HVK Archives: "Next election to be fought in North, PM to be from there"
"Next election to be fought in North, PM to be from there" - The Indian Express
Ritu Sarin
()
27 April 1997
Title : "Next election to be fought in North, PM to be from there"
- Interview of the week - Harkishen Singh Surjeet
Author : Ritu Sarin
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : April 27, 1997
Last fortnight's power games to elect the leader of the United
Front have underscored the role of Harkishen Singh Surjeet as a
prime power manager. But Surjeet likes to see himself as a
peacemaker rather than an ace manipulator. The CPI(M) General
Secretary spoke to RITU SARIN about his role in the making of the
government and the future of the coalition. Excerpts:
How do you rate the performance of the Deve Gowda government?
Except for the economy, the performance was excellent.
Centre-State relations received a major fillip. Elections in
Kashmir were held. Look at the North-east. Nobody had gone there
but the Prime Minister spent a week there. Then, take the foreign
policy. We were getting isolated from our neighbours, but look at
the position today.
One more factor may have contributed to the political crisis. This
(Deve Gowda) government went a long way in exposing corruption
scams. Files which had been gathering dust for five years were dug
out. The Government gave a free hand to the CBI to investigate
cases. Rows of ministers including the former prime minister were
seen by the people on TV appearing in courts because of these
cases. This was not a mean achievement. There are many people from
other parties; the Janata Dal and others may have also got afraid
of that. But the Left is not afraid.
Was it the reason for the Congress withdrawing its support for the
UF Government?
This is not a factor one can ignore. Naturally, people are afraid
of it because many Congressmen were involved. Besides this, there
may have been a breakdown of communication between the parties.
Was the UF indulging in anti-Congressism as Sitaram Kesri alleged?
Anti-Congressism is there. But you see, here the dominant factor
is not anti-Congressism, because we know the government is being
run with the support of the Congress. We had joined together
against the BJP because at the Central level, the main danger is
the BJP. But in the states where we are strong and the BJP is not,
the main danger is the Congress. This is the complexity of the
situation.
Once the government fell, the Left Front was prepared to face the
electorate again. Why did you change your mind and what would have
happened if elections were held?
If elections were held, the Congress would have been further wiped
out. I do not know if the BJP would have gained but the UF would
have gained tremendously. The Left parties would have got up to 70
seats. Deve Gowda's last speech in Parliament had a tremendous
impact on the people. We had said elections, the other parties did
not agree. We could not enforce our view on them.
After the fall of the Gowda government, you were clearly playing
the role of a kingmaker.
I do not understand how the Congress was dreaming of forming the
government. When 191 people cannot stay in power, how would have
142 stayed? It means the Congress was relying on effecting
defections. Secondly, maybe there were some others who had thought
that the Congress too would get divided but we had taken the
position that we do not want a divided Congress, we want a united
Congress.
Ten months ago you recommended that G.K. Moopanar be made prime
minister but this time you were among those who scuttled his
chances.
Last time, there was a unanimous decision that Jyoti Basu should
become PM. But it did not happen. And we did not have time. We
had to inform the President in two hours time. Suddenly, some
leaders who were present there said to themselves let Moopanar
become and Moopanar too said no. Then Deve Gowda was sitting there
and (they said) let Gowda become and Gowda became prime minister.
Everyone agreed. There was simply no time! The President was
waiting.
This time the situation was different. That stature, that level of
leaders, were not there. We had to choose among others and while
choosing, various difficulties were coming up. We would have agreed
on Moopanar but now the situation was a bit different because we
were visualising that this government will not last forever. If
elections are forced, the battle has to be fought in the North and
thus someone who from the North had to be PM.
The TMC leaders felt they were stabbed in the back, among others by
the Left.
That is not so and I also told this to Moopanar when I met him. The
real factor was that the next battle was ahead and in that battle,
we are secure in the four Southern states. But yes, the TMC did
have hopes because Moopanar's name had come up. Chidambaram came
here and met me before I went to Moscow. I explained the reasons
to him. He had come to me for Moopanar but when I argued, he
recognised that there was substance in my argument.
It is said Moopanar's proximity to Sonia Gandhi was being held
against him?
Arey no, he has never hidden that he is a Congressman! But he was
also committed to the UF. And so many people have links with 10,
Janpath. We had not set conditions about links people had with
others.
So you felt Mulayam Singh Yadav fitted the bill in every respect?
In the case of Mulayam, the consideration was that among the people
in the North, he has a wider appeal. Mulayam emerged as a major
force to fight against the BJP in the last elections. In the
Bombay Corporation elections, while the BJP and Shiv Sena got 12
lakh votes, Mulayam Singh's party got 10 lakh votes.
What chances do you give the Gujral government?
We want the Government to last for five years but we cannot be sure
about that because it depends upon the support of the Congress. As
for Gujral, I think he was a good choice because he is
non-controversial. He has a good experience of administration but
the only difficulty is in relation to the constituents, in relation
to his mass following. We will make that up by working together.
Since you are admitting he has little mass following, how will he
tackle the BJP?
He will have to take up the question seriously. The BJP is not
going to spare him also. That is why he will need the backing of
the United Front even more.
We still don't have your reaction to Jyoti Basu's comment that the
party made a historic blunder by not making him prime minister?
I do not want to go into details. He (Jyoti Basu) would have been
a very good administrator. But with the present correlation of
caste forces, he would not have been able to implement successfully
the policies which we intend to implement, particularly the
economic policies.
The Left parties climbed down from their high moral perch and
became active participants in the political drama and manipulation.
People say so many things. No doubt, I have taken initiatives.
And I can well understand the unhappiness of the BJP. I have been
consistently fighting. I know what happened at the time of
Morarjibhai's Government. There also I played a leading role. 1
played a role when V.P. Singh became prime minister.
So, you have emerged as a power broker par excellence?
I do not believe in manipulation and brokering. I believe in
alliances with a clear understanding that on certain matters we are
different, but for a common goal, we must unite.
Back
Top
|
