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Some will denounce the new BJP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh as
rank opportunism aimed at attaining office without regard to
principle. In fact, it is far less opportunist or unprincipled than
the attempt of Messrs Deve Gowda and Romesh Bhandari to prevent an
elected Assembly from operating. The Allahabad High Court had
struck down the imposition of President's Rule in the state as
"based on wholly extraneous considerations." Yet Mr Gowda brazenly
extended President's rule by another six months. This was an
attempt, by hook or crook, to prevent the BJP from getting a chance
to form the government. Now, thanks to the BJP-BSP pact, those
games are over. If Mr Bhandari has to pay for it with his head,
that will be no more than poetic justice. Whether the new
government is stable or delivers good governance remains to be
seen. The earlier marriage of convenience between the two lasted
only four months. This one may have a more solid foundation, with
an arrangement for rotating the chief ministership every six
months. Cynics fear that the new ministers will spend all their
time making money in the brief window of time available before the
marriage of convenience ends. Yet an elected government will also
be accountable and sensitive to public needs in ways that an
unelected administration will not. Better bad elected governments
dm none.
The UP developments have ramifications going far beyond the state.
The BJP, clearly, has ceased to be a political untouchable, and
looks well placed to head a coalition government in Delhi after the
next general election. The Congress party had hoped that its
alliance with the BSP would help it win back the Dalit vote, whose
loss had cost it dear in recent elections. However, the BSP has
ditched the Congress first in Punjab and now in UP. So, far from
the Congress being able to use the BSP for its own ends, the BSP is
using the Congress for its ends. Earlier, the Congress hoped at
least to be the tail that wagged the dog. Now it stands exposed as
a dog-less tail. Mr Sitaram Kesri's threats to topple Mr Deve
Gowda in New Delhi look more hollow dm ever after the latest
events. Mr Deve Gowda may have lost out in UP, yet has gained in
New Delhi. The BJP has gained most of all.
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