What if he again comes into power..

The recent spate of political activities in Bihar has really made me worried. The election results of February as interpreted by many psephologists (particularly Mr Yogendra Yadav), was an anti-Laloo mandate. True, he had lost many a seats which were considered to be RJD strongholds, but he was still the leader of the largest single party. NDA/JD(U) alliance, in spite of the strong anti-RJD mood prevailing, remained well short of the magical figure in a house of 243 seats. But beyond doubt it was their best performance till date. Congress with 10 odd seats achieved what was expected of them. So, the ball now lay in Ram Vilas Paswan’s court who managed an impressive 29. Democracy in India finally reduces to number-crunching. With coalition governments becoming the order of the day, people’s mandate has really lost its meaning. One can digest the idea of a pre-poll alliance, but what justice do the post-poll adjustments do to people’s mandate. I sincerely feel a constitutional crisis here. The Anti-defection bill recently passed in the parliament needs to be more stringent. The new law will be only regulatory for the country’s democracy. But much will depend on the political morality of the leaders of political parties. It is the leaders who select candidates for party tickets. So they will be ultimately responsible for a success or a failure of a political reform as envisaged in the new anti-defection law. Independents do not have a major role to play here as it was the case in Jharkhand. So the onus to play the king-maker was now on the dalit leader Ram Vilas. Lack of vision in a political leader is the most dangerous omen of political instability and this is precisely what Ram Vilas suffers from. Here we have a leader who is always holding on to an important cabinet seat – whoever may be in power at the centre. He doesn’t have an ideology of his own – he is neither a leftist nor a rightist – but just an opportunist. When he was the cabinet minister under the united front government, secularism was his core agenda, and when he was offered the railway ministryby the NDA, it took a backseat and the 40 years of misrule of the congress governments came to the front. Now he is back with the UPA and is unrelenting on the godhra and the temple issues. If his deeds are just as apparent, why does he continue to win the Hajipur parliamentary seat by record breaking margins. The reason is that the single most important factor for winning an election in Bihar is – Caste. He has projected himself as the emancipator of the dalits, and the vote bank of the most backward classes (MBCs) is his inalienable right. His spat with Laloo began with the latter grabbing the railway ministry which was so dear to the former. The bickering worsened and took the ugly shape of two central ministers, both members of the cabinet, fighting vehemently against each other in the state election – a scenario encountered for first time in the history of independent India – a real shame to the principle of collective responsibility outlined in our constitution. My belief in the adage – Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely – got still more ingrained. Just after the assembly election results, Ram Vilas declared that he is never going to support any RJD led coalition and he would prefer President’s rule instead. This is what exactly happened and the centre appointed Mr Buta Singh, another gentleman who is famous for switching loyalties (not long ago was he a minister in the Vajpayee government). Laloo was not all unhappy over this, as he could influence the governor by pressurizing the central government. Some happy developments took place during this short stint – only to be buried later. The district magistrates of Siwan (yes, the constituency of Mohammad Shahabuddin having over 40 serious criminal charges pending against him) and Gopalganj (another RJD stronghold) issuing non-bailable warrants against the respective legislators. Hats of to the courage of these lion hearted bureaucrats (not long ago was the SP of Mungher murdered by the leftists for taking some audacious steps against the extremists). But alas – it is Bihar – the two brave hearts soon got transferred. The bold initiative was murdered before it could sprout. The steel frame of India (the bureaucracy) as envisaged by the Britishers has been reduced to a rubber frame which always has to bend before our politicians. And mind you, this time it was not Laloo-Rabri, but Mr Buta Singh playing the spoil sport – or should we blame Mrs Gandhi for this. Recently Mr Ram Vilas offered to support the JD(U) less the BJP. The BJP was also ready to extend the support from outside. But the congress high command at the centre warned Ram Vilas that he will have to part ways with the UPA. Having no vision/judgment of his own, Ram Vilas quickly regained his humor and proposed to support even an RJD led government, if headed by a Muslim leader. Mr Paswan has indeed a very short memory – only a few days ago he had vowed to obliterate the RJD – the dalits of Hajipur, are you listening to your infallible leader. Paswan’s deviation from his earlier standing, led the forward caste leaders of the LJP to rebel. 21 of the 29 legislators decided to support an NDA led government. Paswan upon getting acquainted with this new rebellion in his party, sent the strongman (read gunda) Surajbhan Singh to control them. Laloo too got worried and rushed to the centre. The new speculations over government formation was put to rest by the hasty decision of Mr Buta Singh (courtesy the central government) to dissolve the state legislative assembly. The drama came to a tame end. What next? The Election Commission is already contemplating over the dates for a re-election – yes you are right, the crores spent on the February election have gone waste. Be ready to part away with another crores of rupees from the consolidated fund of India for the soon-to-be announced election dates. And what if the situation remains the same. Will the assembly get dissolved once again and fresh elections be held. Hmmm, I am running short of ideas – our law makers (who are responsible for this dirty game) have to find a way out of this constitutional crisis. And what I fear the most – What if he (yes, Lalooji) again comes into power. After all he has now got ample time to work over his weak points and emerge out stronger. Anyway, the anti-Laloo mood is still strong and NDA should work towards further increasing its numbers (not that I am a Nitish Kumar fan, but Bihar badly needs a change). But one point is clear – Mr Paswan is the clear loser out of this – I doubt if he can regain his 29 seats. Over to you Mr Yogendra Yadav…