|
Congress : being shunned by every party |
 |
The Congress is in a resurgent mode ever since its victories in the recently held state Assembly elections. It has its Chief Ministers in 11 states as against the four ruled by the BJP. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi appears to have matured as a leader and is, therefore, not challenging the NDA government. But she is aggressively challenging her opponents like Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chief of Maharashtra. While on a visit to the state last week, she indicated that the Maharashtra Government would not hesitate in taking action against Thackeray for his alleged role in the 1992-93 Mumbai riots.
She is also gearing up the party for the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The organisation in the state has been revamped with a newly appointed 236-member executive committee. She determined not to seek any alliance at least for the present. She is holding back the entry of her daughter Priyanka Gandhi into politics. One set of advisers is asking her to let Priyanka campaign during the Uttar Pradesh elections. Another set of advisers wants her to wait till the general elections. Not many seem to have a definite clue of what the Congress president and her daughter think about this debate over the launch-timing.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is concentrating on good governance in the states ruled by the Congress. At a meeting of state chief ministers convened by her on June 16, the agenda was of good governance, agriculture, fiscal management, accent on weaker sections and sustainable development with reference to environmental considerations.
But there are problem areas for the Congress. Despite doing much better than the BJP in the recent assembly elections, the Congress seems to be somewhat uncertain at present about its position in the non-BJP camp. For a start, the CPI(M), which has been playing a proactive role in constituting the so-called People’s Front, appears to have distanced itself from the Congress in recent weeks. This attitude is in striking contrast to the enthusiasm which the CPI(M) had shown before the 1999 elections in putting the Congress at the centre of an opposition alliance.
The CPI(M)’s latest stance is not easy to explain although the party did warn the Congress that its alliance with Mamata Banerjee would affect its position in the non-BJP camp at the Centre. However, it is possible that at the moment, the Marxists are more concerned about keeping Mulayam Singh Yadav in good humour till Uttar Pradesh elections later this year or in early 2002. The Samajwadi Party leader’s antipathy towards the Congress is well known, although it is not shared by his fellow Yadav, Laloo Prasad, in Bihar who now appears to be the Congress’ only friend. Indeed, his friendship may have acquired greater value after Chief Minister Jayalalitha’s declaration that her alliance with the Congress in Tamil Nadu is no longer in existence.
Even as the Congress and the People’s Front maintain a distance from each other, they cannot ignore the fact that neither of them can secure a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. The Congress may have once thought of such a possibility, but it has shown a more realistic appreciation of the political scene in recent times. On its part, the Front must be aware that it is an organisation of bits and pieces, based mostly on the Samajwadi Party’s influence in Uttar Pradesh and the CPI(M)’s in West Bengal. Ms Jayalalitha may have cosied up to it recently, but neither her whimsical temperament nor her legal difficulties inspire any faith in her support. The Front may be banking on the Telugu Desam joining it at some point of time (which may explain its wariness about the Congress). But there is no certainty about Chandrababu Naidu’s plans at the moment. What is certain is that the BJP’s opponents are divided enough to leave the Vajpayee Government free of any worries as it boosts its majority by wooing Ajit Singh, Ajit Panja and other free-floaters on the political scene.
Sonia cold shouldered by Jayalalitha and Mamata
Coming back to the Congress, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi’s relationship with the two other powerful women, Ms J. Jayalalitha and Ms Mamata Banerjee, has also soured. In the recently concluded assembly elections, all three were on the same side. Ms Gandhi, it had appeared prior to the elections, achieved some sort of a political coup by making alliances with Ms Jayalalitha in Tamil Nadu and with Ms Banerjee in West Bengal. Before the elections, the expectation was that both alliances would strengthen the Congress because the allies seemed to be the front runners in the election race. The results punctured Congress expectations. Ms Jayalalitha won but the scale of her victory made the Congress irrelevant in Tamil Nadu. Ms Banerjee lost and the scale of her defeat made her and the Congress irrelevant in West Bengal. These developments radically altered the configuration of alliances much to the detriment of the Congress position.
Ms Jayalalitha has also been openly flirting with the People’s Front. Since the lady from Tamil Nadu has little or no political scruple, she is willing to make deals with any political formation if it suits her immediate interests. And the Congress, at the moment, in no way furthers her ambition.
Ms Banerjee’s situation is somewhat different. From being an aspirant chief minister she has been reduced to a political also-ran. Within her own party, the Trinamool Congress, there is a strong feeling that this plight of hers is directly related to her exit from the National Democratic Alliance government and her pre-election alliance with the Congress. Many members of Parliament belonging to the Trinamool Congress are keen to go back to the NDA and the latter is not unwilling to take them back provided Ms Banerjee is left out. Ms Banerjee’s face is thus turned away from the Congress since the latter is of no use to her at either the state or the national level.
|
