The Janata Dal seems to be on a self-destructive course. If the present trends are anything to go by, it may end up as an also - ran in the next elections. This has grave implications for the United Front, needing as it does a party which has an all-India appeal to carry conviction with the masses. Thus any sign of the Janata Dal's disintegration will immediately raise doubts about the UF's ability to stage a comeback to power. It is as good as losing a match even before it has begun. The party's predicament stems not so much from the departure of Laloo Prasad Yadav and his supporters in Bihar as its loss of identity. This is a major setback for a party which gave the country four Prime Ministers, albeit for short periods ...

The desperation with which the party has called upon prodigals like Laloo Yadav and Ramakrishna Hegde to come back into its fold is a reflection of its utter helplessness. The situation in Karnataka,, where the party could not retain the seat Deve Gowda vacated after he  became Prime Minister, and Orissa, where a vertical split has struck yet another nail in its coffin, is not dissimilar ...

Needless to say, few will shed tears over the eventual disintegration of the Janata Dal ...