Party Polls Hold Ominous Portents For Govt

The presidential elections in the Congress and the Janata Dal hold ominous portents for the longevity of the United Front government. Various permutations and combinations are being worked out in the post-election scenario, mainly after the completion of the election of the countrys next President in July.

If schedules are stuck to, both the Janata Dal and the Congress should complete the party elections by June 20. With the possibility of a big win for Sitaram Kesri, and a weakened Janata Dal due to the growing differences between the Sharad Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav camps, new alignments are on the cards.

A senior Front leader said three possible alliances after the party elections would be debilitating to the United Front: Kesri joining hands with Laloo Yadav as has been long expected; Kesri joining hands with Mulayam Singh Yadav as indicated by the recent proximity between the two, and G K Moopanar returning to the Congress alongwith the Tamil Maanila Congress leaders.

Kesri did not succeed in becoming the Prime Minister after withdrawing support to the H D Deve Gowda government, but that does not mean that he has given up his efforts towards this end, he said.

A duly elected Kesri as Congress president would have more verve in his actions, and could get the party to agree to new alliances in order to lead a Congress-led coalition, the leader remarked.

A minister from a regional party regretted the developments in the Janata Dal: The developments in the Janata Dal will weaken the government in the sense that it is the largest party in the coalition, and the internal turmoil shows no signs of abating even after the election. It is expected that at least the party that leads a coalition is strong internally.

After the election, nobody knows if the Janata Dal will be in the same shape and size as it is now.

Prime Minister I K Gujral, he said, did not dare to touch Union minister for civil aviation C M Ibrahim in the reallocation of portfolios even though he had criticised his policies during his Nepal visit.

The remarks had further incensed the Gowda camp which was said to be ready to take on Gujral as well as further queer the pitch in the Janata Dals presidential election.

Left leaders are also concerned about the developments in the Janata Dal. They feel there would be an adverse impact on the image and credibility of the United Front.

While CPI(M) politbureau member Sitaram Yechury hoped that the Janata Dal would set its house in order at the earliest, CPI secretary D Raja expressed concern over the way the judiciary was allowed to monitor inner-party elections.

Even though it is an internal matter of the Janata Dal, it has some external implications. It effects the image of the UF, Raja added.