Divorcees re-marry - Organiser
Editorial
()
27 April 1997
Title : Divorcees re-marry
Author : Editorial
Publication : Organiser
Date : April 27, 1997
The Deve Gowda Government's confidence motion was defeated on April
11, 1997 and since then for the past two weeks the country has been
pushed into a political crisis, the Centre being without a
Government. The ongoing confabulations within the UF partners and
the haggling between the UF and the Congress might have provided a
temporary respite but the deeper malady that stalks the Indian
political scene still remains grim. The President in his own
wisdom gave more than reasonable time to the (dis)United Front
leaders and the Congress to arrive at a conclusion and make
alternate arrangements. Never before in the political history of
India, or for that matter anywhere in the democratic world, has
such unprecedented development taken place as the one being
witnessed now in India. The callous manner in which the Congress
withdrew its support illustrates its irresponsible mindset and its
proven disrespect for democratic norms. From the infamous Emergency
to the withdrawal of the Congress support to the UF, the Congress'
history has been a non-stop nose-dive from the high pedestal of
Central leadership. Unfortunately, the unprincipled politics of the
Congress party has brought disrepute not only to itself but also to
the nation in general and other pillars of democracy like the
legislatures, the judiciary, and the Press in particular. The
present "alternate arrangement" and its likely fall-out is the
inevitable outcome of the crumbling Congress edifice. The party is
unable to accept the bitter truth of ground realities. If the
Congress is in a pathetic situation, cornered by its own churlish
President and his feudal foes within the organisation, the thirteen
partners of the coalition called the UF are in no way better
placed. In their anxiety. to survive the present crisis they even
attempted to circumvent constitutional provisions and thrust an
anti-people budget on the country. A Government defeated on the
floor of the House schemed to push through a budget. with the
Leftists ready to be a party to this unethical, if not
unconstitutional. act. thanks to their anti-BJPism. It is time all
the political parties came to accept the reality and face the truth
squarely. The mandate, albeit a fractured one, in the last
elections was not for a motley crowd, uninhibited by scruples, to
sit in judgement only to pass off-the-cuff remarks on the BJP. The
only course of action now open to all political parties is to go to
the people again with their respective agendas. In the best
traditions of democracy and the nation, the people will decide and
decide firmly this time. But the very idea of a mid-term poll sends
shivers down the fake secularist crowd having 14 lables. They had
come together ten months ago to keep the BJP out. But even after
all these months, they are not m a position to face the people-and
the BJP. The reason is that they refuse to accept that something is
wrong with themselves. They don't understand that their politics of
sectarian casteist, communal and regional vote-banks often ranged
against one another in elections does not make them one entity.
They remain divided against themselves and that is their greatest
weakness. This was sufficiently reflected in the tussle for
leadership which was nothing short of a fight to choose a successor
to the ousted Prime Minister. The UF, given its functional
problems, may never be able to toe the Congress line completely nor
would it dare deviate from its earlier path. Under compulsion to
please everyone, the new. Prime Minister would eventually end up
the same way as his predecessor did-confounding confusion.
