisive issue with prudence, ff the government faces any problem, it will be due to internal problems and not because of any effective threat from the opposition which does not look formidable at the moment.