Two alliances in search of a voter

As elections 2004 draw near I must confess it has been quite a strain to keep a straight face. Whenever I meet a BJP sympathiser he feels go...

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As elections 2004 draw near I must confess it has been quite a strain to keep a straight face. Whenever I meet a BJP sympathiser he feels good about the rising Sensex (even if it is tumbling by 172 points), the crowded shopping malls in the metros, the highways and India’s dream team in cricket. Not wanting to disappoint him I am forced to do a jig and yell and jump like Saurav Ganguly when he takes a wicket.

But if I meet a Congress sympathiser the same day I am compelled to wear a mournful look as if starvation is round the corner. But frankly I am neither feeling neither good nor bad but as the elections come near I’m only feeling confused.

To help sort myself out I should have rung up a shrink. Instead I looked up my political editor friend from a leading newspaper. He is very good at pontificating in front of TV cameras. I knew he would have an answer to all my questions.

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The Congress NCP tie-up? Is the foreigner issue no longer relevant, I asked? ‘‘Look, Sharadji made it clear that ‘at this juncture it is not relevant’. Besides Soniaji has also indicated that let the people decide,’’ was the reply.

But hasn’t the Congress decided to choose her, I persisted.

‘‘No, the NCP is clear that the Congress can decide only if it wins the requisite number of seats, argued my friend. If it doesn’t the NCP will join with the Sangma group to insist that Sonia does not become Prime minister.’’

In other words till the campaigning, Soniaji is not a foreigner but she could become one depending on the results, I surmised.

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‘‘What about Kalyan Singh? The other day he accused the BJP leadership of being weak-kneed. He also claimed that Advani had a role to play in the Babri Masjid demolition,’’ I asked sounding bewildered.

‘‘Yes, Kalyan is moving towards the BJP, explained my political editor friend, but you must understand that given the new scenario, destruction of the BSP and casteist forces like Mulayam Singh and pseudo secular forces like the Congress is more important than anything else.’’

‘‘Even if it means that Kalyan has to tie-up with ‘a weak-kneed leadership’?’’ I wondered.

But I moved ahead. ‘‘What about the DMK’s connection with the LTTE? Wasn’t that reason enough for the Congress to bring down the Third Front government? Now the Congress says there is no connection just because it has tied up with the DMK’’ I countered.

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‘‘No, it is not the Congress which has let off the DMK but the Jain Commission in its ATR (action taken report) which nobody saw till the other day. The DMK has been exonerated,’’ reasoned the editor.

All this left me gasping for breath.

My friend looked at me as if I needed artificial respiration. ‘‘Please relax,’’ he said,‘‘finally the Indian democracy has matured. The key to victory is your alliance strategy.’’

‘‘Where does it leave the voter?’’ I asked.

‘‘There is no difference between the NDA and the Congress, he continued. The Congress says it always supported a dialogue with Pakistan and Dr Manmohan Singh is touted as the original ‘feel good’ man of reforms.’’

‘‘So issues don’t really matter?’’ I asked

‘‘Certainly not,’’ was the retort. ‘‘It also goes to show how much out of sync you are with the Indian voter.’’