There are all sorts of chimeras
in India. But some illusions are more real than others. Take the ‘Muslim
vote’, for instance. Now, whether there exists such an entity could be
debatable, given that members of the community tend to vote much like everyone
else, along regional and caste lines.

However, as a category this
just has to be the most favourite among politicians. And now, the Marxists have
also fallen prey. Forget all about the inherent atheism members of this breed
are supposed to possess, faith and all its categories are fair game in India.

CPI(M) politburo member M K Pandhe has just cautioned the Samajwadi
Party that it may lose Muslim support if it goes with the government on the
Indo-US nuclear deal. A Congress wag countered this saying after all the nuclear
deal may actually be executed by Hassan Obama and not Bush!