Elections were invented to replace class war. To cut the violence associated with the transfer of power from those who have it to those who don't. Shorn of its blood and gore, elections are essentially a battle between competing visions.

Frankly, I don't see two competing visions in Elections 2004. It is like a no-holds-barred battle between two large alliances for occupying the centrespace of Indian politics. The BJP claims that the Congress occupied the centrespace for 45 years, so it is their turn to grab that space. And the Congress is desperate to worm its way through. The BJP's claim in its new vision document that it wants to become a centrist alternative is nothing but a euphemism for staying in power.

There is nothing wrong with the pursuit of power as long as the long-term aim is to transform society. Without that, the naked pursuit of power can be debilitating. Take Sheohar, a constituency in north Bihar. In the name of tokenism, the BJP has provided the ticket to a minority candidate, Anwarul Haque, the sitting MP and an ex-RJD rebel. The Election Commission's records will show that his credentials match those of D.P. Yadav, who was a national embarrassment for the BJP. Instead of going to town with Haque's dubious credentials, the Congress has decided to support his rival, Anand Mohan, president of the Bihar's People's Party and a don who runs a caste sena. Raise the issue of criminality with any BJP or Congress leader and the answers echo each other: "The compulsions of winnability".

The similarity of electoral strategy between the two parties is neither limited to criminality nor to Sheohar. The Congress is busy copying the techniques of advertising and public relations from the BJP, the BJP the art of appeasement of minorities from the Congress. The Congress has learnt the art of making allies from the BJP, the BJP the science of subsidies from the Congress. And the same display of grubby pragmatism when it comes to friendship-the Congress welcomes DMK, which it earlier accused as being the killer of Rajiv Gandhi, the BJP welcomes Varun Gandhi, the heir of Sanjay Gandhi, who committed the Emergency excesses. In the mad scramble to grab the median voter, the two parties are becoming mirror images of each other. And the biggest casualty: the short shrift to ideology.

Formula for Success

GETTING SET: F-1 technicians in Mumbai

MUMBAI After the successful marathon run, it is time for speed on the high seas. For the first time in India, Mumbai will hold the Formula One Powerboat Racing Grand Prix, culminating at Sharjah in December. The Rs 10 crore- plus event from March 5 to 7 kicks off the first of 14 worldwide races.

The Maharashtra Government, having signed a five-year contract with the international powerboating association, Union Internationale Motonautique, hopes the race will put Mumbai on the global map of sports and tourism.

By Sheela Raval