Given the fact that the TDP had not been very comfortable with the BJP and had fought shy of joining the government despite the persuasions of the BJP, the party's eagerness to snap its ties with the BJP made sense. More so when the TDP is slated to face elections later this year and it, therefore, cannot afford to antagonise its Muslim voters. But within a day of making the confusing statement, the TDP made an about-turn when it was once again seen siding with the BJP. It now appears the TDP is a better ally of the BJP in the post-Vajpayee situation than was the case earlier. Seen against this backdrop, the announcement ending the TDP's relations with the BJP was the height of thoughtlessness. Such a leadership surely hasno right to blame its cadres for `misreading' the party position and taking their own stand. The TDP's problems basically stem from the contradictions inherent in its approach to political issues. The party has allowed itself to be dictated by events and has in the process lost much of identity.

It is well known that it was out of political compulsion that the TDP decided to support the Vajpayee ministry, though ideologically it had little in common with the BJP. Similar considerations continue to play with the TDP. At the moment the chances of a third front government supported from the outside by the Congress are remote as the Congress is keen to form its own government. Since it is the Congress which is threatening to dump the TDP in the electoral dustbin in Andhra Pradesh, it is almost impossible for the party to have any understanding with the Congress on government formation except at the cost of its credibility. It is for this very reason that the party has decided to stay put with the BJP for itconsiders it a lesser evil than the Congress. Thus when the party's decisions are guided by realpolitik, the least it can do is to share the blame for its bolting MPs.