All for survival

In its desperate attempt to remain in power at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party has lost what it claims is its unique selling point -- that it is a party with a difference.

"ALTHOUGH we are the largest party in the ruling coalition at the Centre, we also seem to be the weakest. Consider, after all, the pressures that have been put on us by smaller parties and the compromises we have made on one issue after another." This comment was made to Frontline by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader from Uttar Pradesh. He was referring to the political bargaining that ensured the victory of the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government in the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.

According to this BJP leader, the capitulation of the BJP to its allies - from the concessions given to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the allocation of portfolios to the surrender of the Speaker's post to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) - has lowered the party's public standing. "If we go on like this, we will end up no better than the Congress (I)," he said. He added that the BJP may not be as good at this game as the Congress (I), since the BJP lacked the Congress' experience in it.

Such a view, however, seems to be a minority view in the BJP and the Sangh Parivar at present. A large section of the Sangh Parivar thinks that the BJP's current compromises are temporary. "All that we have to do now is to ensure the continuation of Vajpayee in office," said Ramachandra Paramahans, chairman of the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas in Ayodhya. "The allies can be made to fall in line later; their leaders have enough weaknesses to enable us to push them into submission." (The Nyas is a Trust led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP); its objective is to construct a Ram temple at the spot where the Babri Masjid once stood.) Paramahans is not worried that the BJP has said that it will not at present implement the Hindutva agenda, that is, build the Ram temple at Ayodhya, enact a uniform civil code and abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution. He said: "All that can follow: the important thing now is to prove that the Hindutva party can manage a coalition and rule the country properly."

That understanding underpins the Sangh Parivar's decision to make the survival of the BJP Government, rather than questions of ideological principle, its priority. While the terms of trade with the AIADMK were worked out before the inauguration of the Parliament session (by conceding its demand for the Ministry of Law and the Departments of Revenue and Banking under the Finance Ministry), a new deal was struck with the TDP after the Parliament session began. The National Conference (N.C.) was also persuaded to hold back from voting against the Government; reports are that it was promised some political and administrative concessions in return. The BJP also made an attempt to wean away Lok Sabha members from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Of all these manouevres, the most successful one was the one that obtained the TDP's support. This operation was carried out in two phases. At the end of the first phase, TDP leader G.M.C. Balayogi was elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The second phase came to an end with the TDP giving up its declared neutrality between the BJP and the Congress and voting in favour of the Government. 'Operation Win Over the TDP' was a priority for the BJP right from the day a hung Parliament emerged. The first move in this operation was the BJP severing its connections with the TDP faction led by Lakshmi Parvati, its electoral ally in Andhra Pradesh. It did so immediately after the announcement of the election results. M. Venkaiah Naidu, BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh and a friend of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, was given the task of winning over the powerful regional party, which has 12 MPs.

The TDP leadership did not at first respond positively to the BJP's overtures, maintaining that the party would remain equidistant from the BJP and the Congress(I). According to a senior BJP leader, Chandrababu Naidu's policy of equidistance was not really motivated by ideological difference with the BJP, but by considerations of electoral politics. "Naidu was afraid of losing the support of the minority community," he said. Chandrababu Naidu was pulled in opposite directions: a large number of party MPs wanted a tie-up with the BJP and a significant section of MLAs opposed the idea. Another factor that seemed to have contributed to the Chief Minister's dilemma was the growth of the BJP in the State. The rise of a third force in State politics could cut into the TDP's votes.

The BJP leadership persisted with its efforts by keeping in touch with Yerran Naidu and other TDP MPs. Dilip Ray, a leader of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from Orissa, who is reported to be on good terms with half a dozen TDP MPs, was also pressed into service. BJP and BJD leaders are reported to have offered ministerial posts and the Deputy Speakership to the TDP. Chandrababu Naidu was also assured that the BJP Government at the Centre would not take any step that would alienate him from Muslims. Significantly, the Speaker's post was not offered to the TDP at this stage.

According to sources in the BJP and the BJD, on March 19, the day the Government was sworn in, the TDP had not yet been won over. On March 20, however, the BJP began to see signs of a change of heart in the Chief Minister. Around the time of the swearing-in, a section of the TDP MPs stepped up pressure on their leader. Some of them even threatened to break away and join the BJP. Sensing trouble, Chandrababu Naidu decided to make the best of a difficult situation. On March 20, the BJP received a message from the TDP in which it suggested some arrangement on the issue of the election of the Speaker. The BJP leadership was under the initial impression that Chandrababu Naidu was ready to accept its offer of the post of Deputy Speaker for the TDP. However, when negotiations began, the BJP realised that Chandrababu Naidu wanted the Speaker's post for his party. According to sources, he also demanded four ministerial posts, including two Cabinet positions, for the TDP.

The BJP, which was keen to keep the Speaker's post for itself, came up with alternative proposals. These included an increase in the number of ministerial berths offered to the TDP and special administrative and financial packages for Andhra Pradesh. The TDP was unimpressed. In the evening on March 22, the BJP leadership decided that there would be no compromise on the Speaker issue and decided to accept former Speaker and Congress(I) candidate P.A. Sangma as the consensus candidate. The decision was conveyed to Sangma in the morning on March 23 by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madanlal Khurana, with a clear direction to Sangma to file his nomination papers (Sangma had refused to contest if he was not a consensus candidate). But neither Khurana nor Sangma was aware of the hectic negotiations that were on between leaders in New Delhi and Hyderabad. At the end of the negotiations and after consultations among the top leaders of the BJP came the decision to accept Chandrababu Naidu's terms. This was followed by a telephone conversation between Vajpayee and Chandrababu Naidu, and they decided on the candidature of G.M.C. Balayogi. In the meantime, Sangma had filed his papers.

Although Chandrababu Naidu maintained until the day of the confidence vote that his party would remain neutral, the actions of the TDP after the election of Balayogi, including its open support to the Vajpayee Government in the House, were part of the BJP-TDP deal. The TDP also decided to have an understanding with the BJP in the next Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh. However, the adverse internal reaction to the party's open support to the BJP in the trust vote seems to have forced Chandrababu Naidu to rethink his strategy. Basheeruddin Babu Khan resigned from the Andhra Pradesh Ministry in protest. However, the MPs who want the party to support the BJP persist with their demand for participation in the BJP Government.

The operation to win over the N.C. was smoother. N.C. leader and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had opened a line of communication with BJP leaders, including Vajpayee and Advani, even before the parliamentary elections. In their pre-election negotiations, the two sides, despite fundamental ideological difference, are reported to have agreed to identify areas of common understanding. According to N.C. sources, Farooq Abdullah was at that time only reacting to the possibility of the BJP coming to power. A senior party leader said: "The Chief Minister wanted to have a functioning relationship with the government at the Centre, whatever its ideological character." However, some issues of mutual benefit were discussed by the leaders in order to evolve a formula that would save the BJP Government on the day of the confidence vote. The BJP reportedly agreed to appoint a Governor of Farooq Abdullah's choice in Jammu and Kashmir and grant more financial aid to the N.C. Government. It is no secret that the Chief Minister and the present Governor do not see eye to eye on many issues, including the continued use of the army in anti-insurgency operations in the State. Farooq Abdullah was also reportedly of the view that the foreign policy of the United Front Government under I.K. Gujral was not aggressive enough vis-a-vis Pakistan, which is fomenting trouble in the State. The N.C. hopes that the BJP Government will take a more aggressive position.

THE BJP's attempt to win over the BSP was doomed to fail. The BJP leadership was in no position to influence the two top leaders of the BSP, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati, particularly after the acrimonious parting of ways in October 1997. Nevertheless, efforts were made to win over BSP MPs such as Akbar 'Dumpy' Ahmed. This move of the BJP was exposed when Arif Mohammed Khan, also a BSP MP, told the Lok Sabha that BJP leaders offered money and positions of power to Dumpy and Mayawati. The former Union Minister wanted to raise the matter as a privilege issue against the Prime Minister, but the Speaker refused to allow it on the ground that there was no proof for his charge. Although the BJP leadership denied the allegations, sources in the Sangh Parivar admit that efforts were made to win over a few BSP MPs.

The BJP is desperate to save its Government, whatever the cost. In the process, it has lost what it claims is its unique selling point - that it is a party with a difference.