Midway through the election campaign, however, events have occurred, which have brought before the people the real issues, causing acute discomfort to the BJP.

TRUTH ABOUT KARGIL

The media has provided detailed documentation about the wilful refusal of the Vajpayee government to take note of the warnings given well in advance about the Pakistani plans for intrusion in the Kargil sector. The army commander of the Kargil area, Brigadier Surinder Singh, had himself sought to alert the army high command, and through it the political authorities, about the Pakistani preparations across the border, as early as August 1998. Faced with such irrefutable evidence, the shabby attempt to divert attention by appointing a review committee has unravelled. The Vajpayee government has been reduced to taking cover behind denials by the army headquarters. The failure to own up responsibility for political inaction will only further demoralise the armed forces. All the efforts to claim credit for the Kargil victory have worn thin in the face of mounting evidence of serious bungling.

COMMUNAL FANATICISM

The second event which is more ominous and disturbing is the resurfacing of communal fanaticism in Orissa. After the dubious finding of the Justice Wadhwa commission that there is no evidence showing Dara Singh's linkage to the Bajrang Dal-RSS combine, the brutal killing of a young Muslim trader in broad daylight in an open market place, with Dara Singh leading the attack, has once again highlighted how deep the communal poison has been injected into the tribal areas of Orissa. Within a week after this incident came the killing of a Catholic priest, Father Arul Doss, in Mayurbhanj district. The BJP state leadership has taken the position that the killing occurred due to the "cultural invasion by Christians." This justification of the murder echoes similar statements made by the BJP leaders in Orissa about the killing of Graham Staines and his two young sons.

Atal Behari Vajpayee and other national BJP leaders have sought to cover up the culpability of the RSS combine by accusing the Orissa state government of failing to prevent such incidents. It is true that the Congress state government in Orissa has utterly failed in arresting Dara Singh even though he has remained in Orissa for the past seven months since the Staines' murder. But the incompetence of the state government cannot absolve the RSS combine for its direct responsibility in instigating the attacks on Christian priests in Orissa. As for Vajpayee, he did not say a single word against the anti-Christian campaign launched by the RSS during his prime ministership, except to give sustenance to the campaign by stating that a national debate on conversions should be held, during his visit to Gujarat last year.

WORSENING ECONOMIC SITUATION

The BJP wishes to keep the economic issues affecting the people away from the campaign because of its dismal record in this matter. To some extent they have succeeded in getting the electronic and print media to focus on non-issues and concentrate on Kargil. The worsening economic situation in terms of the prolonged industrial recession, the continuing fall in exports and consequently the widening trade deficit, the recurrence of the oil pool deficit, the runaway government expenditure and fall in tax revenue are all hardly talked about by the big business controlled media which is happy with both the BJP and the Congress manifestos' pronouncements on the economy. The BJP has hinted on the need to impose a new "Kargil tax" -- a portent of things to come if it comes back to power.

But the ground level situation is different. In all the places, the people are bothered about rising prices, contrary to the claims of the falling rate of inflation, lack of employment opportunities, closure of factories, drying up of development schemes, shortage of water, housing are other urgent problems. They are judging the candidates and parties on these issues.

AUTHORITARIAN STANCE

Another issue which Vajpayee has raised to attack the Congress in his election meetings is their stand on article 356, He has demanded to know whether the Congress has changed its stand on article 356 which it misused repeatedly to dismiss elected state governments. Coming from a prime minister who resorted twice to the use of article 356 within a period of six months to try and dismiss the Bihar state government, this is nothing but sheer hypocrisy. The joint manifesto of the National Democratic Alliance has given no commitment whatsoever that it will not misuse article 356. The BJP intends to use all authoritarian measures to consolidate its rule if it comes back to power.

CONGRESS: MISPLACED HOPES

All these issues have come to the fore, despite the BJP's efforts to reduce the campaign to one between choosing Atal Bihari Vajpayee or Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress party has also had to come face to face with certain hard facts during the election campaign. It began with the claim that the Congress alone can provide a single party government which will be stable. Its election manifesto declared that coalitions have not worked at the centre and only a Congress alternative can provide a cohesive government. Two weeks into the campaign, faced with the realities of the situation, Sonia Gandhi had to state that a coalition government can be formed if necessary at the centre. If anything has become clear so far, it is that neither the BJP nor the Congress is anywhere near getting a majority of the seats.

The Congress manifesto does not show much evidence that the Party has learnt any lessons from the past. It is strangely silent on the stand of the Congress on the Ayodhya issue. The fact that the BJP alliance is not mentioning the issue cannot be an excuse for this. Recently the VHP leaders have announced that work on construction material for the temple will continue with the opening of a new workshop at Ayodhya. Neither has the Congress manifesto mentioned the stand of the party on the Justice Srikrishna commission report which has become a major issue in the Maharashtra elections. All the secular forces have demanded the prosecution of all those found responsible for the violence by the commission. Once again, in the actual election campaign, despite the manifesto's silence, Sonia Gandhi has had to raise the Ram temple issue and ask the BJP to spell out its stand.

The weakened position of the Congress at the all-India level has not instilled any sense of humility in the Congress leadership in Kerala. Everyday, the Congress leader, A K Antony holds forth denouncing the CPI (M) and claiming that the Congress alone is in a position to defeat the BJP. He refuses to see what is happening outside Kerala. In the other two states, West Bengal and Tripura, where the CPI (M) and the Left are a strong force, the Congress is in bad shape. In Tripura, there has been a vertical split in the Congress with Sudhir Ranjan Majumdar faction joining the Trinamul Congress and aligning with the BJP. In West Bengal a succession of leaders are deserting the party to join the Trinamul Congress.

In Kerala too, the democratic and secular minded people see the CPI(M) and the LDF as the most consistent champions of secularism. That is why the RSS launched a murderous attack on the CPI (M) cadres during the election campaign. The brutal attack on P Jayarajan, member of the Kerala sate committee of the CPI(M), followed by the killing of another cadre within three days of this attack, reveals the diabolical plan of the RSS to target the CPI(M). Instead of outrightly condemning such fascist tactics of the RSS, A K Antony and his cohorts have sought to equate the CPI(M) and the RSS. Such electoral opportunism will only rebound on the Congress.