The Final Hours Vajpayee govt set to fall.

Political Correspondent

The Atal Behari Vajpayee government is set to fall this week. After a year of tottering and non-governance, the BJP-led coalition is finally collapsing under its own weight as had been predicted by right-thinking forces even on the day that the Prime Minister had taken oath. The denouement to a farcical tragedy which was going on in the name of an 18-party coalition has now come about with the AIADMK, one of its major allies and won whose support the continuance of this government depends, opting to pull out its ministers from the government and then, resigning from the coordination committee of the coalition.

The BJP leadership is now desperate to cling on to power and the traditional game of buying and selling of MPs is now bound to take over. While this game goes on quietly backstage, the Union human resources development minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, has gone down on his knees and called up AIADMK supremo, Jayalalitha, asking her not to withdraw support and show the door to his and many others’ ministerships. Jayalalitha, however, is now not keen to listen to listen to such entreaties and has ticked him off saying that she will take upon reaching Delhi on Monday with Parliament sitting on April 15.

With the agenda quite obvious, the state is thus set for the exit of yet another government, this time for valid reasons. The BJP government had taken corruption to illogical extremes and its stand on communalism and the economy of the nation has not left many people doubtful about its real intentions. However, as the Left has rightfully pointed out, it is now not time to think of the obvious; this government has now stepped on to the twilight zone anyway. The time has now come to think of the new arrangement and all the secular democratic parties should come forward to provide a viable alternative if the nation is to avoid elections right now. The BJP is acting defiant in the face of defeat and both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister have made it clear that they are reconciled with the obvious.

The Left forces, led by CPI(M) general secretary, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and the West Bengal chief minister, Jyoti Basu, have started rallying the Opposition forces and the Janata Party leader, Subramanian Swamy, even dashed down to Calcutta to hold a meeting with the chief minister while the Assam leader, Prafulla Mahanta, did the same a day later. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the Left will play a pivotal role in the question of national politics in the recent future and for this, the consolidation of the secular forces has to be the top priority.

A viable Third Front is now a distinct possibility and the Left has taken a positive role in the formation. If elections are the only long-term alternative, then the ``stop-gap’’ arrangement can only provide time for these forces to arraign its strength and consolidate its influence. The fall of the BJP will only usher in a new politics into the country.