It used to be that only Muslim politicians held Iftaar parties. The popularity of such occasions for political symbolism made non-Muslim politicians jump into the fray. That Iftaar parties have plumbed absurd and insulting depths is evidenced by the spectacle of a venomous anti-Muslim such as L K Advani with the traditional Muslim head-wear, once donned by only the most pious.

Cynical Misanthropists
No Muslims attended Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's party, unless you count BJP MPs such as junior minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, pretty much regarded as a naqli by his community. Interestingly, more Muslims attended the Iftaar party hosted by UP BJP heavyweight Lalji Tandon in Lucknow recently - being one of the old shop-keepers of old Lucknow, Tandon personally knows a lot of Muslims, though they are mostly Shias.

Which is more than can be said about either Atalji or Advani. The only Muslim that the PM knows is Syed Shahabuddin, who privately relates that he left the Foreign Service for politics at the coaxing of his then Foreign Minister - A B Vajpayee (1977-79). Some Muslims allege that he was egged on by the BJP to take a hard-line stance on the Babri Masjid issue in the late 1980s, a development that only helped concretised the BJP's agenda. Yet even he was not at the PM's Iftaar.

The BJP, however, must be bursting with smiles, following the war of the Iftaar parties. On one side was the party thrown by the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha of the two Yadavs, Mulayam Singh and Laloo Prasad. On the other was that of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Maulana Grassroots
Mulayam's was nothing in comparison to last year's lavish affair, when he was Defence Minister and the Air Force mess had taken care of arrangements. Its significance, however, lay in its deliberate timing, to coincide with Sonia's and thereby tell a political tale that would have gladdened the BJP - which knows it can only win in north India so long as the anti-BJP vote is divided between the Congress and the 'third force'.

Ever since last November's assembly elections, the RLM has been snubbed by the Congress, which is not interested in cobbling a government with the Yadavs, and would rather bring down the government only when it is ready to ascend to power alone. Mulayam was thus interested in proving that neither he nor Laloo were going to politically prostrate themselves at Sonia's feet, and that they were the ones in touch with the grassroots in UP and Bihar, not the Congress.

So while Sonia's Iftaar, organised by Ahmed Patel, comprised the hoi polloi of Muslim society, the RLM's Iftaar, officially hosted by Amar Singh, had an air of earthiness, thronged by Muslims from ordinary walks of life.

Sonia's Kebabs
Sonia's bash was attended by Muslim intellectuals, academics, artists, bureaucrats, socialites, and the clergy, as well as by leading political lights. One self-styled intellectual and former Prime Ministers, I K Gujral, was conspicuous by his absence. Sonia had reportedly refused to invite him since he had taken the Akali Dal's help in the last parliamentary elections.

Only the Janata Dal, having been discarded by the RLM, showed up at 10, Janpath. A former JD minister says this is because some of the JD heavyweights, not wishing to disappear with a vanishing party, are interested in joining the Congress. Keenest is Ram Vilas Paswan.

The MP from Hajipur who recently flirted with the Samata Party feels that Nitish Kumar's party has no future in Bihar. He knows he has no future with Laloo, who will chew him alive at the first opportunity. This despite half the JD - led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda - are not averse to reuniting with Laloo. This group, in fact, apparently with a lot of time on its hands, dreams of a grand union of former JD big-wigs, including Nitish, George Fernandes, and even Ramakrishna Hegde.

Political Onanism
Paswan obviously does not share this fantasy, and is reportedly looking to retain some relevance courtesy the Congress. So he went next door for Sonia's Iftaar, and the lady returned the favour a night later, by attending his crowded bash. Alarmed by her presence, former Prime Minister V P Singh, who made his first public appearance since returning from treatment in London (and whose condition does not appear encouraging), made a hurried getaway.

The CPI was only other 'third force' constituent to be represented at the Congress President's Iftaar, by veteran Indrajit Gupta (his colleague A B Bardhan went to the RLM Iftaar to balance things out). The CPI-M did not show up at Sonia's because only Harkishan Singh Surjeet was invited, and he was out of town; by the time V Narayanswamy found out, it was too late, for Sitaram Yechury had already departed for the RLM affair. With the secular brigade so far from united, is it any wonder that the BJP is gleeful?