HVK Archives: Common non-BJP programme : a boomerang in the making?
Common non-BJP programme : a boomerang in the making? - The Indian Express
Neerja Chowdhury
()
24 March 1997
Title : Common non-BJP programme : a boomerang in the making?
Author : Neerja Chowdhury
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : March 24, 1997
It is time the United Front and the Congress found an agenda which
goes beyond "keeping the BJP out." The fear of a saffron upsurge
may be a good glue to get 14 parties to hang together and it may
keep Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda smiling beatifically a little
longer, but it is giving new momentum to the BJP.
There is nothing wrong in non-BJP parties wanting to keep the BJP
out. It is a natural political goal. Secularism has been an article
of faith with the Left, the Congress still pays lip service to it,
and it has turned out to be good politics for Mulayam Singh Yadav.
But is it possible to govern the country around one issue and that
too a negative one? Should everything else - crime, extortion,
corruption, governance, the health of institutions - be subservient
to this one objective?
There was a time when non-Congressism used to bring disparate
parties together, but it failed to inspire popular confidence
except in 1977 and 1989, when there was anger against the
government.
Pakistan is criticised as an anti-state because of its one point
Parson desire. The United Front and the Congress are guilty of
espousing what is an anti agenda today. And it is proving to he
counterproductive. The UF and the Congress are only rolling out
the red carpet for the BJP to come to power at the Centre. The
installation of Mayawati as Chief Minister is one more proof of it
- if proof was needed.
Had Romesh Bhandari invited the BJP to form the government as the
single largest party after the Assembly elections or had the Uttar
Pradesh governor refused to be a proxy for Mulayam Singh Yadav -
all of which was justified to keep the BJP out - the story might
have been different. Had Ghulam Nabi Azad not broken the alliance
with the BSP in Punjab or Jitendra Prasada not gone in for pressure
politics in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress might not have helped
deliver Kanshi Ram into the BJP's lap.
Keeping the BJP out at all costs has placed the Congress in a now
in situation. It is neither in government nor out of it. It can
neither support the UF policies nor oppose them. Rejuvenation of
the party seems a distant dream new in the Ganga heartland and its
rank and file will find new allies in UP and Bihar in the weeks to
come. The danger for the Congress is not just the continuing
erosion of its base, but its fragmentation in states where its
state leaders cannot reconcile to the reality of playing second
fiddle to UF constituents. They may float regional parties in the
coming months, which join hands with the BJP to occupy the
Opposition space.
The BJP has a national stake now in the success of its experiment
in UP It would now want to force a mid-term election in the country
to strike while the iron is hot and before things begin to go awry
in Lucknow. This would reduce the options of the Congress. further
leading to greater decimation of the party.
The Left parties, which have stood against the misuse of Article
356, did not demur when Bhandari 'reimposed' President's Rule in
Uttar Pradesh. The 'devil of Tripura,' whose installation in
Lucknow the CPI and CPM opposed, became the 'deliverer of UP.'
Bhandari could not have pushed his pro-Mulayam agenda - of
transfers, appointment et al - in Lucknow without the active
support of Harkishen Singh Surjeet.
Gujarat too saw President's Rule without a murmur from the Left.
The chickens may come home to roost if Shankersinh Vaghela loses in
the forthcoming by-election, changing the politics of west India.
There was a time when the Left would have demanded that law take
its course in l'affaire Indian Bank or in the Ayurveda seam or in
the fodder scandal. Left leaders spoke this lingo in the hawala
cases till Narasimha Rao was in power. But now Harkishen Singh
Surjeet thunders in Allahabad that the BSP-BJP would not have the
guts to harm Mulayam (and try him in the various scams outlined by
Mayawati) because there is a UF sarkar in Delhi. Neither he nor
Gowda talked about the law taking its course.
The CPM's leadership has shut up those in its ranks who spoke about
moving cut motions on the Budget because it is pro- rich. Sitaram
Yechury was ticked off for carrying his criticism of the Prime
Minister too far when he objected to Gowda taking 15 members of his
family to Harare.
Chidambaram got a toehold into the insurance sector when he allowed
for privatisation for health insurance this time. The Left has had
to lump it just as it will have to stomach the hike in petro prices
which is around the corner all in the name of keeping the BJP out.
As a result, it has surrendered some of its clout to influence
policy. Even Mulayam Singh is able to bargain better. He hobnobs
with Sitaram Kesri and Gowda is prepared to "die" for Mulayam,
something neither the Prime Minister nor Surjeet are prepared to do
for Comrade Indrajit Gupta.
It is not surprising therefore that a veteran like Indrajit Gupta
has come to a point where he says that compromise is also an
ideology and may be the best policy for the UF. Ideologue Surendra
Mohan also sees the virtue of extreme flexibility when those of
extreme polarities come together in coalition politics.
If Chidambaram and Indrajit Gupta can have a marriage of
convenience, why not Kanshi Ram and Atal Behari Vajpayee? If
keeping the BJP out can bring 14 parties on a platform, why cannot
law and order bring the BJP-BSP together?
A dual policy convinces nobody and the Left finds itself getting
increasingly defensive about its position. (This is also true of
the BJP. It saw Romesh Bhandari as the personification of all evils
in UP and did not think twice about withdrawing its motion against
the governor once it knew he would be swearing in a BSP-BJP
government. Kanshi Ram may be more honest when he admits that his
ideology is power to the Dalits but lack of hypocrisy does not
improve the situation.)
A commitment to secularism and taking along people of all
religions, is very different from the quickfix solution of keeping
the, BJP out.
Had the non-BJP parties been really serious about keeping out the
BJP, they would have slink their differences in Punjab and in UP.
But for Mulayam, Mayawati is,, worse than BJP
The Left may have problems, with the BJP philosophically but it has
to fight the Congress politically. The non-BJP parties have yet to
find a cogent common programme.
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