But, as the subsequent events show, this was but a sham; in fact, the government is showing partisanship in pursuing its agenda with which all opposition parties are not in agreement. Even before the poll results were fully out, the government hiked the diesel price by a whopping 40 per cent, which gave an indication of what it wants to do in the days to come. The pronouncements made since then by ministers, including the prime minister and finance minister, are enough to convince that the BJP-led government is bent upon pursuing, with increased vehemence, the same economic policies of privatisation, liberalisation and globalisation which it had been pursuing in its earlier stint. Their spurious plea is that cutting down various subsidies and hiking the administered prices of several items is necessary for mopping up resources and that this is the only way open to the government now. But it is not even prepared to listen to the other voices about what negative consequences these policies may lead to, or what other ways may be there to mop up resources.

CONSENSUS OR PARTISANSHIP!

The attempt to privatise the banks and insurance is a case in point. It will be recalled that these sectors were nationalised with the aim of achieving self-reliance and fulfilling certain social obligations which the private sector cannot be expected to fulfil. These goals still remain, but the government has decided to go back to the pre-nationalisation days. And the decision was taken despite the strong and united opposition from trade unions and several opposition parties which represent a very sizeable section of our masses. But the coming November 29 will demonstrate that pushing the Fund-Bank agenda will not be easy for the government.

The Vajpayee government has demonstrated a similar attitude vis-a-vis the cyclone that recently hit Orissa. This was the worst cyclone in Indian history and has taken a very heavy toll in terms of life, property and cattle wealth. The gravity of the situation attracted international attention and many countries offered help in providing relief to the affected population. But, as a number of newspaper reports go to show, the central government is displaying a thoroughly partisan approach and busy playing politics in the matter, with an eye on the coming assembly polls in Orissa. It is yet to declare the Orissa cyclone a national calamity and has not yet consulted the opposition parties about what steps need to be taken to mitigate the sufferings of the affected people.

The government displayed similar partisanship in case of Tripura. In its earlier stint, it withdrew the central paramilitary forces from that insurgency-hit state and has not yet restored them despite repeated requests from the state government. The result is that the anti-national forces are having a field day in that part of the country and have intensified their depredations. Thus the centre is guilty of playing with the nation's integrity and security for the sake of its narrow partisan interests.

FOREIGN POLICY

As we have pointed out in these columns earlier, the government is by and by taking the country into the USA's orbit of influence and seeking to dismantle the decades old consensual

foreign policy for the purpose. From March 1998 itself, the government has been engaged in secret parleys with US diplomats in third countries, behind the back of our people; even at the time of writing these lines, foreign minister Jaswant Singh was going to meet Staruss Talbott in Europe. The government has already committed to the US to sign the discriminatory CTBT at an opportune moment, i e when it finds that the Indian people are not vigilant enough. In doing so, the Vajpayee government only wants that India must be treated as a member of the privileged nuclear club; it is not opposed to the division of the world into unequal groups of nuclear haves and have-nots while such opposition was one of the main pillars of our foreign policy. The government is also seeking to forge military and diplomatic ties with the US.

How far the Vajpayee government can go to appease the US imperialists is evident from the fact that it is not prepared to demand that the US dismantle its nuclear base in Diego Garcia. This is so despite the fact that India is one of the major countries which can be targeted from this base in the Indian Ocean, and despite the fact that the existence of this base has no justification whatsoever. And it is the same US that was ready to intervene in the Indian subcontinent in 1971 with its nuclear-armed Seventh Fleet!

The Indian government is not prepared to take any initiative to revive the NAM either, even though, despite its current paralysis, the movement has not lost its relevance a bit. Our government is consistently overlooking all voices being raised by the developing countries in this regard. Its recent act about the SAARC summit threatened to further weaken the forum which was, contrary to the European Union or ASEAN, not very strong at any moment of its existence. All this too cannot but go in favour of the imperialist powers, to the detriment of the developing countries including India.

And now it seems the Indian government is unprepared to meet the US-EU onslaught in the Seattle conference on the WTO. It is not even willing to learn from China, another developing country that negotiated hard and forced the US imperialists to give up their opposition to China's entry into the WTO. It will be worth watching where India stands in this stand-off between developing countries and imperialist powers at Seattle.

NO SMOOTH SAILING

Coming to the home situation, the central government has made it clear that its attitude to other parties will be nothing but confrontationist. The recent trick played by Shri Surajbhan, once a BJP leader and now Bihar governor, of dismissing a minister in the state on the plea that he was not of the required age, may be ridiculous, but it does go to show the main ruling party's way of functioning. When administering the oath of office and secrecy to the minister concerned, the governor did not bother to enquire about his age and now, all of a sudden, wisdom has dawned upon him that the fellow did not fulfil the age qualification! The source of this knowledge about his age -- whether it is electoral roll or school certificate or any other document -- is also unclarified. The governor did not contact the state cabinet either while taking this unprecedented step.

But if the BJP leaders think that they will have a smooth sailing for the next five years -- and going by their public pronouncements it is clear that they think so -- one can only pity them. They have perhaps forgotten what had happened in Gujarat a few years ago, even when they had an absolute and comfortable majority there. Right now, in UP, the axed chief minister Kalyan Singh is up in arms against the prime minister, and nobody can say with certainty as to what turn the situation will take there. The intra-BJP situation is no better in some other states though not at the point of bursting out at the moment.

The BJP is facing some problem with its allies as well. Its alliance with the JD(U) in Karnataka has already broken, and in Bihar both these parties are trying to corner maximum number of seats for the impending assembly elections there. The JD(U) itself is facing trouble on the issue of Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav's entry and some other issues. Lok Shakti has practically walked out of the JD(U). There are bickerings between the Shiv Sena and BJP in Maharashtra too. The Akalis of Punjab have not joined the central government this time as they are not very happy with their partner in the state.

STATE OF THE OPPOSITION

As for the main opposition party, the Congress, it does not seem to be in a position to mount an effective challenge to the government, even though it is clear that the government's policies are going to eventually disappoint the masses. This time the party has got the lowest number of seats since the first general elections held in 1952, though its vote share has somewhat increased compared to the 1998 polls. But the party is not prepared to make an honest introspection as to what went wrong and where. Nay, the party is not even prepared to admit that the days of one-party rule are gone. At its Panchmarhi conclave, the Congress gave an indication that land reforms will be one of its main planks, but that seems to be confined to the paper on which it was written. The same is the case with inner-party democracy.

About the state of Congress organisation, the Anthony committee enquiry, instituted to probe into the reasons of the Congress debacle, is everyday bringing new facts about the sad state of organisation at the state and lower levels.

On the other hand, in so far as the economic policies are concerned, the Congress does not seem anxious to demarcate itself from the BJP. It was a Congress government that initiated the new policies in the first place, though the BJP is going full steam in implementing them. But it is these very policies that cost the Congress dearly in the 1996 elections. And the current paralysis and directionlessness of the Congress, witnessed during the very first session of the 13th Lok Sabha, may cause the party further losses.

It is true that in these elections the party received at some places the support of minority voters whom it had earlier alienated due to its capitulation before the communal forces. But the fact is that it is the fear psychosis gripping the minorities that made them vote for the Congress at places; it will be wrong on its part to take this support for granted.

Other secular parties also seem to be lacking coherence. Among the non-NDA parties, the Samajwadi Party got the third highest number of seats after the Congress and the CPI(M) but it is mainly confined to UP. Yet it can play a positive role in mounting a challenge to the government. It has also given indications that it is willing to cooperate with the Left and secular parties which is necessary to further its own cause.

In Bihar, the RJD has lost many seats but its vote share has indeed increased. It can effectively fight the BJP and its allies in the state, and has expressed willingness to continue and widen its cooperation with the Left parties. The JD(S) too fared badly in the elections but it has its own areas of influence and, given determined efforts, it can regroup and gain a place in a secular combination. Some other parties may also play a role in the coming together of the Left, democratic and secular forces.

The NCP's political line is still ambiguous. It played a commendable role in preventing the Shiv Sena-BJP from coming back to power in Maharashtra, but many of its top leaders are still hobnobbing with the BJP. The NCP has also offered no critique of the present regime to date. One will be watching what steps it will take in the coming days.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE LEFT

It is in such a situation that the Left parties will have to play an arduous role in regrouping the forces opposed to the BJP-led regime. It is true that the forces of the third alternative have suffered a temporary setback, as many constituents of the United Front, like the DMK, TDP and NC, have walked over to the BJP side. But the switch-over of individual parties does not mean that the chances of a Left, democratic and secular alternative, on which we have been constantly emphasising, have been marred for ever.

In fact, on the contrary, the objective situation prevailing today does not leave any scope for despondency in this regard. Both the BJP and the Congress represent the same bourgeois-landlord classes, though the two cannot be equated on the issue of national unity, in defending which the Congress has a role to play. But in economic and other spheres the Left, democratic and secular parties will have to come together and, come what may, they will certainly come together.

Provided the Left takes the initiative in a unified manner. For this purpose, first thing, the Left parties will have to unleash mass struggles on the basic issues facing the people and against the attempts to shift the burden of the crisis on to the shoulders of the common people. And wherever possible, others too have to be involved in this process. The proposed morcha before parliament on November 29 can further catalyse this process.