HVK Archives: BJP more assertive on staking claim
BJP more assertive on staking claim - The Observe
Observer Political Bureau
()
7 April 1997
Title : BJP more assertive on staking claim
Author : Observer Political Bureau
Publication : The Observe
Date : April 7, 1997
As the Congress-United Front crisis appeared to be heading for
flashpoint on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party stepped in with
firm assertions of its claim to form the next Government if and
when the present one fell.
The BJP, which till Saturday had been content with saying that it
was keeping all its options open, zeroed in on Sunday with the
announcement that it would formally stake the claim, anticipating
the downfall of the 10 month-old Deve Gowda Government in the face
of hardening attitudes of both the Congress and the UF.
Meanwhile, the two-day Congress Parliamentary Party meeting, slated
for April 9 and 10, has assumed crucial importance for determining
the future course of events following the failure of efforts to
break the deadlock.
With both the Congress and the United Front hardening their stands,
the former's line of action will largely be determined by the mood
of the party MPs. Most of them have been feeling uneasy about the
developing situation. Notwithstanding their ostensible solidarity
with the leadership, various Congress sections have started
expressing apprehensions about the consequences of a head-on
collision, which appeared to be taking shape on Sunday.
For the present, the various options - emerging out of the
Congress' decision to withdraw support to the UF Government -
appear to be open for both the Congress and UF leaders, eventhough
the political circles hope that parties and individuals would come
up with compromise efforts at the last hour in order to save the
country from going to mid-term polls.
Both the Congress and UF leaders on Sunday stuck rigidly to their
respective postures with the two camps claiming that the "struggle"
had to be carried to its logical conclusion.
Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar indicated that there was no
sign of breaking the deadlock between the UF and Congress and the
issue would be sorted out in Parliament by voting out the Gowda
Government on April 11.
There were no further developments in resolving the impasse and it
appeared that the situation was heading towards April 11, he added.
CWC member A K Antony also said that there was no further progress
in resolving the deadlock. "Things are as they are," Mr Antony,
who had a meeting with the party president in the morning after
arriving here from Kerala, said.
Mr Antony, however, expressed confidence that there was no problem
inside the party following the decision to withdraw support.
"There is no problem inside the party. The party is totally
united," he added.
Congress leader Jagannath Mishra, a staunch critic of party
president Sitaram Kesri, on Sunday urged both the UF and his party
to give up "rigidity" and arrive at a settlement to keep the BJP
out of power.
Dr Mishra said that the UF and Congress should adopt "flexible
attitudes" in an effort to resolve the crisis arising out of the
withdrawal of support. This, he said, was necessary to contain the
communal forces.
The UF, he pleaded, should ignore the "outburst" of the party
president against the Prime Minister in the interest of the nation
and try to amicably resolve the political crisis facing the nation.
Congress MP Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi told The Observer of Business
and Politics that the Congress - by demanding the resignation of
the Prime Minister - had not asked for the sky. Indeed, he said,
Mr Gowda ought to have been too small a price for the UF leaders to
sacrifice in the larger interests of ensuring that a "secular
Government" stayed.
He was hopeful that the UF leaders would ultimately come around to
the idea of supporting a Congress-led coalition, but said that the
Congress, if need be, was also willing to face midterm elections.
The UF, meanwhile, asserted that there was no perceptive change in
the situation.
Maintaining that informal parleys were going on between the UF and
Congress leaders, UF spokesman S Jaipal Reddy, while replying to
newsmen query at the daily press briefing, said that "we have not
received any firm communication for a formal communication with the
Congress party."
Mr Kesri and External Affairs Minister I K Gujral held a one-to-one
meeting on Sunday morning as part of informal parleys to end the
political crisis.
Mr Gujral said that the talks between him and the Congress chief
were "positive," though he did not elaborate.
This was the second meeting between the two leaders. They earlier
met last Wednesday to work out a rapprochement between the two
sides.
There has, in the meantime, been no change in the stance adopted by
the Left parties. They have stuck to their position that the
initiative for ending the present impasse should be taken by the
Congress. The Congress' demand for the removal of Mr Gowda as the
Prime Minister remains unacceptable to the Left leaders.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and United Front steering committee
convenor Nara Chandrababu Naidu, meanwhile, accused the Congress of
playing narrow political games at the cost of the national
interest, and strongly criticised the outbursts of Mr Kesri against
Mr Gowda.
Mr Naidu told newsmen in Hyderabad that the political situation was
"fluid, complex and complicated," adding the country was facing
many burning problems at this juncture.
"The Finance Bill has to be passed, the truckers are on a
nationwide strike, the share market has crashed and foreign
investment worth $10 billion in India is struck," he added.
Holding the Congress squarely responsible for the crisis, Mr Naidu
said that there was a danger of the people losing faith in the
democracy if the situation remained unresolved.
Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, meanwhile, ruled out
any change in the UF leadership and expressed confidence that the
UF Government would continue under the prime ministership of none
other than Mr Gowda.
"Impossible things may be possible," Mr Mahanta said, while
replying to queries over the possibility of continuance of the UF
Government if it did not change its leader.
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