The return of dirty old politics

The BJP’s spectacular self-goal of admitting tainted Uttar Pradesh minister Babu Singh Kushwaha a couple of days after he was sacked by chief minister Mayawati will surely count as one of those weird lapses of political judgment that cannot be explained. Not only the act itself, but its timing too has left the BJP’s strongest supporters aghast and the party open to ridicule. At other times, the usual excuse — they are innocent until found guilty — can be a defence, even if somewhat mealy mounted; to welcome a man facing corruption charges within days of clambering on to the moral high ground after the Rajya Sabha debate on the Lokpal Bill borders on the perverse.
The BJP had a game plan during the parliamentary discussion on the bill and it worked, up to a point. The UPA couldn’t take the risk of putting the bill to vote and the BJP, as is its wont, put its propaganda strategy into operation within minutes of Parliament adjourning sine die. Its most vocal leaders were out there in front of the cameras, berating the UPA for “murdering democracy” and they kept up the momentum till the UPA hit back and pointed out how the Opposition party had acted too clever by half by introducing several amendments. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the UPA was looking like the villain, which did not want the Lokpal Bill to be passed, and the BJP was beginning to preen as the great upholder of morality in public life.
Now, with one stroke, the party is scurrying for cover. Its anti-corruption stance looks hypocritical to say the least. The party also looks desperate since it is now relying on Mr Kushwaha’s clout among his OBC followers in the Uttar Pradesh elections, thus confirming the general assessment that the party is worried it will not perform well. The UPA has naturally not lost the opportunity to gloat.
But the biggest loser of the BJP’s move is Anna Hazare. His crusade has effectively been killed and now no amount of backtracking, phrase-twisting and sophistry will breathe life into it. No one is going to take Mr Hazare and his cohort seriously anymore, even if they come out against the BJP, which they have in an iffy, after-thought kind of way. They can have all the strategy meetings in Mr Hazare’s village, appeal to the public for ideas or go on every television channel there is, but it’s a lost cause as far as they are concerned. The sensible thing would be to just lay low and not wade into any more controversies; unfortunately, this is not likely to happen.
Even before the BJP’s latest move, it was slowly becoming clear that the Hazare campaign had run its course. The poor crowds in Mumbai were just the symptom of a disease that had set into the campaign. All the unmanageable inner contradictions and weaknesses of the Hazare group began unravelling soon after the fast ended in August. First Mr Hazare refused to suspend the agitation after the sense-of-the-House resolution was passed, then he and his sidekicks went after the Congress in Hisar and, finally, each of those worthies themselves had to answer questions about their actions. Yet, blinded by the lights of the television cameras and genuinely believing that they had the support of the entire country, the team refused to understand that good tactics demand that sometimes one retreats, if only to recoup and let the enemy make its own mistakes. The government was nervous and was finding it difficult to come up with a coherent reply, the Opposition parties were in attacking mode and middle-class public opinion was firmly behind Mr Hazare, notwithstanding a small, rising feeling of unease about what Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi were up to.
But their hubris finally got them down. That and the subtle but firm message that the political class had begun to send out: don’t rise above yourself and try to tell us how to run things. At the token fast in Delhi, several politicians were forthright in telling Hazare supporters that their bill may not be accepted in toto; others, like Sharad Yadav, said one thing to the crowds and another in the House. The BJP, too, made it clear that it was the prerogative of Parliament to enact legislation. Mr Hazare and his team should have understood what was going on, but they
didn’t. And then came the Mumbai disaster, where the crowds stayed away and Mr Hazare had to retire hurt.
The two parliamentary debates sent out a strong signal that it was time for politics to take over and that is exactly what has happened. The parties were less interested in the Lokpal Bill and more in scoring points or getting their pound of flesh, like the Trinamul Congress. The elections in five states, including the crucial one in Uttar Pradesh, are just too important for the big political parties. The Congress needs to show it retains its popularity, the BJP wants to demonstrate it is still in the political game. Ms Mayawati will pull out all stops to come back to power and Mulayam Singh Yadav is now full of renewed energy. Who has time for diversions like Mr Hazare, especially since he is fast becoming a spent force?
So in the end, politics is back. The attempts by Mr Hazare etc to consistently undermine political and legislative processes and to rubbish the entire political class were never really going to succeed, but they did strike a chord with a constituency that has a distaste for politicians and yearns for authoritarian rule. An omnipotent, all powerful institution such as the Jan Lokpal, which would not be answerable to anyone, sounded good to his followers. And attacking the Congress appealed to the Opposition parties. But when it comes to realpolitik, the BJP is ready to say goodbye to its pal Anna Hazare and embrace a babu Singh Kushwaha. Votes, in the end, are more important than television panel discussions and self-proclaimed do-gooders.