HVK Archives: It's a crown of thorns, Vaghela tells partymen
It's a crown of thorns, Vaghela tells partymen - The Observer
Dinkar Pandya
()
25 October 1996
Title : It's a crown of thorns, Vaghela tells partymen
Author : Dinkar Pandya
Publication : The Observer
Date : October 25, 1996
"It is a crown of thorns," Mr Shankarsinh Vaghela, now
the chief minister of the state, is reported to have
remarked to some of his close colleagues, who were jubil-
ant at the prospect of the power coming to the party.
This, in short, sums up the real feelings of Mr Vaghela -
shrewd and realist that he is.
It was not an easy task for even a man of the calibre of
Mr Vaghela to take on single handedly the powerful BSP-
BHP-RSS combine in Gujarat. However, when left with no
options, he went with fanatical, some times bordering on
maniacal zeal, to demolish the monolithic structure of
the party and its government, which he had given most of
his political years to build in the state.
He has succeeded, after a struggle lasting over a year,
to demolish the Bharatiya Janata Party government and
capture power in the state. Now with power with him, Mr
Vaghela wonders whether he would be able to provide any
relief to the tired public - an alternative to the Bhara-
tiya Janata Party and the Congress style of administra-
tion and the governance that had prevailed in the state
till now.
The prospects are daunting. "There is a plethora of
problems' facing his administration. Industrial develop-
ment is only one face of the state that is projected all
over the country by all the governments during the last
one decade.
However, despite all the tears that have been shed for
the 'poor and downtrodden', hardly anything has been
done.
That was one of the main refrains of Mr Vaghela while he
has been fighting the BJP machine during last more than a
year.
Can he do something for these neglected sections, even
while continuing the industrial development? This is the
main question before Mr Vaghela.
A reply to this question would make or mar the future of
the BJP rebel, now a ruler, as he knows that his prospec-
tive vote bank are the Other Backward Classes, Harijans
and the tribals. A powerful combination, which had been
used along with the Muslims, a decade back by none other
than Congress leader Madhavsinh Solanki, to emerge as the
messiah of the Other Backward Classes.
Can Mr Vaghela succeed now in becoming another messiah of
the backwards, who have been feeling orphaned since Mr
Solanki left them a decade back while preferring greener
pastures of Delhi?
Mr Vaghela knows that there is no choice but to win over
and combine the social segments that had united under the
KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijans, Adivasi and Muslim) combina-
tion. The task is a daunting one as the political sup-
port that is available to Mr Vaghela to prop up his
government is 'most opportunistic and shaky one.'
His most important ally, the Gujarat Congress, is a
divided house even as it is, but more so in supporting
him, who has the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh background.
Powerful Solanki and Ahmed Patel factions have openly
opposed the very idea of supporting Mr Vaghela, not to
talk of even supporting from outside, for forming a non-
BJP government. Moreover, they believe that Mr Vaghela
would only cat away the Congress support base of the
Other Backward Classes, Adivasis and Harijans, without
much affecting the BJP. They point to the results of
three by elections to buttress their argument.
Of course, factions of Pradesh Congress Committee chief
Prabodh Rawal and Mr Amarsinh Chaudhary, as also a part
of the erstwhile JD(G) are for support to Mr Shankarsinh
Vaghela, as a lesser evil. As a senior Congress leader,
who is now member of the Lok Sabha, pointed out, "the BJP
of Mr Vaghela is basically different. What now remains
of the BJP is nothing but an outfit completely under the
control of the RSS-VHP combine. And what is wrong in
advancing the cause of Mr Vaghela," argues the senior
leader.
Thus, Mr Vaghela knows that he would be under constant
pulls and pressures of the 'divided and corrupt' Congress
leadership.
Added to it is the block of about 13 independent legisla-
tors backing him. All of them would very much like to be
ministers. While, Mr Vaghela could accommodate only a
few, the left outs would turn out to be a threat to his
ministry, sooner than later.
And there would always be the 80-member strong BJP legis-
lature party to tear him apart at the slightest opportun-
ity.
Even otherwise, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh-Vishwa
Hindu Parishad combine is on war path against him and
would soon take to streets to 'teach a lesson to the
defectors.' Thus, Mr Vaghela's
achievement of capturing power after more than a year
long struggle, has turned into a 'ride of the tiger.'
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