Party Loyalties Krishna Chaitanya IT is a rather sad commentary on the state of parliamentary politics in Bihar, as indeed in the rest of India, that it has now very little, almost nothing to do with social justice and equitable distribution of wealth in favour of the masses. Politics, which ought to have been a means to achieve these ends, has, m the hands of parliamentary parties become an end in itself whereby political parties culling across the left, right and centre divide indulge in politicking, using the popular aspirations and people's yearning for change to perpetuate their hold over parliamentary institutions. The divide between the political class and the masses was never so sharp, so wide, so deep as today. Given this atmosphere, and quite naturally so, ideological distinctions among parliamentary left, right and centre have vanished, opportunistic alliances are being struck and party affiliations changed at the drop of a hat. It is an old truism now that Bihar represents the worst of India. All sorts of opportunistic alliances have been made on the eve of the elections. Party loyalties have been changed overnight. Tickets have been allotted to political turncoats disregarding the claim of long-standing party members. As many as one-third of the 54 MPs who had won the 1991 Lok Sabha elections are Iightmgihis election on different party tickets. As many as 35 candidates of the major parties arc recent defectors.
