The Hindu Business Line : The poll cauldron

IF THERE is any one constant factor in the run-up to an election it is the poor quality of logic used in campaign arguments advanced by the players in the fray. Every political party lambasts its challenger with allegations of misdeeds, etc.

Each one cannot be right because there would then be nothing in the profile of any party that would make it suitable to govern the country. But, of course, the voter is more discerning than most politicians think.

But let us get back to the main point of this piece: The poor quality of the accusations made by politicians — the very act being demoralising because it exposes the foolishness of politicians who assume that whatever they say will be lapped up by a "hungry" electorate. Take, for instance, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr L. K. Advani's recent charge against the Congress. He said the grand old party of India "has lost its direction and ideology and there is a vacuum of leadership".

There are few in this country who will dispute Mr Advani's contention because it is a fact that the Congress of today is less than a shadow of what it was even during the years of Mr Narasimha Rao's Prime Ministership, not to speak of earlier times. But what about the BJP itself?

To take the leadership issue first. Apart from Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani, does the BJP have any other "leader" who can aspire to the image-level set by these two stalwarts? Certainly, BJP enthusiasts will reel off a score of names who, they think, fit the bill. But that is not the issue here because Congress supporters will be equally facile in returning Mr Advani's leadership-vacuum charge. The plain truth is that both the Congress and the BJP do have a leadership vacuum, the difference being that while the BJP is in the right hands, the Congress is not.

While the BJP will face a severe leadership crisis in, say, 10 years, the Congress' current "leadership content" — operating in the shadow of the Nehru-Gandhi family — will be dissipated even further in the next few years as the stalwarts of yesteryear fade from the scene. As for party "direction and ideology," Mr Advani is absolutely right when he says the Congress has lost both. But, again, what about the BJP? Indeed, the BJP has two avatars: One when it is dressed in the NDA's cloak and the other when it is seen as an integral part of the Sangh Parivar, which it is.

In the NDA garb, Mr Vajpayee's party has no "direction and ideology" other than getting to power. But as a part of the Parivar, its "direction and ideology" is a ruthless one — and one which is quite repugnant to a large number of those who support the party (that is, Mr Vajpayee in particular) as part of the NDA Government.

In a recent interview given by a senior RSS functionary to the Sangh's mouthpiece, Organiser, the point was made unequivocally that single-party BJP rule was to be preferred over the NDA coalition approach because one-party government was needed "(to) enforce discipline and create an atmosphere of change". Further, "only such a government can bring unity and stability in the country". Unity and stability is always good for the nation, but only if it is without any colour, saffron or otherwise.