The top is lonely and has a place only for one. This is true for all professions including politics. Whereas all others function on a set of perceived values, even when the discussions are acrimonious, politics seems to define and redefine the values as the context changes, friends turning foes and foes turning friends with only power to bind them. In George Orwell’s words, there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics. ‘All issues are political, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, paranoia and schizophrenia. Are we seeing Orwellian tenets enacted in Maharashtra? Will a government be ever formed, with whatever combination being discussed? Will the Sena, combine with the NCP and congress? Will the NCP combine with BJP to spring a surprise? Will Sena be back to their ideologically closer friends turned foes? Will President be the de facto ruler? Will the parties implode to create new formations? Will BJP rule albeit, with the so called unattached? Will elections prevail again? Who will, wear the crown uneasy? Which kingmaker would laugh all the way to the coffers?
The man on the street looks at his leaders, and their unending games, wondering when at all the law would take over. But the law has multiple interpretations. The context and the power of the day, define which interpretation is correct. Barack Obama, in ‘The Audacity of Hope’ had said “in the end, laws are just words on a page – words that are sometimes malleable, opaque, as dependent on context and trust as they are in a story or poem or promise to someone, words whose meanings are subject to erosion, sometimes collapsing in the blink of an eye’. In the games so played, the common man is left deeply hurt.
Sena has been in coalition with the BJP for Lok Sabha as well as Maharashtra Assembly since 1989. They campaigned alongside for more than 30 years and are ideologically similar except that the Sena also appeals to the Maharashtrian pride. An agreement to fight 124 seats with 150 for BJP was fraught with dangers. Firstly, there is a tacit acceptance that one is a junior partner to the other, with limited pockets of influence and hence will have to be content with what comes its way. Secondly, a 100% strike rate is impossible and more likely the junior partner would end up with even less. Thirdly, the dominant party, also ruling at the centre will have a better conversion rate. Finally, a realisation that if fought individually, both could cede space to the opposition, since nothing much differentiated them anyway. Unless these boundary conditions change, there is no way the lesser party would ever rule with its own leader. In as much as this being true, there is a growing realisation, even within the dominant party that they would never ever be the only party to rule the second largest and financially important State in the Country and would always be at the mercy of the other. Only way then left to separate the Siamese twins, would be surgery.
An African proverb rings true in the case of Sena. ‘If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ They chose to go quickly. The story However, gets interesting because of multiple story tellers. Sena got cosy to the other players in the plot, believing they could live their dreams. What complicated are the other player’s unstated ambitions and the scorn felt by the dominant party. A set of pyrotechnics left everyone breathless and gasping for want of time with the president taking over. The race, thus cut short, everyone still heaved a sigh of relief, since were left happy to fight another day. The rumpus thus continues.
Would the NCP actually support the Sena? Would Congress, a natural ally of NCP come around to think similar to NCP? Dynamics, similar to Sena-BJP would enact all over again with the Congress-NCP this time round. An internal tussle within the congress that it would lose out to its bigger ideologue stops it in its tracks, but nevertheless keeps the pot boiling, lest its flocks fly away to greener pastures. Ditto the story with Sena and NCP.
Admittedly a common minimum program (CMP), is being thought of. A CMP would have some substance between ideologically similar entities. What CMP can be there between dissimilar ones? If attempted, the common denominator would be too common, mediocre, uninspiring adding to an all-encompassing mediocrity that would breed more mediocrity. With nothing inspiring, what would be the shelf life of such a narrative? Is the program of the President not a better choice then? Veterans all in the game, perceive the utter futility and absurdity.
Is this then, a game of roulette that each one wants to indulge in but not actually say ‘yes I do’? The BJP would of course, have nothing to lose. A game of wearing down the opponent suits them. Not in a mood to be pulled up for poaching, they would rather see the inner contradictions of the opponents implode from within. Rather difficult to prove abetment anyway. There are almost 23/30 independents and smaller parties waiting to shift allegiance depending on which way the wind blows. The most likely happening would then be ‘nothing happening’, at least in the opening session of the President’s rule.
To make matters complicated, internal boundary conditions are always influenced by external ones, like in most engineering processes. With investigating agencies stirring the pot, to cook new broth at the end of which, we could even see the NCP support the BJP in the ‘larger interest of the State.’ or the new foe could turn a friend, again in the ‘larger interest of the State.’ BJP would be a clear winner, whichever way the story unfolds. Flip side of this final act is equally veracious where the Congress, Sena and NCP would be the biggest losers in that order, again whichever way the story unfolds.
I am reminded of a poem ‘The Final Act’, by Lisa Teller, ‘A man is leaning over me and looking into my eyes, “What were you thinking son? Did you really think that you could drive?” He pulls up the sheet, still looking at me, “If you had only called your mom or dad, you would still be alive.”