A 13-Legged Spider, Trapped In Its Own Web

United we fall, divided we stand, quipped an AGP member of Parliament about the now openly disunited ruling front.

If you take all the isolated strands in the United Front and try to piece them together, you get the bizarre picture of several spiders caught in their own webs. Although there were several inherent contradictions when the coalition assumed office over a year ago, many believed that anti-Congressism and anti-BJPism would hold it together for at least a fair part of its five-year term.

It was V P Singh who coined the term: Politics is an art of managing contradictions when his National Front was formed. He is not around to practice his art, but, even without a Devi Lal in the ranks, todays situation would have challenged even his skills.

 

These, after all, are some features of this government:

There are three Union ministers in the I K Gujral government who hail from a party that is not a member of the United Front; they swear by a Chief Minister who has been charge-sheeted, but the Prime Minister is loathe to drop them;

One minister is sulking for over a month ever since the Prime Minister appointed a cabinet minister in his ministry; he is clearly not enthusiastic about attending office;

One frontline constituent threatens to withdraw its four ministers; but does not intend to do so. The big idea is to settle scores, which, in fact, was the constituents basis grudge against others in the United Front;

There is a minister who is not part of the United Front; officially, the minister is a Congress member of the Rajya Sabha;

Two ministers are members of a party that many months ago merged with a party that is not participating in the UF government indeed, is not a member of the UF.

A prominent constituent obviously wants to enjoy power without responsibility; it periodically unleashes a litany of complaints against the governments economic policies; it supports the government but has tactfully remained out of it.

The Union cabinet is subservient to a steering committee of the coalition; an extra-constitutional body unheard of in the countrys history;

The initial 13 parties have multiplied with amoebic rapidity.

Perhaps the United Front should actually be renamed `Disunited Affront, remarks a senior cabinet minister hailing from a regional party. Another senior minister with similar lineage is already preparing for days out of office. Of late, he has once again donned the aura of a person who is more comfortable in opposition politics.

The writing is on the wall. Everything depends on Sitaram Kesri, when he takes the initiative again. If not in the monsoon session of Parliament, things should get hot after the Congress plenary in August second week. We have proved ourselves to be incapable of holding together a non-Congress formation in office again, the minister remarks.

On the record, the usual bluster is evident about being able to complete the full term in office. Off the record, however, ministers present a different picture. Several scenarios and fears are discussed: who will go with Kesri, who wont; how will the BJP fare in mid-term elections, after all L K Advanis yatra has given the party a head start; which regional parties will join hands with the BJP; was it too early to talk about the age of coalition arriving?

In the process, economic issues have clearly been pushed into the background; the oil imbroglio being the most recent. The issue was lobbed around at three meetings of the steering committee, and today is not even being talked about being on the agenda of the next meeting.