The tension thickens, as the Supreme Court put off the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits verdict by another week. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has personally requested the BJP to help with the government's efforts to keep the peace. Though the BJP itself hasn't verbalised its intentions, it's clear the party is making a serious effort to make sure its radical "fringe" elements don't end up hijacking its agenda after the sensitive judgment. The party appears to have realised, after several stabs at playing it both ways, that the Ram Mandir and issues of that polarising ilk have been wrung out. They might have once propelled the party into becoming a national force, but now they only diminish its all-round appeal among voters and political partners.
Certainly, the fact that the BJP gets into the Bihar election campaign soon is another reason some rules of engagement are being sought to be established, to ensure that irresponsible rhetoric in the electoral fray doesn't end up destroying its delicate political alignments. But the BJP acting all grown-up has rattled its more aggressive brethren, including the VHP, which has long been preparing for the verdict with a largescale agitation, the Hanumat Shakti Jagran. Though its plans have now been somewhat deflated, it resolved to soldier on with the Ram temple agitation. The VHP insinuated that powerful forces ("mahashakti"), seeking reconciliation and settlement, were behind the deferral.
The BJP and the Congress have the greatest stake in stability. Though they might rip into each other in the legislative arena and take their political disagreements very seriously, they have to forge a common discourse on matters affecting India's larger well-being. There has been a series of productive positive exchanges, like the nuclear liability bill, based on this realisation that, as the potential government-in-waiting, the BJP has more to gain by displaying a constructive, governance-focused bent of mind. The BJP and the Congress know their interests align in ensuring that India remains calm and unshaken by the Ayodhya verdict, whatever it may be.
