It is neither able to spit it out nor swallow it. Dethroning him will push him into Mulayam Singh's arms in what could become a backward consolidation, with the potential of pushing the BJP to the sidelines. For the upper castes are likely then to swing to a Muslim-backed Congress. Retaining him would deepen the simmering discontent in the upper castes, pushing them increasingly into the arms of the Congress. Though the '99 polls have been characterised by a coalitional bipolarity, and a 1996type United Front government of chief ministers in Delhi does not seem likely, the poll process has once again underlined the importance of the states.
Power continues to move downwards.
There is a growing realisation that unless you are a player in the state, you are not likely to carry much weight at the Centre. For all his reservations, Chandrababu Naidu tied up with the BJP in Andhra Pradesh to remain relevant. Sharad Pawar plans to come to Delhi via Mumbai. Today a chief minister is more powerful than a central minister. In the seventies and even the eighties, the newly emerging groups led protest movements inopposition to majority governments.