The applause Mr Vajpayee has received after declaring a unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir has been deafening. Equally evocative was the projection of his tour to the US. Earlier, the visit of President Clinton to New Delhi also gave him a boost.

All this has made Mr Vajpayee believe that he is irreplaceable in the present circumstances. He feels he is the only meeting point for the 20-odd political parties which constitute the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Since it needs him, he can ride roughshod over anybody's inclination. No proof is necessary for such a thinking because only two of the NDA allies, the Telugu Desam and the Trinamool Congress, did question his remarks. They too asked for only a clarification, not correction. And neither of them ever threatened to withdraw support. DMK's M Karunanidhi made some noises but only to go on record.

Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress did not want to pull down the government, although she was upset. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam felt uneasy because his supporters included a large number of Muslims. But the party's success in the Andhra Pradesh assembly election has convinced him that he needs the margin which the BJP can provide to win.

On the other hand, nearly two years of his rule at the Centre has convinced Mr Vajpayee that the parties in the NDA are as much keen to be in power as the BJP is. Many a time what looked like a crisis blew over due to the vested interest the alliance partners had developed in governance. A seat in the council of ministers brought round the most recalcitrant.

Parties in the NDA do not want to push Mr Vajpayee beyond a point. They are afraid lest he should dissolve the Lok Sabha and order fresh polls. No outfit other than the BJP has either the resources or the cadre, like the RSS, to face a contest at this time. It is another matter that the BJP may also not have an easy time. Its economic policies have created unrest in the country, particularly among the farmers, who have not been able to get a fair price for their produce. Still, it is far better prepared than the rest.

In fact, the regional parties will have the last laugh. They will improve their position. The Congress is way behind in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the two states which return nearly one-fourth members to the 525-member Lok Sabha. The third front is a non-starter.

Even if the NDA partners were to pull down Mr Vajpayee, where would they go? The Congress or, more so Sonia Gandhi, has not emerged as a viable choice. What is the alternative, or, more appropriately, who is the alternative? Mr Vajpayee is still their best bet. The NDA meeting has shown that. There were fervent efforts to close the ranks. Once again Mr Vajpayee got the full support. The resolution passed endorsed his observations on the Babri masjid.This exercise does not, however, restore the credibility of Mr Vajpayee. He had come to acquire the reputation of a person who, although a swayam sevak, was seen a cut above the rest of the BJP members. He was considered a liberal, who reflected pluralism of sorts. What should worry the nation is why he has hurt that image?

And why should he touch a wrong chord at a time when he is in the midst of a ceasefire and when talks between India and Pakistan are becoming a possibility? Probably, he wants to placate and prepare the Hindutva forces before he makes a substantial concession on Kashmir. Even if it is time, this is no way to propitiate communal forces.

That there has been pressure on him from the RSS is apparent. The RSS chief, K Sudarshan, and his colleagues had dinner with him at his residence only a couple of days before he made the remark that "construction of Ram temple is an expression of national sentiment which is yet to be realised."

The RSS leaders may have told Mr Vajpayee that they wanted him to give them something tangible to assuage the strong feelings building in their cadre against globalisation. They might have also argued with him that the Muslims would never vote for the BJP and that he should win back the traditional Hindu vote in view of the assembly elections in six states next year. Mr Vajpayee might have thought that the feathers he had ruffled on economic reforms and a few others matters could be smoothened by a statement on the Ram mandir at Ayodhya. It was probably an act of balance of sorts.What Mr Vajpayee does not realise is that the nation, which had begun to have communal harmony, has been destabilised by his statement. His observation may have spanned the distance between him and the RSS or removed the impression of differences between him and L K Advani. He may have even strengthened his party. But he has weakened consensus in the country.

True, his views on the Babri masjid are not new. "I have always held them," he said in reply to my question as to why he had made the statement. But what is new is that he has made such an observation for the first time after assuming the office of Prime Minister. I recall going to him on December 7, 1992, a day after the demolition, requesting him to resign from the BJP to launch a new party. His reply was: "Let the temple come up."

No doubt, he believes in the `cause'. But while heading the NDA, he has been repeatedly saying that the construction of the temple was not on the coalition's agenda. It had a salutary effect on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which had pillars and other pieces of decoration ready for transfer to Ayodhya. The talk of the temple had died down.

The Muslims who felt horrified over the demolition of the Babri masjid were quietening down and looking towards the court to settle the matter. Mr Vajpayee has revived all those forces which, in the name of the temple or the Babri masjid, were communalising the atmosphere. The NDA resolution that the Supreme Court's verdict will be binding is the only saving grace. The real issue was that of propriety, that of continuance in office of home minister LK Advani, human resources minister Murli Manohar Joshi and sports minister Uma Bharti, even after the CBI had charge-sheeted them. The Babri masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was on the backburner. Mr Vajpayee's observation has confused the real issue and has brought to the fore the construction of the temple .

The Prime Minister should realise that his defence of the three ministers amounts to interference in the normal course of justice. A person occupying the highest position in the country should not be playing with the basic tenets of the Constitution which does not give any citizen a superior position. Mr Vajpayee does not realise the harm he has done to the polity.

The Prime Minister of a country, which claims to be secular, cannot afford to equate "national aspirations" with "Hindu aspirations." This only shows that Mr Vajpayee does not care a bit about the interpretation his words can have.