Congress Paid back in the same coin

Congress Paid back in the same coin
K. Veeraiah
India News Network, New Delhi

The undoing of UPA in the Gangetic belt is almost complete with the latest developments in Bihar. As per newspaper reports, the differences between Congress and RJD over allotting a fourth parliamentary seat in Bihar led to the curtains falling on UPA in the state. In UP too, the coalition is in trouble for similar reasons. The differences between Congress and SP over four or five seats created rift with both the parties now deciding to contest in maximum number of seats on their own. Thus the Congress has decided to contest 37 seats in Bihar and 70 seats in UP. Both states together constitute 120 seats, which is 22 percent of the total parliamentary seats. It should be remembered that in the 14th Lok Sabha, the Congress had just had won just 3 seats in Bihar, while the RJD had won 22. In UP, it had won 6 while the SP won 35.

But, the main problem lies somewhere else. One can say that the seeds for the current undoing were laid in its political resolution adopted at the time of the Congress Plenary held at Hyderabad in January 2006. In the resolution adopted there, Congress expressed its willingness to fight the next general elections on its own. Speaking in support of the resolution the Congress General Secretary Amibka Soni explained the reasoning behind it. She said that the Congress wants to come back to power on its own free from the shackles of coalition partners. It is to be noted, around then the conflict between the Left and Congress over the Indo-US nuclear deal reached its peak. If we look at the deliberations of Congress Working Committee held on 29th January 2009 in Delhi, the picture would be clearer. After the meeting, the General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said, “The Congress will seek votes on its own, except in states where it is in alliance." He also briefed media that the CWC prefers post-poll alliance with like-minded parties instead of forging any national alliance during the elections. With this clear statement, Congress sent signals to Shard Pawar, Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad Yadav who proposed seat sharing beyond their respective states.

The reason given by senior Congress leaders was that it is the only party, which has a pan Indian presence, where as all the other UPA partners, are confined to their respective states. Sharing seats with them, according to the Congress will hamper its own chances to emerge as the clear winner. Charged up with the victory in Rajasthan and Delhi Assembly elections, coupled with their euphoria over completing the controversial nuclear deal, it is not surprising that the Congress nurtured such illusions. On the other hand, the principal opposition party, the BJP was already in a mode of self destruction even before the election schedule was announced, which might have helped to increase the confidence level in Congress. After the same CWC meeting, a senior Congress leader said that the Congress was even ready to play a “destructive role“ if the situation demands.

Followed by this CWC decision, Congress started seat-sharing negotiations with the Samajwadi Party, which was designed to fail. Congress successfully forced the Samajwadi Party to walk out of seat sharing negotiations and then came out in public its plan to contest in 70 seats. Then came Bihar. Congress took in the disgruntled RJD MP Sadhu Yadav to its fold. Replying to a media query in the presence of Union Power Minister Susheel Kumar Shinde, Sadhu Yadav confirmed that he would be contesting on Congress ticket. Until then Lalu and Paswan were playing one-upmanship among themselves over seat sharing. It is natural for Congress, which lost its traditional base to RJD and JD(U) in Bihar and to SP and BSP in Uttar Pradesh to try and regain space not by endearing the masses but endearing leaders such as Sadhu Yadav. This worked as an eye opener for both Lalu and Paswan. Immediately they sealed the deal leaving just 3 seats for Congress. The Congress in return announced that it would contest all the 37 seats.

In the least ten days, the coming together of BSP, AIADMK, BJD, TDP, JD (S) together with the Left parties has now forced the Congress to strike a deal with the NCP in Maharashtra. Thus, from 29 January to 21 March this year, the Congress has played a really destructive role in splintering the UPA in North India. In a multi-cornered contest, it can be predicted that in these two states, the ruling parties would fare better. In effect the UPA partners are implementing the decision of the Congress CWC decision to contest alone in all major states.

There is an added dimension to the Bihar fiasco. In Bihar the ruling NDA government has still more than two years of its tenure. It is doubtful to expect the lead partner JD (U) to join hands with the Non Congress Secular Alternative that is emerging. In such a situation, Lalu and Paswan might decide to come out of the UPA to seize the opportunity within their state by trying to forge an opposition to both the UPA and the NDA. Therefore, the Congress has managed to dismantle the UPA on its own, establishing it as a failed leader of a coalition.