Of all the ill-advised decisions taken by Roshi Bhadain since he entered the National Assembly, and there is no shortage of those, resigning as an MP was the dumbest. It is a small step for him; it is a setback for the opposition.

Bhadain resigned as a protest against a couple of – admittedly – very serious issues, namely the Metro Express – a senseless, opaque project– and the transfer of power from father to son – a shamefully deceitful act. So, from that standpoint, we commend his resignation.

But here’s the rub: Bhadain’s power trip was based on a number of assumptions, none of which is realistic or plausible.

First, he assumed that the MSM/ML government would immediately step into the electoral arena just because he has challenged them to do so.  Having worked with them so closely for over two years, he should have known better. Much better. As it happens, no sooner did the ML leader, Ivan Collendavelloo, open his mouth wide to say that they were ready for a by-election than he was made to close it again and a different line from the government side started being echoed by its spokespeople. There is even reason to believe that Collendavelloo’s statement was meant to ensnare Bhadain into resigning – a trap he naively fell right in! 

The second assumption is that the opposition – though it had finally united in its action against the government – was willing and ready to support Bhadain’s return to parliament.  That is so naïve it is not even funny. Why would they? They have an opportunity to have one more candidate in parliament and the machinery to go about achieving that. Bhadain is not anyone’s friend or even ally, so give me one reason why they would support him.

The other major assumption behind Bhadain’s confidence that he will win the by-election is that people have forgotten his past while in government. No one has.

Bhadain also made the serious mistake of blindly counting the PMSD as his unconditional ally. Just because Xavier Duval offered him a seat on the front bench in parliament – an offer which was not accepted by the speaker anyway – that does not mean that they have become allies. Duval’s motive is to lay his hands on the supposedly lethal files that Bhadain claims to have so that he can use them in his PNQs and strengthen his position as leader of the opposition. From there to supporting him as a candidate, there is a long, windy way, peppered with steep climbs and airless altitudes.

Bhadain sounded so pathetically innocent when he suddenly expressed his astonishment that the other opposition parties – whom he kept criticising – were even thinking of fielding their own candidates. In his mind, the only possibility is for them to line up behind him and help him become the political monster he has been dreaming of becoming.

So, the situation today is that the Labour Party stalwart, Arvin Boolell, has formally entered the political arena, triggering a lot of effervescence in the ranks of the party. The machinery has already started working full blast. The MMM is hesitating between two candidates, one of whom will be lined up soon. The PMSD has declared its intention to also enter the race by fielding a candidate – possibly the party president, Robert Pallamy, and Rezistans ek Alterntativ has already lined up Kugan Parapen. If you add these to Roshi Bhadain’s Reform Party, you end up with five opposition parties vying for one single position which they will soon be tearing each other apart to get.

If that is not a boon for the government, I don’t know what is. A gift by Bhadain to his former colleagues. It wasn't meant to be one, of course, but it is a gift nevertheless and he is not even likely to get a thank you note for it.

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