HVK Archives: Limits of pragmatism
Limits of pragmatism - The Observer
Editorial
()
May 2, 1998
Title: Limits of pragmatism
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Observer
Date: May 2, 1998
Prim Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has turned the tables on his
antagonists. He has denied his opponents the chance to make
political capital out of what might have been an embarrassing
situation by effectively persuading Sukh Ram to resign from the
Prem Singh Dhumal ministry in Himachal Pradesh. This is no mean
achievement, given Sukh Ram's insouciant stance that it was the
BJP that needed him. His opponents would not be wrong to see in
Sukh Ram's statement the making of another tormentor of the BJP,
a la Ms Jayalalitha. Fortunately, such a denouement has been
averted - at least for the time being. With the BJP-led coalition
going through rough weather almost since its inception, it is
indeed a welcome sign that Sukh Ram has relented. That he has
also promised not to let his resignation have an adverse impact
on the state government's longevity is a bonus.
Welcome as these developments are, it does not answer why the BJP
did not spare itself the slur of supping with the likes of Sukh
Ram in the first place. Many in the party may question the
propriety of Union parliamentary affairs minister Madan Lal
Khurana's statement expressing embarrassment in his party's
alliance with Sukh Ram. But such frankness would have served a
purpose if it succeeded in opening up the debate within the party
about the limits of pragmatism. Hopefully, such unapologetic
questioning about the avoidable error of having taken in people
with corruption charges as its allies and giving them important
portfolios, is a welcome change. Perhaps, pragmatists within the
party may still counter the argument by pointing out that if the
BJP had not embraced Sukh Ram and his post-Congress and post-
telecom scam avatar, someone else will. The Congress in the
context would have walked off with the reins of the government
while the BJP congratulating itself with having stuck to the
straight and narrow path of ethical public conduct. In the eyes
of the pragmatists, there cannot be a greater mark of failure and
incompetence em to allow the rival to walk off with the honours,
however dubious.
Herein lies the bane of competitive politics: That the winner
gets all. This is but another version of the old dictum that
'the end justifies the means'. The disease is not a recent
phenomenon. It had started manifesting itself soon after the
Congress monopoly on power began to crack. Perhaps, a new urgency
has been added by the manner in which the distortion became the
rule. The race to beat each other will continue. In the process,
many of the ethically desirable standards of public conduct will
get trampled underfoot. This mad neglect of the ethically
correct conduct can be arrested only by a consensus among
parties: To listen and act on their better judgements. But again
this raises the sixty-four thousand dollar question: Who will
bell the cat? Political parties must jointly address this
challenge if the political system is not to degenerate further.
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