Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s desire to go down in history as a great Prime Minister,like Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru before him, was mainly responsible for the moderation and pluralism which had come to mark his programmes and policies ever since he became the leader of the National Democratic Alliance ruling the country. But electoral compulsions, anxiety to come back to power again and keep RSS leaders in good humour is making him abandon all that. With the forthcoming elections in his mind, Hindutva is again becoming the core issue of his policies and programmes.

State Assembly elections are due to take place in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in early 2003 and in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Chhatisgarh in the later part of the same year. Again, early in 2004, elections are due in Orissa, Karnataka and Bihar. It is clear to the Prime Minister and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders that unless their candidates romp home in large numbers in the Assembly elections, chances of the party emerging a winner in the parliamentary polls to be held later in 2004 cannot be bright.

That the Vajpayee-led Central government’s record is far from impressive became clear to the party ideologues when the BJP was routed in the Assembly polls in U. P., Uttaranchal, Punjab and Delhi. Now, to swing the polls in their favour again, they are resorting to the revival of Hindutva, which was mainly responsible for their party doing well in the elections in 1985 and 1991. Since the Ram Temple slogans had helped the party raise its strength from two in 184 members in the Lok Sabha in the last general election in 1999, these slogans will be heard again. Vinay Katiyar, one of the most dedicated champions of the Ram Temple, has been made the BJP chief in Uttar Pradesh.

For the same reasons, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narender Modi, despite his failure to check atrocities against the minority community after the Godhra incident in the State, remains firmly in the saddle. Already, there are reports that Uma Bharati will be deployed to lead the party in the polls in Madhya Pradesh and Vijay Raje Scindia would be entrusted the responsibility for Rajasthan. All these changes are being planned to raise the pitch of the Hindutva slogans. So far, the Congress, which is the country’s main opposition party at the moment, is counting on widespread disenchantment with the Vajpayee government. But how will it succeed in countering communal frenzy likely to be raised by the RSS and its allies remains to be seen.

Even during the recent Cabinet reshuffle the Prime Minister had elections in mind. Instead of making changes for giving a facelift to his government, he resorted to measures which would fortify the BJP for the coming battle of the hustings. Among those inducted into the Cabinet were two Bollywood stars. Apparently, it was hoped that their star appeal would help swell BJP rallies.

In fact, the long-awaited Cabinet reshuffle which the Prime Minister himself had said would be a major exercise turned out to be an anti-climax. Several ministers who had been marked for their non-performance remained untouched. Several others doing good jobs in the departments under their charge were shifted without any justification. .

All this happened because Vajpayee was more worried about the elections next year than any other thing. The appointment of L. K. Advani, Union Home Minister, as the Deputy Prime Minister, certainly clarified the position regarding Vajpayee’s successor. That Advani was already No 2 leader in the party was well-known. He was given the official nomenclature of Deputy Prime Minister in the hope that this would help him make a better impact on the electorate while campaigning for the party. Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley who have been relieved of their ministerial portfolios and deployed for party work were among the effective ministers who had made their presence felt in the departments under their charge. That both these articulate leaders would be able to turn the tables against other parties in the elections seems unlikely at the moment. For quite some time, there was a lot of speculation in the media that Yashwant Sinha’s days as Finance Minister are numbered. But instead of showing him the door, the Prime Minister has made him the new Minister for External affairs. Although he may do as well as his predecessor, Jaswant Singh , his presence in the Cabinet is not going to enhance the party’s reputation. Jaswant Singh, who has been relieved of the Foreign Affairs portfolio and made the new Finance Minister was conducting diplomatic relations with ease and aplomb befitting the office he was occupying.