The third front catapulted a non-entity like Mr H.D.Devegowda to the prime minister’s gadi. with due respect to the veteran politician from Karnataka, he was so busy politicking by the night that he would doze off during the day, even at official functions. His rise perhaps was predetermined. one remembers reading about his visit to a small town in Tamilbnadu .He just wanted to know whether he would make it to the municipal corporation at least, equivalent to city hall. the astrologer’s response was shocking: you will be the king.
King? kings are as dead as dodos in democratic India. in that case you will be the number one political functionary in the country, the soothsayer said.
he was proved right. the third front first offered the post to Jyoti Basu. the comrade refused. next it was Mr Gowda, the consensus candidate.because he would pose no threat to the allies.
he managed to be friends with all but his bete noir Ramakrishna Hegde. a possible and rival power centre.and karnataka’s janata future and political fortunes have never been the same.
now emerges the socalled fourth front where three unlikely and formidable forces have joined hands to keep Dalit leader Mayavati out of the race and frustrate the ambitions of UPA , the ruling coalition and the NDA whose frontline leader lal krishna advani has been bursing the prime ministerial ambition for long. He is fit, and that is what counts.free India had its first non-congress government led by Morarji desai, who was senior to advani by a few years when the office came to him.
Again, india’s fortunes have never been the same politically after the janata party , a loose coalition of various shades of ideology and hues , took the centrestage.
the latest development makes it clear that the top players have less of a rule in the coalition . their power to bargain is in inverse proportion to their number.
one of the forecasts already in the air is that the present LS poll would be followed by another because the first would render as too fractured a verdict.
one wonders whether these funny developments are meant to demonstrate the simple fact that democratic form of governance is not necesarily the best.
the answer is not long in coming. Four weeks in a nation’s life is less than a nanosecond , especially if the country is so ancient as our great land is.