104 SOCIAL SCIENTIST Not only are these articles well-argued they have also drawn out new dimensions of Congress politics in so far as the Muslims are concerned. Since it is difficult to deal with each article separately, an attempt will be made to analyse the broad themes, brought out in individual articles. In his article, P.K. Bose has concentrated on the Congress strategy to deal with the political demands the tribals make. Depending on the nature of demand, Bose &rgues, the Congress employed the strategies of accommodation, appropriation and suppression. That none of the strategies was adequate in effectively dealing with the-fribals championing independently their cause even to the extent of arguing for secession. What it probably indicates is the fragility of the Congress strategy to create another vote bank and therefore the process of bringing them to the mainstream as an equal partner has never been seriously undertaken which explains partially the enmity of the Naga National Council or Mizo National Front or even the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Articles on the politics of backwardness draw our attention to the consequences of extending reservation in job and other concomitant facilities to the backward castes. The arithmetic of voting explains the favorable response of the ruling elites to reservation since it will help them 'extend and consolidate their support base'. Although the reservation scheme is in operation in a number of states, the decision to implement the controversial Mandal Commission Report recommending reservation for the backward castes in the central services has sparked off a serious controversy which, by setting one caste against another, prepared the ground for a caste war. Articles by Ghanashyam Shah and John Wood on Gujarat show the extent to which the reservation policy of the successive governments have consolidated the internal division among the Hindus more than anything else. V.K. Nataraj, dwelling on the political backlash in the form of mass agitations against protective discrimination, has proved his point in the context of Karnataka. Bhagwan Dua's article on the secessionist movements in India draws out the fragility of the politics of appropriation and accommodation in a diverse and diffused society like India. Dua corroborates his argument by reference to the effort of the Congress leadership since the reign of Jawaharlal Nehru. Neither Indira Gandhi nor her successor, Rajiv Gandhi was as successful as Nehru who relied on the strength, stability and experience of state party leaders for coping with separatist forces. The rise and consolidation of fissiparous tendencies in recent years in Punjab, the north-east region and Kashmir show the degree to which Indira Gandhi's 'opportunistic alliance with the secessionist forces and Rajiv Gandhi's 'hasty accord' have failed to neutralise the separatist movements. Whatever the explanation, the tendency towards secession indicates, if not confirms, the limitation of our constitutional arrangement drawing heavily on