Why, then, is there this nagging perception cutting across party lines that the Vajpayee regime may not last its full, even half, term? If there is no real opposition, if there is no reason to doubt the loyalty of the coalition partners, if the BJP in public appears reasonably united with no one coveting the PM's kursi, who is going to topple the government? The answer to that conundrum is: the BJP will topple the BJP. Or so the stars portend.
Deny as it may, large sections of the party, especially the rank and file, cannot reconcile themselves to the discarding of impulses and programmes central to the party's identity. Reinventing the BJP is easier said than done. The division between moderates and hardliners remains unbridged and the seductions of power have not dampened the enthusiasm of the latter for the elusive core agenda. The sober Vajpayee beams all the signals of being in command, but he leads an increasingly restive flock. The frequent, ugly disruptions of civil disorder we watch daily on our TV screens are actually the BJP fighting the BJP. What makes the fight truly dangerous is the fact that it is not about personalities but about programmes.
In the national interest, I hope the government lasts five years, but at the heart of the BJP's running crisis lies a dilemma that will not go away easily-if the party is seen by the faithful as having sold its soul for ministerial posts, does it have a raison d'etre? And if the party's reason for existence is contested by the party itself, can it lead a stable government?
