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No end to Mr. Modi's troubles

Marriages can be arranged, but not forced. Within a day of the Bharatiya Janata Party president, Lal Krishna Advani, bringing about a meeting between the leaders of the two warring factions in Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, Minister of State for Cultural Affairs Bhaukubhai Ugad, sent in his resignation. Mr. Ugad was the only Minister in the Modi Government to call on Mr. Patel when he was playing host to an informal meeting of dissidents on August 16. After being ticked off at a Cabinet meeting for showing up at Mr. Patel's residence, Mr. Ugad complained of "insulting treatment" and declared that he would not work under the leadership of Mr. Modi. The resignation shows up the truce brought about by Mr. Advani during his two-day visit to the State. Far from discouraging the dissidents, the BJP president, through his praise for Mr. Modi, appears to have provoked the rebel group to raise the stakes in the toppling game.

Evidently, the moral authority of the BJP national leadership falls short of the minimum needed to shore up Mr. Modi's fortunes during these troubled times. With the dissidents seeking to force the hand of the national leadership by their sheer numbers, it is futile for it to pretend the problem can be contained by `ruling out' the Chief Minister's exit. In the days ahead, Mr. Modi cannot count on the openly-pledged support of the party's national leadership; he will need the backing of his ministerial colleagues and a majority of the BJP members of the Gujarat Assembly. Mr. Advani's mission to ease the pressure on Mr. Modi has failed. Forced patch-ups do not hold.

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