JUDICIARY-Unrealistic Expectations

Nefarious Game THE recrudescence of construction activity on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site and the policy of prostration before it adopted by the centre, seem to have more to them than meets the eye The BJP's decision to whip up a frenzy and renew the spirit of the 1990 rath yatra has, significantly, come fast on the heels of its declining popularity in the four states that it is ruling. Popular disenchantment with the performance of BJP-run stale governments as well divisions within the organisation, have recently found their reflection in elections (in the Shimla municipality in Himachal Pradesh and in the UP council poll). The shooting down of workers in Bhilai in MP and one of the ugliest caste riots in Kumher in Rajasthan have blemished the party's public image. In order to distract public attention from these failures, as well as to keep together the restive ranks which are splitting into factions (the worst such division having taken place in the party's MP unit), an agitation was urgently necessary. It first tried to stir up trouble over the issue of the transfer of Teen Bigha corridor to Bangladesh. The VHP and RSS rabble- rousers promptly arrived on the scene with storm-troopers from UP, MP and other north Indian states where the BJP commands influence. 'Suicide squads' were formed to prevent the transfer. But it all came to nothing. Within West Bengal, it failed to muster popular support, and as for the rest of the country, Teen Bigha was too far away from public consciousness.