COMING not very far behind the Tehelka exposure, the US-64 scam has once again demonstrated that, despite all its moralising from the roof-top, the BJP’s cupboard is full of no one knows how many skeletons. One can only say that neither the people’s well-being nor the country’s defence can be entrusted to this scam-tainted party par excellence.

The BJP’s concern for the people is evident from the made-in-foreign economic policies which its government is implementing with a vengeance --- so much so that it has left the Rao government far behind in this regard. If the peasantry is being ruined because of liberalised import of agricultural commodities, and if peasants are committing suicide in droves, it is obviously no concern of the BJP regime which wants to usher into a situation where the poor have simply no right to live. The way this government has gone on curtailing subsidies for toiling sections while heavily subsidising and patronising the rich, only indicates where its real sympathies lie. The fact is that the last three-odd years of BJP rule in the country has rapidly worsened the plight of the toiling masses while filling up the coffers of those like Ketan Parekh and of the multinationals. It is not without reason if the monopoly-controlled media have been lavish in their praises for the BJP-led regime.

The regime is also killing the long-term interests of the country by dismantling the public sector that has been the basis of our self-reliance and served social purposes fairly well. The disinvestment of one PSU after another means the government is handing over to monopoly houses and multinationals those very productive units which could, given efficient and non-bureaucratic management, prove veritable gold mines for the country. The way the regime sold the BALCO for a song, only indicates that everything is not above board in its dealings. The same can be said about the entry of Indian and foreign private companies in telecom, insurance, banking and other sectors. And now it is out to sell the Indian Airlines. The regime was not bothered when one of the bidders for the airline was eliminated and there remained only one bidder in the field; it did not even think it necessary to invite fresh bids for the company. The intended privatisation of defence production units, jeopardising the vital security interests of the country, is only a logical culmination of this anti-national drive.

It was in the midst of this very drive that the Tehelka exposure came as a deep shock to the people of the country. The whole country saw the BJP president taking a bundle of notes from decoy arms dealers and, moreover, asking the latter to pay him in dollars next time. The country also heard the voices of Samata leaders and one important RSS functionary, promising to help the decoy arms dealers for filthy lucre in return. One may recall that when the Bofors issue had surfaced, involving only Rs 64 crore, it had led to serious repercussions in the country’s politics. But the BJP regime has proved far more brazen and unashamed insofar as corrupt dealings are concerned. In any country in Europe, an exposure of such a dimension would have forced the government of the day to resign. But the BJP, the "principled" party that it is, has obviously no regard for the public opinion. Even though the circumstances of the exposure compelled the defence minister to resign, he is itching for a return to the ministry and has perhaps been promised a berth at a more opportune moment in future. He, in any case, is still acting high and mighty in the NDA’s affairs.

The BJP regime is also posing a grave threat to our national unity and secularism. Immediately after the BJP came to power at the centre, attacks against Christians started in Gujarat and then took a more and more organised form. Then these attacks were replicated in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Delhi, Punjab and some other states, culminating in the heinous murder of a priest and his two minor sons in an Orissa village. Anti-Muslim (and also anti-Dalit) pogroms have also taken place in this period.

But the BJP regime, the RSS that controls the BJP, and various outfits of the RSS are not content with only anti-minority actions. They are also trying to communalise the whole education system of the country in order to produce a generation of fanatics and bigots so that they may realise the dream of a therocratic state in the country and wipe out the minorities, in utter disregard of our tradition of unity in diversity, our secular ethos and syncretic culture. Thus they are only causing serious harm to the national unity of our country which has a place of dignified life for as many as 18 crore minority people.

The BJP has always been against the concept of linguistic states and a federal polity. Along with secularism, federalism is a pillar of our national unity, and this pillar too is under threat today. The way the BJP regime sought to interfere in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and some other states, the way it ignored the north-eastern states while signing a ceasefire deal with a Naga militant group, and the way it engineered defections in Manipur and Goa, have been very dangerous steps against Indian federalism. However, the saddest part of the story is that even those NDA partners or allies, like the DMK and TDP, which have been very vocal in defence of federalism and demanding more autonomy for the states, have only been silent spectators to the BJP’s anti-federal depredations.

As for India’s foreign policy, the less said the better. The BJP government has totally reversed the earlier foreign policy that had been our consensual policy since 1954. Our earlier foreign policy was based on non-alignment, anti-imperialism and a struggle for world peace and complete disarmament. It was a policy that not only served our national interests well but even helped the national liberation movements and expedited the process of decolonisation in the post-war period. Moreover, it brought the newly liberated countries on one platform and made them a significant force in world affairs. It was this very foreign policy that earned for India a place of honour in the comity of nations.

But all this seems to have gone with the wind, thanks to the BJP regime’s capitulation before the US imperialists. It has persistently ignored the world community’s clamour that India take a lead in reviving and strengthening the NAM. Not to talk of demanding that the US dismantle its nuclear base in Diego Garcia, the BJP regime is now begging for a chance to use some of the facilities in this base. It has withdrawn recognition from the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic and is a silent spectator to the massacre of Palestinians in their own homeland by the US-backed Zionists.

And to top it all, when the Bush administration announced its NMD plan, that meant a revival of the earlier Star Wars project, India was one of the few countries that welcomed this move that threatens world peace beyond imagination, simply for the sake of establishing US hegemony over the world. In this regard, even the UK’s Tony Blair government was not as unashamed as the Vajpayee regime. The Shanghai-5 unequivocally opposed the US move; later China and Russia signed a treaty of friendship in order to meet the threat. It is very clear today that if only India, China and Russia come together and forge mutual cooperation in diverse fields, they may well put an end to the present-day unipolarity and create a multipolar world in its stead, to the benefit of the whole international community. But this is what India under the BJP is not inclined to understand.

And now the Vajpayee regime is going to undertake joint military exercises with the US and even allow the latter to use our military bases and installations. One may well understand how much this move threatens our vital security interests.

It is clear that the three-odd years of BJP rule have been the years of an unmitigated disaster for our country and our people. Yet, to be faithful to reality, nothing else could be expected from the BJP whose anti-minorityism, anti-federalism, pro-imperialism, pro-rich and anti-public sector stance have been known from its Jan Sangh days. What is really tragic is that a number of parties, that till the other day were swearing by secularism, federalism, non-alignment and what not, have been instrumental in bringing this thoroughly reactionary party to the seats of power. What they have displayed in this period is nothing but equally unmitigated opportunism that is ever ready to look the other way for the sake of power and pelf.

Take the case of anti-minority attacks, for instance. Even when Graham Staines murder took place in January 1999, the allies did nothing but let out only a feeble murmur instead of taking a firm stand. When the centre misused article 356 to dismiss the RJD government of Bihar, the allies had the same lame-duck stance. And more recently, when Advani fulminated against the talk of giving autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir under the provisions of article 370, the allies forgot to realise that it was a virtual negation of article 370 which they claim to uphold. The allies may well pat their own backs that they have made the BJP keep the contentious issues like article 370, temple construction and common civil code out of their National Agenda for Governance. But the fact is that BJP leaders have not given up these issues; they have, to use their own words, merely "postponed" them for want of a majority of their own. This was clear when Vajpayee spoke in Straten Islands off New York, this was clear when he came out with his "musings" in Kerala, and this was clear when Advani fulminated against giving maximum possible autonomy to Jammu & Kashmir.

But the question is: At a time when the BJP’s allies are not prepared to make their voice felt, how is one to meet the challenge which the BJP-led regime is posing to our people’s well-being, to our national unity, self-reliance, to our status in global affairs?

It is our people who can provide the only answer to the threat.

The situation is not as hopeless as some people may think. Even today, our people are on the move in various parts of the country. Our working class has fought several heroic struggles in this period and many more are in the offing. Peasantry too has offered resistance at places. Middle class employees, youth and students, other toiling sections are also gearing up. Intellectuals have come forward to meet the threat of communalism in various fields.

The only thing is that all these diverse trends of resistance are still uncoordinated and sporadic. The need of the hour is that all these struggles are synchronised into a powerful all-India resistance. True that the BJP-led government is in no mood to listen to the voice of reason. It remained unmoved even after the heroic struggle of BALCO workers and many other struggles. But that only proves the truth of an age-old Indian proverb: Vinash Kale Vipareet Buddhi (one loses his head when one’s downfall is imminent). The regime may be deaf and dumb, but our people do have a way "to make the deaf hear." The way old allies like the BJP and the Shiv Sena mutually fought recently only indicates the imminence of this downfall.

The Left parties do have to discharge a big responsibility in mobilising our people and launch struggles.

But the experience also tells us that cooperation with other parties is crucial in this regard. It is here that the recently formed Lok Morcha has to play a crucial role so that it may serve as the nucleus of protest and mobilisation. It is only in this way that the Lok Morcha may forge ahead as a third alternative in the coming days.

The coming assembly elections in UP and Punjab are going to be crucial. People have rejected the BJP and allies in the recent Tamil Nadu and Assam assembly polls. The TDP and BJP badly suffered in the Andhra local bodies elections. All this is indicative of the people’s mood and is certain to be repeated in UP and Punjab. The Lok Morcha has to catalyse the process as the NDA’s defeat in these states, particularly in UP where the Samajwadi Party (a Lok Morcha constituent) is a major force, is sure to spell the beginning of the end of BJP regime.