All the king's horses and all the king's men,
Could not put Humpty Dumpty together again.

So goes an old ditty. It is an appropriate comment on the Government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Who are the men (and women)? The Central Government revolves around just a few ministers: Vajpayee, Home Minister L.K. Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, HRD Minister M.M. Joshi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan and Law Minister Arun Jaitley. And which are the horses they ride? First, it was Kargil and it turned out to be a thoroughbred. Then, the Government tried to ride on swadeshi, reforms, 9/11, Afghanistan, war on terrorism, and the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTO). When all of them turned out to be more mules than racehorses, it fell back on the old warhorse of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Voters in four states were not impressed and gave the boot to the BJP governments in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, and the Akali Dal-BJP government in Punjab. Within days of ramming through the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in a rare joint session of the two Houses of Parliament, the BJP received its worst drubbing in Delhi.

There is now a nearly unbridgeable chasm between the BJP-led Government and the people. With every passing day it is becoming clear that the BJP and its allies desperately wish to cling to power-even if they are not able to do anything to arrest the economic and social decline. How else does one explain the dichotomy in the DMK's stand-alliance with the "Central" BJP but not with the "state" BJP? How else does one explain the reluctance of the TDP to accept the offer of the Lok Sabha Speaker's post after G.M.C. Balayogi's death? The BJP's allies can see power slipping from their hands, yet they do not want to give it up midway. The advantages of clinging to power for as long as possible (the Government still has two and a half years to go) are too obvious.

The people also see the NDA Government for what it really is. It is a charade, a vaudeville show. The BJP and its allies have made a mockery of governance. No one in the Government cares. Advani made a perfunctory visit to Gujarat and then forgot about the unending violence. Fernandes had a lucid moment, but quickly reverted to the party line saying that the Gujarat Government had "done its best". As for the rest, including Jaitley, an MP representing Gujarat, they will see no evil and hear no evil. Gujarat's agony is simply blotted out of their consciousness.

People want a government that cares. Sometimes, events happen which initially may be beyond the control of the government. In such cases, people want the government to take control. People want their ministers to be candid even if it means unburdening oneself and admitting one's mistakes. The people of India do not see any of these virtues in the Vajpayee Government. In Gujarat, there was a despicable attack on Hindu passengers and, in retaliation, a pogrom was organised by the Hindu fundamentalists; Chief Minister Narendra Modi gave a perverse twist to Newton's theory; he put different values on the lives of Hindus and Muslims. Yet, Vajpayee's Government defends the indefensible Modi. All over India, the minorities are convinced that the NDA Government will no longer protect them or care for them. Their alienation is complete.

The pensioners, the middle class and the poor are resigned to the burden of more and more taxes to fund wasteful expenditure. Even after successive electoral defeats, Sinha voices banalities like, "I am not in a popularity contest." Only Sahib Singh Verma had the courage to blow the whistle. Everyone else curses the finance minister under his breath but pretends there is nothing wrong with his budget or his economic policies.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has opened the defence cupboard: beginning with the coffin scam, skeletons are tumbling out with frightening regularity. The Opposition boycotts Fernandes, yet he carries on with utter contempt for Parliament and public opinion. Advani and Jaitley have hitched their wagons to the POTO star. It is necessary to remind them that the "law" against terrorism has been in operation since October 24, 2001. All acts of terror since then, including the attack on Parliament, have taken place despite the law. The people are not fooled by the argument that pota will make a difference. They know that such laws will be misused and the victims of the legal onslaught will be the minorities, Dalits, tribals and the media.

Vajpayee's Government has begun to unravel. If there is a residual determination to govern, he must show it not in poetry but in prose, not in words but in deeds. Vajpayee may yet earn a reprieve, however undeserved it may be. As Congress President Sonia Gandhi pointed out, it is indeed a time of reckoning for the prime minister.

(The author is a former Indian finance minister. These are his personal views)