Trapped in BJP s Framework

Trapped in BJP's Framework AT stake in the November 16 by-elections are 16 Lok Sabha and 58 assembly seats. It is not surprising therefore that the BJP and its affiliate organisations should have contrived yet another round of controlled tumult centred on the disputed site at Ayodhya. Acquisition of land around the mosque by the BJP government in UP and the vandalisation of parts of the structure by kar sevaks herded by the VHP-Bajrang Dal are intended to signal to interested sections of the electorate the seriousness of the BJP's approach to the construction of the Ram temple. Yet the BJP's predicament is such as to compel it to restrain itself and its various front organisations within limits that pre-empt any extreme step by the centre against the UP government.