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HVK Archives: Surjeet's comments on Gujral's fate worries Left parties

Surjeet's comments on Gujral's fate worries Left parties - The Economic Times

Political Bureau ()
25 April 1997

Title : Surjeet's comments on Gujral's fate worries Left parties
Author : Political Bureau
Publication : The Economic Times
Date : April 25, 1997

Apprehensions have mounted within the sections of the Left over
CPI(M general secretary Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet's 'scare
scenarios' over the stability of the recently formed I K Gujral
government at the Centre.

The apprehensions appear primarily to be centred around the feeling
that the Congress may attempt to muscle into the Gujral government
gradually. In this context, sections of the Left including the CPI,
the only Left party in the government at present, have begun
perceiving Mr Surjeet's comments in the context of the
repercussions any such development may have over their own
continuance in the government. This, especially since the
Congress's support is seen as having come with a hefty price tag.

Senior CPI leaders including party general secretary A B Bardhan
are understood to have met Mr Surjeet on Tuesday evening,
immediately upon his return, in order to ascertain his position vis
a vis the Congress. On Wednesday, Mr Surjeet went a step further
in reiterating his party's continuing strident anti-Congress line,
holding not only that he did not put the Congress beyond
destabilising the Gujral government within a year, but also
indicating that his party did not plan to allow a slowdown in
pending investigations against Congress leaders.

Intensifying the confusion over the CPI(M) line, West Bengal chief
minister Jyoti Basu on Wednesday held that hard-line
anti-Congressism was not a viable option in the present, where the
polity was divided on pro and anti-BJP lines.

For the CPI, which has been marginalised electorally to the
advantage of the CPI(M), the stand of the main Left party over the
Congress is of intense concern especially in view of its decision
to participate in the government with a view to strengthening
itself further. Within sections of the party, Mr Surjeet's
comments, therefore, appear to have triggered off an apprehension
that they may have to steel themselves to reconsider their decision
to participate in the government, if need be, in the future should
the Congress manage to muscle in.

The Congress, it is felt, was likely to prepare the ground for the
"natural" exit of the Left by pushing through its own entry
gradually. Congress president Sitaram Kesri, sources said, argued
this viewpoint with TMC chief G K Moopanar at a meeting on
Wednesday.

However, he is understood to have pointed this in the larger
context of the Reed for the TMC to return into the Gujral
government.

Interestingly, within other sections of the Left, there is
simmering resentment over Mr Surjeet's comments over the stability
of the Gujral government, especially in the wake of his
controversial role in the prime ministerial race. His comments,
therefore, are being viewed as a clear indicative of the
possibility that especially with the possible return of the TMC to
the government -the wings of the CPI(M) leader will be clipped
within the Front steering panel.



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