Confirmed job

The Atal Behari Vajpayee Government is here to stay, for now. The voting in the Lok Sabha on Saturday has merely formalised it. The two-day ...

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The Atal Behari Vajpayee Government is here to stay, for now. The voting in the Lok Sabha on Saturday has merely formalised it. The two-day debate on the confidence motion lost much of its sheen as the BJP-led coalition had already proved its majority in the election of the Speaker. It was also certain that the Telugu Desam Party would not take any step that would endanger the government. Even so, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has not crowned himself with glory for the manner in which he kept the government on tenterhooks in the name of maintaining `equidistance’. Finally, he plumped for the BJP and it is only a question of time before he has his nominees in the government. Since it was too early to judge the performance of the government, it was quite natural that the debate centred more on the National Agenda for Governance of the coalition. To be fair to the ruling coalition, it never gave up its conciliatory attitude despite provocations from the Opposition. This bodes well for the BJP which has the oneroustask of leading the largest-ever coalition of disparate parties ever to come to power either at the Centre or in the states. Now that Vajpayee has proved his majority, nothing should prevent him from providing a stable and able government.

Notwithstanding the vote, the stability of the government will depend on Vajpayee’s ability to carry his allies along. In the short time since the ministry was formed, most of the BJP’s allies have proved themselves to be pastmasters at bargaining for the spoils of office. Any inability to redeem the promises the BJP has made secretly or publicly to these parties can strike at the root of the government’s stability. The success of Jayalalitha and Naidu in extracting their pound of flesh from the BJP is sure to encourage other parties within and without the alliance. The National Agenda which the BJP has formulated in consultation with its allies will definitely be the guiding star of the government. Naturally enough, the government’s performance will be judged on how bestit is able to implement the Agenda, whose cornerstone is consensus. While the Agenda has many agreeable points, the implementation of some of them can land the government into real trouble. The appointment of a commission to study the changes required in the Constitution will be as contentious as the move to constitute three separate states without forming a states’ reorganisation commission. All this calls for statesmanship of the rarest kind in the Prime Minister.

As the debate has underscored, a plus-point for Vajpayee is the lack of unity in the Opposition. Naidu may have his political compulsions in backing the Vajpayee regime but the point that he cannot reconcile himself to supporting the Congress cannot be disputed. Many of the constituents of the United Front have a genuine problem in supporting the Congress, more so when it is led by the dynasty. These contradictions are unlikely to disappear in the near future. All this can ensure the longevity of the government provided the BJP plays its cardswell.