Uf Parties Diluting Anti-Congressism

The initial ennui is giving way to a more pragmatic approach.

Constituents of the United Front who, until a week ago, did not want anything to do with the Congress, are veering round to the possibility that in the post-election scenario, all non-BJP parties would have to join hands to prevent the party and its allies from forming the government.

Some constituents like the Samajwadi Party have already joined hands with the Congress, the merit of which is dawning upon the Left and other parties in the coalition.

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress have entered into an alliance in Maharashtra, who has found grudging approval within the Front on the ground that such an arrangement is needed to check the BJP-Shiv Sena in the state.

 

Last week, senior Front leaders like H D Deve Gowda and H S Surjeet declared that they would prefer to sit in the opposition rather than take or extend support to the Congress.

Yesterday, senior CPI leader A B Bardhan, struck a different note while recalling that his party had extended support to the Congress on some occasions in the past; for example, supporting Indira Gandhis move on bank nationalisation etc.

The Left parties are determined to ensure that communal forces are kept at bay. If secular, democratic forces come together, it will be a big step forward. The Left parties want to influence the course of politics in the post-election scenario, and bring it left of centre. We hope there will be withdrawals of some candidates so that communal forces could be kept at bay, Bardhan said.

Front sources said that except for some regional parties like Telugu Desam, and the DMK, the anti-Congressism of other constituents had been toned during the tenure of the coalition government.

This would be further diluted in view of the prospect of the BJP and its allies actually forming the government.

There is already talk in official circles that for all the optimism and propaganda unleashed by the BJP and its allies, they may still fall short of the majority figure. In the event of the non-BJP parties coming together and participating in the government, one likely scenario is that the Left parties and sections within the Congress would prefer a weak Congressman as the Prime Minister.

Manmohan Singh or P A Sangma would consolidate and stabilise the Congress. This is not the objective. The Left and other parties would like the Congress pot to keep boiling, and could insist on several key portfolios, leading to virtually downgrading the post of Prime Minister, a senior official in the Union home ministry yesterday said.

According to a senior cabinet minister: What is wrong in joining hands with the Congress when we were in the government with their help all this while. Even parties like the CPI(M) which extended support from outside are now willing to join the government. There will once again be a consolidation of non-BJP forces after the elections.

Bardhans tone found an echo in Hyderabad yesterday, where state CPI leader S Sudhakar Reddy said the top priority for the Left parties was to prevent communal forces from capturing power. Like Bardhan at the Press Club of India here, he too was non-committal on banking on the Congress partys support.

Bardhan, however, said there had a very big erosion in the Congress partys secular credentials, and it would have to take the path of rediscovery and introspection if secular and democratic forces were to join hands after the elections. He wondered if the party needed Sonia Gandhi to bring back its secular traditions.

I always thought that the Congress has strong secular traditions, and the party has some of the legacy of the freedom movement. But this seems to have evaporated rapidly. While in power, the party has compromised with communal forces. The Congress will have to undergo a lot of rediscovery to be part of the secular movement, he said.