GOVERNMENT'S VULNERABILITY

As for the government, its sense of desperation is evident from the fact that it has not yet shown the courage to have a discussion on the budget document and to put it to vote. Now the voting on the budget proposals has been postponed to the first week of May. In the meantime, various opposition parties in parliament are planning to move cut motions to the budget proposals.

How much the government is vulnerable on the various steps it has taken so far, is evident from the issue of Gujarat government's order that allowed the state government employees to take part in RSS activities. The fact that Vajpayee himself indirectly justified this order, only added to the sense of panic among the minorities who were terrified because of the attacks being launched on them, particularly on Christians, in Gujarat in the main, but also in Orissa and some other states. A BJP member's anti-conversion bill in Gujarat assembly and the UP bill on construction of places of religious worship further added to this sense of panic.

However, it goes to the credit of this country's secular and syncretic ethos that these steps taken by the Sangh Parivar did not go unchallenged. Virtually all the opposition parties in parliament took up the cudgel and forced the centre to direct the Gujarat government to withdraw its obnoxious order regarding the RSS; the Gujarat government also felt compelled to drop the private member's bill on conversion issue.

One thing is quite remarkable here. On the issue of the Gujarat order, the opposition heavily grilled the government and did not allow the parliament to function for several days together. Similar things had happened in the past also. But this time neither the public opinion nor the media took any exception to this blocking of parliamentary proceedings. It seems that the people have realised that nothing less than national unity is at stake here. The spate of editorials that have so far appeared in national and regional dailies on the activities of the Sangh Parivar only shows how the latter's clout is on the wane.

MISDEMEANOUR IN BIHAR

The central government's sense of desperation is also evident from the way it has been moving in regard to the RJD government of Bihar. As it is well known, the BJP tried its best to falsify the verdict of the people of Bihar by misusing the office of the governor who, negating all parliamentary conventions, invited Nitish Kumar to form a government in the state. But how far his claim lacked substance and justification soon became evident when Kumar tendered his resignation without even facing the confidence vote in the assembly.

(That the behaviour of the BJP, when it was in opposition, on the issue of misuse of the governor's office was diametrically opposite to what it did in Bihar, only goes to show the utter hypocrisy of this "party of principles.")

After Nitish Kumar's ignominious exit from the scene in Bihar, however, a new game started. Almost immediately after Mrs Rabri Devi assumed the chief ministership, the CBI moved into action to implicate her and her husband, RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav, in a disproportionate assets case. Moreover, as reports in The Asian Age go to show, sure that its move would only be approved by the main ruling party at the centre, the CBI even showed the audacity to bypass the PMO in violation of all the conventions. The motivated nature of the CBI's action was also evident from the fact that while cases were filed against six more persons, the CBI singled out only the Laloo-Rabri duo for chargesheeting. Moreover, while the assets of the other accused run into crores of rupees, Mr Laloo's assets were worth only Rs 46 lakh. But yet the CBI showed extraordinary haste in chargesheeting the duo.

BURDENS ON THE COMMON MAN

Another important issue on which the central government is going to face the wrath of the opposition, is the spate of administered price hikes which the government has effected. Soon after the Lok Sabha elections were over in October last year, the Vajpayee government hiked the diesel price by a hefty 40 per cent that has created a cascading effect on the prices of various other commodities by raising the freight charges and also the cost of agricultural production. Then, not once but twice, the government raised the issue prices of wheat, rice, sugar and other commodities that are supplied through the public distribution system, thus directly hitting the common man's living standard. However, not content with all this, as soon as the local bodies elections in Andhra Pradesh were over, the centre effected heavy increases in the prices of kerosene and cooking gas, breaking the back of not only the poor but even the middle classes. In Delhi, the price of milk supplied by Delhi Milk Scheme, that comes under the central government, was doubled at one go -- from Rs 7 to Rs 14 a litre -- depriving many children of whatever little milk they were getting so far.

Then, essential subsidies like those on fertilisers were also cut down. This threatens to further raise the cost of agricultural production and jeopardise the food security for the people at large.

The utterly sly manner in which the BJP-led government effected these price hikes is known to one and all, and needs no comment. But the repeated pronouncements made by the prime minister, the finance minister and even the smaller fry like Ram Naik, to the effect that these hikes would not be rolled back, does not prove that the government's steps are in any way justified; they only go to show the government's utter callousness about the miserable plight of the people. The multinationals, the indigenous bourgeoisie and the traders and hoarders are the only minuscule sections that are happy with these hikes and are singing paeans to the government.

All this is bound to raise the poverty rate in the country. As we know, after a period of decline, the rate of poverty began to rise once again in 1994-95, as a direct result of the new economic policy that was initiated in 1991. While the poverty rate had come down to about 22 per cent by 1988-89, it rose to roughly 39 per cent by 1994-95. But the significant thing is that there has been since then no indication about any halt to this rising trend; in all probability it has continued to rise further. The policies which the Vajpayee government is putting into effect will only worsen the situation still further.

RESENTMENT IN KERALA

A case in point is the public distribution system that had been operating in Kerala so far. As is recognised even by the multinationals' godfathers like the World Bank, the Kerala system has been the best in the country and has gone a long way in protecting the life standard of the people of all sections. Through its chain of Maveli stores and the like, Kerala, a deficit state insofar as food production is concerned, has been supplying to its people not only foodgrains but many more commodities of daily use at the most reasonable prices and virtually at their doorsteps. The state has so successfully run this system, even in remote villages, that the people felt no problem in procuring goods even at Onam time, though such occasions provide a field day to the hoarders and blackmarketeers in many other parts of the country. Along with its records in literacy, health care, child care, survival of new-born babies and their mothers, etc, Kerala has been justly proud of its public distribution system as well.

But, thanks to the moves initiated by the Vajpayee government, it is precisely this very system that is under attack today. What to talk of emulating this system in other states, the centre has not only curtailed the supply of essential commodities to Kerala; the price hikes which it has effected have also put a severe strain on the state's finances. All this threatens to worsen the life standard of the Kerala people who are naturally very much concerned about it. No less a person than the chief minister of Kerala, E K Nayanar, himself felt it necessary to sit on a dharna in front of parliament on April 18 to register protest, and that dharna was joined by members of all parties that have representatives in the state assembly. (See report elsewhere in this issue.) This was quite unprecedented in the history of Indian democracy and shows what depths of crisis the Vajpayee government is pushing the country into.

CRUCIAL QUESTION

It was therefore no wonder that the series of protest actions organised by the CPI(M) on April 17 in front of parliament and in other parts of the country got substantial support.

The crucial question in this regard is: Are the BJP's allies in the NDA going to underplay these sufferings of the people or will they force the big brother to give up its blatant anti-people drive? It is true that the government's supporters like the TDP as well as some of the NDA constituents have protested against this drive, but on the whole their attitude has been lukewarm, to say the least. The whole world knows about their clout in the government, and that they can force the government to bow down if they want to. But, yet, so far what they have done is nothing more than registering verbal protest.

But the masses are not so ignorant as not to realise the real worth of verbal protest of this type. Already in the Andhra local bodies elections that took place on March 10, the performance of the TDP and BJP was much below their expectations; in Bihar assembly elections too, the hopes of the NDA partners to get an absolute majority were dashed to the ground. These recent examples only show the erosion in the allies' mass base that is taking place underground. Needless to say, if the allies persist with their present lukewarm attitude, it will not take long for the wind to become a whirlwind.

Therefore, the allies cannot escape from their responsibility and will have to tell the people in unambiguous terms about where they stand. Will they remain mute spectators to the growing suffering of the people for the sake of remaining in power? Or, will they assert vis-a-vis the big brother?

CONSTITUTION REVISION

Another issue which the parliament will debate in the coming days will be of the constitution's revision, on which the opposition parties have already cornered the government. It is now plain that what the BJP wants is not a constitutional amendment here or there, for which there are ample provisions in our constitution. After all, the Indian constitution has been amended more than 80 times so far. In fact, what the BJP wants is to alter the very basic framework of our constitution, and it was for this purpose that it formed a constitution review commission while bypassing the parliament that is the only appropriate and rightful body for the purpose. It is another matter that the commission's chairman, Justice Venkatachelliah, himself made it plain that the commission would not be a party to making basic alterations in the document.

The utter duplicity of the BJP in this regard is evident from the very arguments its leaders are putting forward in support of their move. Take the case of electoral reforms. The BJP was one of the parties that had on the whole endorsed the Dinesh Goswami recommendations in this regard. But if it poses that effecting electoral reforms is impossible without altering the constitution, this would be nothing less than misleading the public opinion. In fact, it is already known to one and all what type of constitution revision the BJP wants -- a presidential form of government, fixed tenure of Lok Sabha to perpetuate itself in power, break-up of linguistic states, and above all an end to the secular character of our polity. It is therefore no surprise that all the major opposition parties have announced that they have nothing to do with the said commission.

Here too, the attitude of the allies has been lukewarm though some of them, like the TDP, have said that they would oppose any move to change the basic structure of the constitution. Weaker sections of society have got seriously concerned about the BJP's move because they justly fear that the move may deprive them of whatever safeguards today they have.

TESTING TIME FOR THE CONGRESS

In the meantime, there has come up one major issue that may have an important bearing on the political complexion of the country. It concerns the so called Mahajot (grand alliance) which Ms Mamata Banerjee, leader of the Trinamul Congress, a constituent of the NDA, has proposed. The idea is of forming a motley combination in West Bengal in order to fight the ruling Left Front in the coming municipal polls and in the state assembly polls due next year.

One thing is notable in this respect. The combination, as proposed, will include the BJP as well as the Congress with the aim of preventing a division of the anti-Left Front votes. Going by all indications available so far, a big chunk of the Pradesh Congress is eager to swallow the bait. They include the Pradesh Congress chief, A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury, a sworn enemy of the Left Front who had once boasted that he would throw the Left Front into the Bay of Bengal.

The Congress high command is naturally finding itself between the devil and the deep sea. A day after we go to the press, Ghani Khan is to meet the Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi. Nobody can as yet say what the outcome of the meeting will be.

Be that as it may, one thing is plain. In the past, the Congress has heavily lost because of its compromises with or capitulation before the communal forces, which only alienated the minorities. Of late, it was appearing that the party has begun to take a forthright stand against the communal-fascist forces, and this was also paying it good dividends. Now, it is a testing time for the party high command, and the people will be keenly watching whether the party remains firm against the communal forces or surrenders before them. Ms Mamata has already made it clear that her proposed Mahajot will undoubtedly include the BJP.