Years of Non-governance

Except for liberalization which I call the process of evolution and also a sinister machine, nothing tangible happened for the country.  The government had neither time nor will to tackle the basic problems that the people encountered. Consumerism with all its fangs spread all over India and affected every individual wherever he was. Money became the most sought after item and there was a mad rush for amassing it resulting in various scams. The five-year rule of Rao will largely be remembered for scams that it produced or helped produce. Not that his government alone was to blame for it. But as there was not even a façade of governance in his regime, all checks had evaporated and the principle of accountability was simply thrown off. Laloo Yadav of Bihar was one of the several beneficiaries of the kind of liberalization sans checks India adopted for itself.  

India was once again in turmoil, because while scams were silently fructifying, Babri Masjid was demolished throwing India into a cauldron of communal riots. If Indira Gandhi was held directly responsible for extensive damage to the Golden Temple in 1984 that led to her death, Naraimha Rao too was largely blamed for the demolition of Babri Masjid which was ultimately to lead to his political death. The downfall of the Congress was quite discernible even in electoral terms. BJP was projecting itself as the next ruling party, and there was no dearth of those willingly accepting this projection. Almost all the parties, in their own ways, had targeted Congress and Narasimha Rao as also the BJP. That the Congress would not return to power was very much in the air, but whether any other would get the majority was highly doubtful. In fact, a hung parliament was the expectation with the BJP getting the major chunk. Indeed, the BJP emerged as the largest single party, but fell short of majority. Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed the government, but it did not last beyond thirteen days. Strangely enough, the parties that were cutting at the throats of one another before and during the elections huddled together to form a government with the Congress extending support from outside. A government of thirteen parties led by HD Deve Gowda who was quietly functioning as the chief minister of Karnataka came in existence. India thus entered an era of politicians ruling without mandate. Most of the parties that were daggers drawn at each other declared in unison that it was a mandate against the saffron party, though the saffron party was the largest party. They went on to claim that it was a mandate for them to unitedly form a government. Look at their ability to read what is not written. In spite of certain constraints, Deve Gowda began in earnestness. He was seemingly more earnest than the main supporting party Congress could digest. Congress in the meantime rid itself of Narasimha Rao who could not win them election, and who was now seen to be in the centre of various scams. Sitaram Kesri was anointed as the new president of the party. Well, to give the devil his due, he was duly elected (Rajesh Pilot may have had a different view). But Sitaram Kesri was hurt and annoyed as Deve Gowda was seen to be serious about governing, a thing his party had no pretensions of doing. Deve Gowda would not allow his government to be guided by the major supporting party; he would do nothing to contain the communal BJP.