Greek tragedy, however exaggerated in its appeal to emotions, leaves the spectators less sad than they would have been otherwise because they know the end from the start. What sustains their interest in the drama is that the actors are not conscious of terrible happenings while they are.Janata Dal's fortunes have been no less tragic. People knew from day one that the party was too divided to stay coherent. They have watched it going relentlessly towards disaster. What is different from Greek tragedy is that the actors, the party leaders, have known the end all along. They have not even played their part, they have only gone over the exercise.Since its birth in 1989, JD's leaders have been seeking a role, without realising what it should be. They came in the wake of the anti-Congress wave. But they got lost when the wave subsided. Having no sense of direction, much less caring about it, they have been coming in the way of one another. They could have walked together so as to be taken seriously. Yet they have tried to elbow out those whom they have found out-pacing them.The first version of the party was destroyed by the rivalry between V. P. Singh and Devi lal, the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister in the 1989 Janata Dal Government. The second and present version is in smithers because of confrontation between Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav, once his right hand man.Even the Janata, which formed a nucleus of the Janata Dal, disintegrated because Prime Minister Morarji Desai and Home Minister Charan Singh did not see eye to eye with each other. The party was born in 1977 after the authoritarian rule of Mrs Gandhi was ousted at the polls. But it fell apart when it came to governance. It was obvious that the disparate elements, which no doubt had fought election with one symbol, had not been able to rise above their old party loyalty.Whatever the members did there were some achievements to their credit they got lost in the infighting that started in the party. The differences were not over policy or ideology, they were petty and personal. The Janata Dal leaders have learnt no lesson from the past. There is nothing to choose between Laloo and Sharad. They are chips of the old block. The arrogance which the party has come to acquire is because of their style of functioning. Both are authoritarian in their methods.But Laloo at least offered to withdraw from the contest and accept either Prime Minister Inder Gujral or Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Madhu Dandawate as a consensus candidate for the party presidentship. He wanted a face saving formula which Sharad, supported by former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, did not give. Sharad's argument was that he and he alone should head the party because he was confident of his victory on the basis of the electoral roles which his compatriots had fudged openly.The result is that the party is today a figure of ridicule. This ignominy should have been avoided because the JD, over the years, has come to be associated with the values which Jayaprakash Narayan cherished when he founded Janata. His was an attempt to cleanse public life. But for a few members, the party cannot be associated today with JP's ideals. They have destroyed whatever he had advocated.Laloo's record is worse. There is no norms of honesty, integrity and fair play in public life which he has not flouted. Still there have been many hopes pinned on him. I recall he was in the chair as the president of the Patna University Students' Union when I inaugurated a conference where JP gave the call against Mrs Gandhi's corrupt government.Weighing in the same scales, Laloo's Government would be found heavier in misperformance than hers. In fact, the Centre has reports from the intelligence agencies that it would have to send the Army to dislodge him. As many as 27 districts may be in the grip of disturbances with the police conniving at them, if he is dismissed.The worse thing that Laloo and his opponent, Sharad, have done is that they have harmed JD's image as an alternative. It looks as though all those values and ideals which the leaders talked about have been lost in an eruption of caste, communal, regional and personal rivalry. Norms of conduct, political and moral, have been cast aside, a new class of self-seekers has replaced the old. Whatever is left of the credibility of the leaders has been eroded by infighting.Since the 1989 election, the voters have not given any party a majority or even 200 seats in the 545-member Lok Sabha. The Janata Dal had come to acquire a position with the support of the BJP in 1989 and the Congress in 1996. That status, that of a third force, has come to grief at the hands of Laloo and Sharad. Cynicism and anger have grown to such an extent and the ability of Janata leaders has been put in such doubt that the people have begun to suspect the very system that put such men in power.The only combination left is that of a United Front, which can be an alternative. Indeed, it provides a relief, both from the Congress and the BJP. But the Front's weakness is that it has a minimum economic programme but observes it more in violation than in implementation. On the other hand, inner contradictions are breaking the front on the rock of unsavory developments, although it has assembled as many as 10 State Chief Ministers on one platform.Were it to go before the electorate as one unit it would have a chance in the next election. But too many pressures are pulling it in too many directions. Its durability is doubtful. Already it looks divided between the Communists and Mulayam Singh's Samajwadi Party on one side and others on the other. This does not send a good message to the electorate.One contribution that the Janata Dal or, for that matter, the United Front has made to India's polity is a coalition government. Although the Janata Dal Government was ousted in 1990 and it is far from firm at present, the idea of coalition has got entrenched deep. Placed as the different political parties are, there is no go from coalitions.It seems they have come to appreciate the fact of coalition but they have yet to evolve a culture of accommodation, give and take, and appreciate that all is not black or white but there is a grey area. Both the Congress and the BJP have realised that they cannot go it alone. They too are looking for allies. This means that the country is in for coalition politics for a long time to come.
