There is nothing surprising in all this, however. As it is quite well known, the RSS is a multi-headed monster with numerous facets, working through a large number of outfits, all under its firm control, but speaking in different voices at the same time to dupe the masses. The RSS can thus blow hot and blow cold at one and the same time. And it is this very fascist organisation that has a firm grip over the BJP as well, no matter whatever contradictions arise between the requirements of governance on the one hand and the RSS goal and vision on the other. In fact, the very philosophy of the RSS stands in deep contradiction with the secular and federal set-up, and the constitution of India to abide by which the BJP, the political wing of the RSS, has taken an oath.

Such contradictions were evident earlier as well. For instance, when popular anger grew in the wake of brutal attacks on minorities, chiefly the Christians, the BJP's allies forced the prime minister to call a meeting and made there a criticism of the RSS outfits such as the Bajrang Dal, VHP and Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, even though that criticism was quite indirect and mild, rather muted. The BJP too felt compelled to make its displeasure with these organisations known. On the other hand, the VHP and other organisations refused to listen to any voice of sanity, and the RSS organ, Organiser, had had the temerity to declare that the said outfits were independent organisations whom the BJP and allies had no business to discipline.

BJP'S AVERSION TO DEMOCRACY

The BJP's aversion to democracy is evident also from the fact that when the then Maharashtra chief minister, Manohar Joshi, summarily rejected the main findings and recommendations of the Srikrishna Commission which probed into the ghastly Mumbai riots following the Babri Masjid demolition, the BJP did not do anything to get the report accepted. It is then no wonder that the minorities have no faith whatsoever in the BJP-led government at the centre. This is also why the allies are trying, though unsuccessfully, to demarcate themselves from the RSS by posing as though they are with Atal Behari Vajpayee and not with L K Advani, in order to keep their mass base intact. It is another thing that it is their lust for power, pure and unadulterated, that is keeping them tied to the big boss -- the BJP.

In fact, the BJP's aversion to democracy is nothing new. Even before it came to power in March 1998, it had been stridently advocating in favour of a presidential system of governance and a unitary structure which would virtually reduce the states to the status of municipalities or break the linguistic states into smaller units, thus playing havoc with the aspirations of various linguistic groups that comprise India.

Indeed, ever since the ignominious defeat the BJP suffered in the 1985 Lok Sabha elections when it was reduced to two, its thinking has been that in a country like India with immense diversities and one which deeply cherishes the secular values, it cannot hope to pursue its game unless the country adopts a presidential and unitary system of governance. Even though the BJP has now come to power with the help of the myriad of alliances and combinations it forged in several states for the 1998 elections, it really cannot hope to perpetuate its rule in a parliamentary system; already the people's aversion to its rule and consequently the party's desperation and panic are growing by leaps and bounds.

DESPERATE MISDEMEANOUR

This was the context in which the BJP committed its desperate misdemeanour in Bihar by toppling the RJD government led by Mrs Rabri Devi.

This was, however, no sudden development. Apart from the BJP's own Hindutva gameplan, it was done under the pressure of its ally, the Samta Party, which has been demanding the RJD government's dismissal from Day One, as a price to the support it extends to the BJP at the centre. The fact is that ever since the BJP came to power in 1998, it has been doing its best to torpedo the federal set-up of the country. Earlier it sent central teams to the opposition ruled states like Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on the ostensible plea of taking stock of the law and order situation in these states, even though the situation has been far worse in the states that were or are being ruled by the BJP, and even though law and order is a state subject as per the Indian constitution.

Earlier, in September 1998 too, the BJP-led central government had tried to dismiss the RJD government of Bihar and had sent a recommendation to the president of the republic for his signature. It was another matter that, going by the spirit of the constitution, the president, Shri K R Narayanan, sent the recommendation back to the government asking for a reconsideration.

Then, after lying low for some time, the central government sent the same recommendation again to the president, leaving no option left to him but to sign it. This was done despite the knowledge that the imposition of president's rule would not be able to stand judicial scrutiny. In the meantime the BJP went on with its propaganda barrage against the RJD government, trying to demonise it before the public at large. The RSS propaganda machinery left no stone unturned to pose as if the RJD leader Laloo Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi are the greatest villains of the piece.

REASONS OF BJP'S OPTIMISM

The BJP was emboldened to commit this misdemeanour by the earlier stand of the Congress which has, in about four decades of its rule, misused article 356 of the constitution on more than a hundred occasions. After the recent spate of killings in Bihar, the Congress party has been opposing the RJD government and giving the impression that it wants that government to be dismissed. Many leaders of the Congress party's Bihar state unit have been extra-vocal in this regard. That was the reason for the BJP's optimism that, with the Congress support, the bill to endorse the imposition of president's rule in Bihar would be easily ratified in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling coalition is in a minority. The statements that emanated from the Congress headquarters after the gruesome killings of Dalits in the state, only further strengthened the BJP's optimism.

Not quite surprisingly, the bill to endorse the president's rule in Bihar was passed in the Lok Sabha by a majority of 29 votes. This the BJP posed as a big victory, rather an achievement. However, the fact is that the BJP got its so called victory because of several unsavoury factors. First, the very same parties which have been swearing by federalism and centre-state relations day and night, like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), chose to become turncoats -- just like the BJP, the coalition leader, which has been vocally opposing misuse of article 356 when in opposition. For instance, the SAD had been quite incensed when its own governments were dismissed through the misuse of article 356 and has been crying hoarse about the need to scrap it. Similarly, the TDP was founded by its late leader N T Ramarao for the purpose of defending the federal structure of the country. However, when the real test for these parties and also for the BJP came, principles were given a go-by for the sake of power or for future electoral considerations. In fact, after giving an impression for several days together that it would abstain on the motion, the TDP finally chose to vote in favour of the government's motion.

Secondly, even the parties dead opposed to the BJP, like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with six members in the Lok Sabha, chose to support the BJP's motion because of the hard and condemnable fact that those killed in Bihar were Dalits.

Thirdly, the Congress party too did not mobilise its members in the Lok Sabha properly. While two of its members had become chief ministers in the meantime, one was ill and some had gone abroad. As a result, eight of the Lok Sabha members belonging to the Congress were absent on the day, thus facilitating the BJP victory.

It is difficult to say that but for these factors, how big would have been the coalition's margin in the Lok Sabha.

DAMPENED ENTHUSIASM

However, the BJP's euphoria did not prove to be lasting. Soon after its apparent victory in the Lok Sabha, it should have moved the resolution in the Rajya Sabha also, but that it could not muster the courage to do. For the Congress had realised in the meantime how costly its support to the BJP would prove in terms of its image and mass base and announced that, since the president's rule in Bihar meant the RSS rule in practice, it would oppose the motion in the upper house.

This was a cause enough to dampen the enthusiasm of the BJP, RSS and its outfits. It sent the BJP searching for alibi to wriggle out of the unenviable situation into which it had landed itself. However, they did not give up their hope till the last minute; prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee even urged for and held a meeting with the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, seeking the support of her party to get the bill passed in the upper house. It was only after Mrs Gandhi declined to oblige her that the Union cabinet met and decided not to move the bill in the Rajya Sabha.

Going by the BJP's statements, including those of the prime minister, after the government's debacle, it is certain that the main ruling party of the day has received a shock of a lifetime. Whether they would learn anything from this episode or not is, however, a quite different matter.

This is the first instance in the country's political history when those ruling at the centre could not get a bill endorsing the president's rule in a state passed by the parliament. Now the situation is that Mrs Rabri Devi has again taken the oath as Bihar chief minister and also formed her ministry.

BIG VICTORY FOR DEMOCRATIC FORCES

This is indeed a very big victory for the democratic forces, as it has dampened the spirit of the forces of authoritarianism as never before. The RJD government of Bihar was toppled despite the fact that it enjoyed the support of a majority in the state assembly. Nor was it allowed to test its strength on the floor of the assembly, as was enjoined by the Supreme Court verdict in the famous Bommai case.

Secondly, it was the brutal killings of the Dalits by the infamous Ranbir Sena, a private army of the landlords patronised by the BJP and Samta Party, that gave it an alibi to topple the Bihar government. These killings were most condemnable, and it is also a fact that the state government had miserably failed to control the situation or implement the badly needed land reforms whose lack lies at the root of the landlord depredations in the state. But this could not be a ground to topple a democratically elected state government. In fact, if we go into the law and order situation in various states of the country, then, as per the official statistics revealed to the parliament, Bihar stands sixth; the law and order situation is far worse in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, in the Shiv Sena-BJP ruled Maharashtra, and in Delhi and Rajasthan which had had BJP governments not very long ago.

It is therefore certain that if only the BJP had had its way in case of Bihar, it could have played a big havoc with the judiciary, armed forces and several other institutions. The case of navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat is a case in point It is in this regard that the democratic forces have asserted themselves and saved the country's future at the moment.

CENTRE-STATE RELATIONS

The Bihar episode once again underlines the need for having a second look at the question of centre-state relations. As has already been said, article 356 has been used umpteen times by the Congress dominated centre to dislodge the opposition-led state governments. In fact, it was the united Communist Party's Kerala government, led by the late Comrade E M S Namboodiripad, which became the first victim of article 356. Earlier the Sarkaria Commission had gone into the question of centre-state relations in detail and made several recommendations about it.

Then, during the United Front regime, a sub-committee formed by the Inter-State Council and headed by Jyoti Basu, had also deliberated on it and put forth several weighty proposals in its regard. The sub-committee had suggested that article 356 must be used very judiciously, if at all -- that it should be used only (i) when a state assembly passes a resolution declaring secession from the country, threatening its territorial integrity, or (ii) when a state government allows certain forces to play havoc with national unity by demolishing religious institutions, places of worship, etc, as was done in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. However, the UF government collapsed before it could take a final decision on these proposals.

It is worth recalling that, in the said sub-committee, even the BJP chief ministers like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had expressed concern about the misuse of article 356 and demanded safeguards against it.

Now that the Congress monopoly of power has broken and a number of parties are ruling the constituent states of the Union, the issue of centre-state relations has assumed an added importance.

It is here that the BJP's moves must be watched very keenly. Though its hasty move in case of Bihar has made it a butt of ridicule, the party is not going to give up its gameplan easily and will soon come up with some other ingenious device to throttle democracy. For public opinion is increasingly turning hostile to the BJP and its desperation is bound to grow. This is therefore time for the democratic forces to close their ranks and see to it that --

a) the secular fabric of the Indian polity is maintained and protected,

b) the federal structure and the centre-state relations are strengthened, and the rights of the states are defended, and