Bypoll results have altered political landscape

By K. Natwar Singh

The electoral guillotine is merciless. The ubiquitous Amit Shah is for once observing ‘maunvrat’. This is wise of him. Phulpur and Gorakhpur results are no routine political events. The ramifications are nationwide. These adverse results will most certainly influence the outcome of the forthcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka. 

Gorakhpur has handed a devastating result to the BJP. It has been a pocket borough of the Chief Minister, who won the seat five times consecutively. Politics is a bloody sport. It is also an unpredictable enterprise. The defeat of Indira Gandhi nearly 40 years ago showed poor political foresight. Atal Bihari ji’s “Shinning India” is another shining example of overconfidence. Eternal vigilance is the political mantra. 

It is certainly a wakeup call. It is something more. The ruling party should realise that Phulpur and Gorakhpur have altered the political landscape. Normally, defeats in two constituencies are, to use a tired cliché, no big deal. Phulpur and Gorakhpur are. The leadership of the BJP failed to sense the mood of the people and totally misread the ground realities. Anticipation and institution are important elements of politics. So is the sixth sense. Stamina is the sine qua non of politics. What the BJP has been doing is to leap before looking. It is legitimate to ask — is a personality cult on the horizon.

The BJP, no doubt, is not short of resilience. It has many months to repair the damage.

Full marks to young Akhilesh Yadav. As in foreign policy, in politics, too, there are neither permanent friends nor permanent foes. He had the political savvy to do a deal with the BSP. He took a big risk. It paid off. Will the SP-BSP combination hold? Let’s wait and watch.

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The Congress party’s glee is entirely misplaced. It will remain irrelevant unless it puts its house in order. Neither in UP nor in Bihar had it crossed the 20,000 mark. The dinner held by the Congress president for 17 (or was it 20) opposition parties (all losers) was an exercise in futility. These dinner parties can never get together. Even if they do, they could not possibly get to the magic number of 272 Lok Sabha seats.

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Jaya Bachchan is a dignified, likable person. That a political shuttlecock should call her names is not only disgraceful but shameful. What is even more reprehensible is that as soon as N Agarwal resigned, the BJP embraced him. Here is a party which prides itself on propagating political integrity and ethical conduct.

By not responding to the vulgarity of N Agarwal, Jaya has shown grace and refinement of character.

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The Budget was passed in the Lok Sabha without a debate. This, if I am not mistaken, is unprecedented. Both the government and the Opposition have done is to damage and inflict wounds on our democracy. For a whole week Parliament was not functional. This unparliamentary behaviour is not happening in slow motion; it is going ahead at a galloping speed. 

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I was ambassador to Pakistan in the early eighties of the last century. Our staff was, from time to time, harassed. One day, a junior officer and his wife were watching a film in an Islamabad cinema house. Suddenly, the film was stopped. An announcement was made that the son of X (who was present) had been badly wounded in a car accident. The panic-stricken parents reached their home in no time. Their son was playing with his young sister. Only second rate people can behave in such a manner. We should deal with the present crisis firmly and decisively.  

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On May 21, 1964, I received a letter from Vijay Lakshmi Pandit. She was at then governor of Maharashtra. I quote a portion:

“Ever since I came home from the US, I have been worried sick about the PM’s health. He looked so ill. I could hardly bear to look at him. It was obvious he was heading for a breakdown and driving himself mercilessly in spite of it. He was alone in the house due to Indu’s absence and though he was accompanied by a doctor, the poor little man was so junior he literally trembled every time he had to approach the PM…

Affectionately

Masi