There is little doubt that no matter how much evidence is provided about the impropriety and misdemeanour of the two ministers, the BJP will not budge from its decision to stand by them. The two ministers will also take advantage of their party’s indulgence to hold on to their chairs.

Behind this obduracy is, first, the apparent belief in the BJP that the dismissal or resignation of either of them, or both, will be interpreted as a sign of the party’s weakness under political and media pressure. This is something which the party cannot allow when it is under a “strong” leader like Narendra Modi.

Secondly, the BJP probably believes that the stepping down of the two ladies will be the first nudge in a game of dominos, leading to the unravelling of the party’s organizational structure in Rajasthan, to start with, and subsequently elsewhere with debilitating implications for party president Amit Shah’s vaunted capabilities.

But, it isn’t only these possible repercussions which are deterring the party from taking any step against the two ministers although the BJP knows that its display of stubbornness may jeopardize the entire monsoon session of parliament.

As a result, there will be no forward movement on two of the party’s key reform measures – the amendment of the land law and the bill on goods and services.

If the BJP is nevertheless willing to take the risk of sacrificing the reforms in order to save the two seemingly culpable ministers, the reason is the nervousness of a party which probably still regards its success in the last general election as some kind of a fluke caused more by the Congress’s failures than its own capabilities.

It is not sure, therefore, whether it can afford to destabilize the Union council of ministers and a state government and thereby slacken its grip on power.

After all, the BJP’s rise has been the result of Modi’s adroit exploitation of the previous government’s various follies, including involvement in scams and a policy paralysis. With such an opponent, the BJP could not but win.

Besides, the party found in Modi someone who could enthuse the electorate, particularly the younger generation. Even then, it is no secret that Modi has his detractors in the party. L.K. Advani is a major figure among them.

The prime minister, therefore, is unwilling to take a step back if only because his instincts are still influenced by his experience in Gujarat where he was the master of all he surveyed, facing no opposition from the Congress and capable of silencing those like Keshubhai Patel who raised their voices of dissent.

It is possible that he is slowly realizing that it is different at the national level. For one, the opposition here is a great deal more assertive. For another, there is a distinct possibility of electoral setbacks as the Delhi elections last February showed unlike Gujarat where the BJP comfortably won three elections in a row.

With the patch-up between Nitish Kumar and Laloo Yadav, the BJP will not be able to bet on its success in Bihar. Its fate will be even worse if Sushma Swaraj’s “conflict of interest” vis-à-vis Lalit Modi is exploited by the Janata Dal (United) and the RJD, and Vasundhara Raje leads a revolt in Rajasthan.

Modi’s only hope is to divert attention from “Lalitgate” to his original plank of economic growth. But, the problem is that development takes place at its own pace and cannot be accelerated to suit a party’s political purpose.

It will be several years, therefore, before the bullet trains begin to run and a Digital India providing 175 million broadband connections takes shape by 2017, taking the first step towards reaching 600 million by 2020.

So, as the people wait for these promises to bear fruit, the government will continue to be rocked by the various controversies, of which the Vyapam affair about recruitments to government posts in Madhya Pradesh threatens to put the previous government’s scams into shade because of the mysterious deaths of the accused, witnesses and investigators associated with the scandal.

The Vyapam affair may not directly undermine Modi’s credibility, but the effect of the events in Madhya Pradesh, especially the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s reluctance to order a CBI probe, along with the rumpus involving Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje will keep the BJP and the prime minister on tenterhooks for the foreseeable future.

Curiously, it is not only the two ministers who are being shielded by the BJP, but also nonentities like Gajendra Chauhan, whose appointment as chairman of the film and television institute in Pune is opposed by the aspiring young filmmakers.

What these controversies have done is to enable the Congress to shake off its demoralization and try to recover some of the lost ground. The fallout cannot but hurt the BJP. (IPA Service)