Opinion/ V C Bhaskaran

Mayawati, Kanshi, Bhandari and Gujral, they are the BJP's best friends!

Abuse, ridicule, peril -- what all have Mayawati exposed the Indian Constitution to with her rape of the political process on October 19?

Madame M, I am sure, wouldn't be able to answer the question. Neither would she care to. To her, it was a one-point agenda -- keep Kalyan Singh out of power in Uttar Pradesh. And she would have achieved it too, had it not been for President K R Narayanan.

The cataclysmical events have highlighted many rotten aspects of Indian politics. The corruption, the carpet-pulling, the back-stabbing -- all these were but old hats which, invariably, hiccuped once every while. However, seldom would these hiccups meet any strong opposition. Fortunately, it did this time, with the President.

But, looking at it coldly, was it such a big thing the President did when he refused to sign on the dotted line?

What the United Front government did was, undoubtedly, a fraud. And the President refused to go ahead with a fraud -- that was all. But what made his decision so applaudable was the existing system -- a system which has been so thoroughly abused that if someone does the right thing, he or she is looked up to as a messiah! That is the kind of decay that has crept into Indian politics.

When Mayawati, having enjoyed office as chief minister for six months only because of the BJP's support, pulled the rug from under their feet -- and that too within days of that party's nominee succeeding her under an agreement -- the BSP stood exposed as a party led by a cheat. Luckily, to vindicate their honour, some BSP MLAs came forward to back Kalyan Singh in the trust of vote the next day. He got support from many more Congress and Janata Dal MLAs and managed to win it.

The important issue is not that, but Governor Bhandari's giving less than 24 hours to the beleaguered chief minister to prove his majority. And what does the good governor do when that ploy -- what else was it but a ploy? -- does not work? He immediately recommends dismissal of the government. And no sooner had it reached the Centre, Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral sends a resolution underscoring the governor's unconstitutional recommendation!

All of which makes it nothing but a United Fraud. But the President, fortunately, nipped it in the bud.

The very fact that the Cabinet withdrew its resolution speaks volumes. Simply stated, the United Front government has failed in its fundamental duty to protect and defend the Constitution. And the governor, as the watchdog of the Constitution, betrayed the trust reposed in his office.

Bhandari acted like a highwayman. He has been caught. It is not enough to recall him. He must be put to trial for attempting to subvert the rule of law. And it would not be out of place to suggest that Gujral & Co should quit in grace for abetting the crime.

And what about the happenings in the UP assembly last Tuesday? By no stretch of imagination can one justify it. It was a disgrace to the entire nation. But then, that has been the standard practice in our legislatures over the years. UP provided yet another watershed in such scandalous behaviour. The Tamil Nadu assembly had witnessed a lady member being disrobed, almost to her skin. I have witnessed more of such 'heroic acts' in state assemblies. I call it 'democracy in action.'

Another noteworthy point: the trumpeters of 'secularism', in reality, appear to be the ones that seem to help the BJP the most. The more they have tried to browbeat the party, the better it has become for the BJP. In that sense, the ilk of Bhandari and Gujral, not to speak of Mayawati and her mate Kanshi Ram, are the BJP's best friends.

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