DRIFTING ALONG: (From left) M.M. Joshi, Naidu, Vajpayee and Advani; (below left) the Congress makes capital of the petrol-pump scam

No, you cannot call it a midlife crisis, for the BJP in power is too young to be assailed by existential anxieties-unless the party is suffering from some kind of premature ageing. The party that claimed to be holier than the rest-and it was-is fast becoming one of them. Just four years in power and the sheen is gone, today it is all about sleaze. The party brass is worried, and for some time, they have been meeting regularly to make sense of this crisis in image.

At one such meeting, just prior to his departure for the UK on an official visit, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani told his colleagues that the party was under attack. There was no relief from the season of bad news: the controversy over petrol and LPG allocations to RSS and BJP workers gave way to allegations of favouritism in land allotments. Then came the sensational-and hysterical-allegations of high-profile Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan's involvement in the journalist Shivani Bhatnagar murder case. As bad luck would have it, this was just the moment that Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray found most auspicious to demonstrate why he is a frontrunner for the title of India's most irresponsible politician (see box). Ironically, the sympathetic press that the forced resignation of the Sena's Suresh Prabhu-seen as a clean and efficient power minister-has received contrasts starkly with the media's cynical response to the BJP's protestations.

The BJP's response to the current crisis has been uncharacteristic. In the past, the party has displayed the capacity to respond to adversity through a process of collective introspection. This has seen the party recover from setbacks like electoral defeats after the Babri Masjid demolition. And, when the Government scrapped dubious petrol and LPG allotments, it was in tune with the party's so-called moral character. That was momentary. Suddenly, its public postures began to betray anger and a persecution complex. Since the Tehelka revelations in March, 2001, the BJP leadership has felt that the media has been selective in attacking the party. Wearied by fighting successive rearguard battles, the party's sense of grievance has peaked.

Nation

FADED AND FALLING A series of scams and controversies has steadily chipped at the BJP's image since March last year. Knee-jerk efforts at damage control have left the Government vulnerable. 1 TEHELKA QUAKE Former BJP president Bangaru Laxman's Rs 1 lakh folly hurt the party's credibility and set back plans to groom new leaders. Response: Bangaru was asked to quit, but the party dismissed the entire episode as a conspiracy. 2 OIL SPILL Petroleum Minister Ram Naik is in the line of fire after influential state BJP leaders, party workers and RSS men got petrol and LPG agencies. Response: Cancelled a majority of allotments but only grudgingly. Pointed to Congress misdeeds. 3 PETTY GAINS Vajpayee's man Friday and minister in the Mayawati Government Lalji Tandon's department has been indicted by the CAG Response: Continues to manage the prime minister's constituency and has drawn the ire of partymen. 4 HIGH DRAMA Theatrical allegations levelled against Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case embarrass the BJP. Response: The party gives the minister a clean chit but the Opposition organises demonstrations.

When the newly constituted BJP Central Election Committee met at Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's residence on August 21 to discuss the strategy and party tickets for the Jammu and Kashmir elections, the discussion veered round to the sleaze revelations that have rocked the Government. The dominant sentiment at the table was that the party must "go on the offensive" and strike back at the Congress by exposing its "history of misdeeds". Interestingly, Vajpayee maintained a studied silence. Says BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu: "This is not even a shoot-and-scoot campaign. It is a spit-and-run mission." Yet, this aggression is reminiscent of the Rajiv Gandhi regime's futile attempts to bluster its way out of the Bofors crisis. That the open season of BJP-bashing has tempted the Opposition to overreach itself is also true as the allegations of land allotments levelled against Advani's daughter Pratibha by Uttaranchal Congress spokesman Surendra Aggarwal show. The Advani in question turned out to be Ashok Advani, CEO of Business India.

Yet, a grating edge can be detected in the BJP's statements. On the Urban Development Ministry's land allotments to RSS-backed trusts, the party released similar lists from the Congress era. Take Mahajan's predicament. The allegations were hurled at him by the hysterical wife of an accused in a murder case. But people seem to have lost faith in politicians-or their words.

"By simply saying that a Ram Naik was preceded by a Satish Sharma and that Congressmen were scamsters is not going to alter the impression that the BJP is no different from other political parties," says a senior BJP minister. Still, the party has not come out with a counter-strategy or a damage-control mechanism. In both the petrol-pumps and land-allocation cases, a number of beneficiaries were RSS members. They were as willing as any political worker to milk the benefits of power. Yet, the organisation has been unwilling to see any impropriety, taking refuge in the line that "just because someone is an RSS man does not mean that he should be discriminated against". It seems oblivious to the likely damage to its credibility if the BJP fails to arrest its falling graph. As for the BJP itself, its response to the crisis of credibility will define what sort of a party it is going to be. "After all, what is at stake is the soul of the party. The BJP does not want to follow in the Congress' footsteps," says a party office bearer.

Not that the Government has not had not notched up successes. Senior Samata Party leader and Railways Minister Nitish Kumar says the Government has not been an all-around failure. "No one in this country thought that we could have six lane highways. We have done well in infrastructure sectors. For example, a safety fund of Rs 17,500 crore has been set up for the Railways," he points out. Kumar, however, agrees that public perception is moulded by several factors. The Vajpayee Government's success in staying on the reforms track and initiating employment-generating measures like Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana and increasing public spending are not earning it the points it could have. "As things stand now, the NDP cannot really hope to retain power," says an NDA leader. "At best we can hope for a hung parliament."

SHIV SENA

MAULED BY THE TIGER Histrionics has been Shiv Sena pramukh Bal Thackeray's stock in trade. After summarily asking Rajapur MP Suresh Prabhu to quit as Union power minister, Thackeray declared that he was fed up with politics and would like to retire. ME ALONE: The Shiv Sena chief does not tolerate anybody else acquiring a profile But just as the resignation drama was all about Thackeray asserting himself, sacking Prabhu-despite Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's reservations-was meant to send a signal. Says Sena spokesperson Subhash Desai: "Getting a Sena minister to step down is an internal party matter. Balasaheb has his own style of conveying messages." Prabhu, who has attracted the envy of Sena old-timers, has paid the price for not catering to Thackeray's "interests". The Sena chief wrote to Vajpayee asking for Prabhu's replacement by Anant Geete, who had only recently been sworn in as minister of state, and Geete's substitution by Anandrao Adsul. Says Adsul, MP from Buldhana: "I am happy the chief has entrusted to me a great responsibility. His word is the last word. No one dares defy or ignore them." Prabhu's growing popularity invited the scorn of Thackeray, who dismissed him as "an Alice in wonderland". The demotion was stoked by inner-party wranglings-leaders like Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi are resentful of Prabhu. The argument was that he could not be "clean and efficient" at the "cost" of the party. Prabhu was also the victim of differences between Thackeray's son Uddhav and nephew Raj. Prabhu is believed to be close to Uddhav, while Adsul is supposedly close to Raj. The two faction even put up their own options as Prabhu's replacement: Subodh Mohite and Rajya Sabha member and Videocon Group chief Rajkumar Dhoot by the Uddhav group and Adsul by the Raj faction. While the Sena is lamely equating Prabhu's ouster with the BJP drafting Union ministers Arun Jaitley and M. Venkaiah Naidu for party work, it is quite clear the resident of Matoshree will not tolerate anyone else acquiring a high profile. -Sheela Raval

A typical example of how BJP men have contributed to this image crisis is Vajpayee's man Friday in Lucknow, Lalji Tandon, who is minister in the Mayawati Government. He has been indicted by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its review of the functioning of Uttar Pradesh Housing and Development Board (UPHDB), which is under his ministry. The CAG has pulled up Tandon for getting mobile phone bills worth Rs 4.06 lakh cleared by the UPHDB. According to the CAG, the board had obliged select people by squandering more than Rs 22 crore by way of excess compensation during the previous BJP regime. "A test check in audit revealed that Rs 37.18 crore was paid as compensation against Rs 14.44 crore reported to the Government," says the report. The beneficiaries were largely BJP and RSS men.

Adding to the Government's woes is an increasing shortfall of competent ministers to man important portfolios. Despite Mahajan suffering collateral damage due to the Shivani case, he is one of the brighter minds in the Government who will have to live down the controversy. Also, with Naidu and spokesman Arun Jaitley drafted for party work, the talent deficit in the Government will only get more acute. The exit of the Sena's Prabhu will affect Vajpayee's ambitious references to power reform which were an important part of his Independence Day address to the nation. His likely replacement, Sena rookie Anant Geete, not only lacks experience but is a novice in dealing with reform issues, which require both enterprise and understanding.

The RSS way of "getting things done" is not the only addition to the Government's image woes. The BJP is a helpless victim of RSS affiliates like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch which have discovered a lucrative formula. They organise seminars that are sponsored by ministries. Careful name-dropping-"Sudarshanji (the RSS chief) will be present"-ensures quick compliance.

The BJP hopes that Gujarat will provide it a breather. The party is looking forward to a comprehensive electoral triumph. "The Congress can only rejoice that its defeat has been delayed," says Jaitley. There is an expectation that a victory in Gujarat will give the Government a reprieve and the BJP a new confidence. A victory in a divided society may not answer the question of those who have been let down by the party with a difference: Was the party's "difference" discernible only when it was not in power?

-with Subhash Mishra