I thought of Goanet readers in view of some postings recently, in regard to the BJP and forthcoming elections. This will also hold true for Goa.:
>From the economist: BACK FROM LUNCH -1ST The prime minister's stock is soaring IN THE middle of 2002 Atal Behari Vajpayee, India's prime minister, looked as though he might hobble off the world stage on ailing knees, taking his creaking body into political retirement. TIME magazine ran a big story on how this "ordinary old man" was spending "the twilight of his political life where he wants to be--out to lunch". Nearly two years later, Mr Vajpayee still walks hesitantly on reconstructed knees, often speaks disconcertingly slowly, and enjoys his lunch more than he perhaps should at 79. But he is increasingly recognised as one of the world's most surprising statesmen. Now he is pushing his Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) multi-party coalition into an early general election, confident of a victory that few analysts are yet prepared to question. In the past fortnight Mr Vajpayee has pulled off a reconciliation with President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, setting the two countries on the most promising, if uncertain, path to peace for years. He persuaded President George Bush to announce, on January 12th, a long-awaited co-operation agreement in high technology, space and nuclear products, which will beef up India-American relations. He got Jaswant Singh, his finance minister, to produce not one but two generous pre-election mini-budgets on January 8th and 9th. And L.K. Advani, his deputy prime minister, is to back up planned talks between India and Pakistan by meeting leaders from Kashmir's separatist All-Party Hurriyat Conference on January 22nd for their first-ever formal talks on devolution. Mr Vajpayee also seems energised by the prospect of the election campaign. At a recent political rally he spoke with the sort of force and clarity that once made him famous as an orator, and said he hoped a new government would be in place by the end of April. The prime minister's 2002 low point came when more than 2,000 people were killed in Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat. Afterwards, the state's controversial chief minister, Narendra Modi, won a landslide assembly victory for the BJP on an anti-Muslim ticket. That strengthened hardliners within the Sangh Parivar, the Hindu "family of organisations" to which the BJP belongs, and led to fears of similarly provocative election campaigning elsewhere. But, following a defeat in a small northern state, Mr Vajpayee tacked to a more moderate line, with campaigns stressing development and stable government. He was rewarded in December with election victories in three key states. Mr Vajpayee now seems unlikely to retire before his health compels him to, and certainly not, as was mooted a year or so ago, soon after the coming election. "If he works at 79, he can work at 84," says Pramod Mahajan, a prominent BJP politician. That seems to be accepted by the 76-year-old Mr Advani, who has long been a rival as well as an ally, and whose prospects of becoming prime minister fade the longer Mr Vajpayee remains. Mr Advani is seen as a nationalist hardliner. He cannot mount a challenge now because he knows that he would find it difficult to hold the BJP's National Democratic Alliance coalition together, let alone win an election, if Mr Vajpayee were to depart. The BJP's election confidence stems partly from disarray in Congress, the main opposition party, which is ineptly led by the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, widow of Rajiv Gandhi, the former prime minister assassinated in 1991. The BJP plans to campaign on a strong economy (with growth of over 7% last year), stable government and now the prospect of peace with Pakistan. It adds up to a hard act to beat. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################