Cong-Uf Bonhomie To Face Acid Test In Qilla Raipur

The newfound bonhomie between the Congress and the United Front, publicly displayed during the Gujral governments motion of confidence, faces its first ground-level test during the by-election for the Qilla Raipur Assembly byelection in Punjab.

As things stand, their political egos seem set to keep them apart. Both sides are willing to pool forces against the Akali-BJP alliance, but neither is willing to say so publicly first.

Senior leaders of the Congress state unit decided at a meeting with AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad yesterday that they could work for the CPI(M) candidate, if the party asked for their support. If the CPI(M) did not publicly seek the Congress support, they decided, they should contest.

 

Asked if his party would extend the required invitation, CPI(M) General Secretary HKS Surjeet indicated that it would not. If they want to defeat the Akali-BJP combination, let them take a decision, said he.

The CPI(M)s Tarsem Jodhan polled 27,800 votes in the general elections held in February. The Congress candidate polled just 5,100. The seat was one of two won by Punjab Chief Minister PS Badal. He retained the other one, causing a byelection for Qilla Raipur, which is near Ludhiana.

The byelection presents an opportunity for the Congress and the United Front to make a dent in the image of invincibility which the Akali-BJP alliance has acquired since it swept the general elections. If the CPI, CPI(M) and Congress fight together, it is winnable, says Azad.

He points out that many voters voted for Badal personally rather than for the Akali party and so the new Akali candidates votes must surely decrease.

No doubt, the CPI(M) is banking on just that to win on its own - without compromising its anti-Congress politics, which it considers vital in its strongest bases, West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

Azad holds, though, that the CPI(M) will not do as well this time as it did in February. He acknowledges that the Congress erred in not fielding its district president, who had been groomed for the constituency by the late state party chief, Beant Singh.

The party gave its ticket to an outsider. The result was that the district unit worked against him and transferred their votes to the CPI(M), considering it their best alternative against the Akali-BJP alliance. State party leaders have assured him, Azad says, that about 20,000 Congress votes were transferred to the CPI(M).

If the CPI(M) and the Congress fight separately, our positions will be reversed this time, he claims. They will get 5,000 and we will get 25,000.