A well-known television anchor offered an interesting insight into the changing nature of Indian politics. Till a couple of years ago, he said, senior politicians from all the parties, even if they were otherwise on opposite sides, would happily come to studios to debate each other.

The shows, as is usually the case, would be adversarial, but there would be respect and a sense of camaraderie. No one ceded an inch, but despite all the cracks and criticism, they were ready to participate in the shows.
Now, the anchor claimed, it is almost impossible to get the seniors to take part in TV discussions. The spokespersons come, but not the really big names. They prefer giving one-to-one interviews to debating.
There was always disagreement and, occasionally, discord, but the tone has become sharper, the digs nastier. The spokespersons are more enthusiastic and aggressive about pushing the party line. Where the seniors tend to take positions and offer analyses, those entrusted with speaking for the party tend to attack the other side. The result is something we, as viewers, get to see night after night: noise, bluster and a lot of heat.
One cannot say if this is also the experience of other television channels, but there is much in the anchor’s observation. Indian politics is at its most polarised at the moment, and not just in the television studios. Politicians may worry about public perception, but in Parliament and outside, all gloves are off. Politics has become about who shouts the most unreasonable thing the loudest, not about patiently building up public opinion. Showing courtesy to one’s political adversaries used to be built into the cut and thrust of parliamentary debates — my learned friend, my esteemed friend, the honourable member etc were conventions that kept the discussion at a civilised level. These conventions were followed even outside the House.
Today, you have one senior politician calling the government “illegitimate” (which was hastily withdrawn after the ruling party objected) and the Leader of the Opposition, an otherwise astute parliamentarian, using phrases like “mota maal” to illustrate the ill-gotten gains allegedly collected by the Congress through coal block allocations. Crudity was not unknown in Indian politics, but senior and experienced politicians tended to keep decorum. Is all that now in the past?
The obvious reason for escalation of hostilities is the fact that elections are coming closer. The ruling dispensation looks weak and wobbly and the Opposition parties smell blood. The BJP may have calculated that it has much to gain by appearing uncompromising on corruption. After Anna Hazare and subsequently Baba Ramdev prepared the pitch, the BJP has come out to bat with the help of some googlies provided by the Comptroller and Auditor General. By keeping up the pressure, the BJP hopes to get dividends in the coming elections in Gujarat and in 2014 general elections. Even so, the intensity of the campaign launched by the BJP has left even its own allies stunned, who are being much more circumspect in their approach to the issue of the Prime Minister’s resignation. Under these circumstances there cannot be any dialogue between the Congress and the BJP, just accusations and counter-accusations, attacks and counter-attacks.
The polarisation is bound to have an echo beyond the political arena. The BJP is an ideologically driven party but it has disappointed its hardcore followers over the years with the apparent dilution of its stand on several key issues. To keep the NDA allies happy, it has compromised on its agenda without any commensurate political advantage. Why not return to basics?
If the BJP buys into that argument, it will harden its stand even more and its supporters will immediately pick up the signals. The BJP’s views on minority appeasement are well-known, but it has been subdued on that front for some time, knowing that key NDA allies like the JD(U) get restive every time such subjects are mentioned. But there could be a line beyond which the BJP may not be willing to back off. Already a narrative about Muslims is building up — illegal migrants in Assam, the misbehaviour of some miscreants in Mumbai — which could sharpen opinions on all sides.
There is another angle which should be considered. In a recent blogpost senior BJP leader L.K. Advani ruminated on the possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP politician becoming the next Prime Minister. This is not an outlandish possibility; it has happened several times in the past. The Third Front is a fixture in Indian politics for nearly two and a half decades, ever since V.P. Singh rode to power in 1989. In 2009, when most pundits had declared that the UPA would not come back to power, several names — Chandrababu Naidu, Sharad Pawar and even Ram Vilas Paswan — were tossed around as possible Third Front Prime Ministers-in-waiting.
This time round, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is the favourite of the commentariat; witness the gushing profiles, cover stories and television interviews about him. There are other claimants, too — Mr Pawar is always willing and able and Mamata Bannerjee and Naveen Patnaik, too, may be harbouring ambitions. The imperious J. Jayalalithaa should not be dismissed either. Given the fluidity of the political situation, the Third Front types may see no benefit in sticking on with the BJP and the tables will be turned; instead of the NDA, in which the BJP is the lead partner, the bigger party will have to end up supporting a candidate from another party. This would be the worst case scenario for the BJP because it would mean staying in the Opposition for a long stretch and consequent erosion of
credibility.
The BJP, therefore, has little choice but to be in perpetually antagonistic, take-no-prisoners mode. It cannot afford to go easy since that could appear as if it was letting off the government. This is no time for niceties, in Parliament, in television studios or anywhere else. It has to try every trick in the book to ensure that the UPA is always on the defensive. At the same time, it is letting its NDA partners know that this time round it will go it alone — “majestic isolation”, in the words of Arun Jaitley. All gloves are now off.