Vajpayee rules over a divided house

new delhi: in politics as in theatre, timing is everything. each step of prime minister vajpayee's carefully choreographed tandava that dissipated the clouds looming over his government proved this. since this is not the first time that vajpayee has held out the threat of resigning, last week's drama and its outcome is likely to be as ephemeral as a summer storm.the first indications of this are already in. relations with shiv sena have not quite mended and neither has the problem of getting the national democratic alliance constituents to behave been resolved satisfactorily. the ajit singh and pmk entry episodes point to a disturbing increase in the instances of opportunism in its coalition policies. but the event compels attention on a host of other issues as well. there was a clever mix of fact and suggestion in vajpayee's "resignation threat" speech. the issue of the ability of an aged man to handle a coalition was posed alongside the issue of his health. but the way the health question was posed: "people also say i am unwell" bespoke of an agile political mind not above using emotional blackmail. but everything is fair in politics as in love and war. just who are the people who say that vajpayee is unwell ? if they are within the bjp or the nda, then it is a serious matter. either they are right or they are adopting a morally reprehensible tactic in undermining their leader. but the party's reaction to vajpayee's threat, reinforced his supremacy within the parliamentary wing of the party. this was critical in steam rollering the next day's nda meeting and setting the stage for the breaking the tidal wave unleashed by manipur, agra and us 64's failure. the tame outcome of thursday's adjournment motion proves once again, that as political operative, vajpayee stands heads and shoulders above the crowd. actually, vajpayee is not too worried about the opposition. his worries are internal, both within his party and his coalition. the induction of ajit singh remains a sore point, particularly with haryana chief minister om prakash chautala. the shiv sena episode and the fernandes intervention all point to increasing friction in the alliance. so far the telegu desam remains steady, but political dynamics of the state could change orientations. all would be well if the bjp was a united outfit. but that is where the problem may lie. there are indications that personality conflicts may have contributed to the agra failure, with senior aides pulling in different directions. this may be the cause of the party's other fiascoes -- the political bungling in the assam elections, the governmental failures in manipur, agra and in managing the uti. but having used his resignation brahmastra twice, some political observers believe, vajpayee may be running out of options.