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Given that the United Front allowed themselves to be manoeuvred
into ditching Deve Gowda and electing a new leader, they have at
least made the best possible bargain by choosing Mr Inder Kumar
Gujral in his place. That this has upset the ill-considered plans
of the lady in No 10 and her most obedient servants, is evident in
the sulks that have overcome Moopanar and Ins Tamil Maanila
Congress; Chidambaram having talked himself out of a job in the
process. Now one more party will offer support from outside to the
Common Minimum Programme they themselves helped to put together.
How this will ensure stability of the new administration is not
understood. More realignments are on the cards. It is quite clear
that the Front, thanks to the firmness shown by the Left parties
have frustrated Kesri in his mission to get a leader acceptable to
Sonia; his claims of victory sound suitably hollow. Congress
wanted an end to the Bofors probe and a reprieve for other
Congressmen arraigned on a variety of corruption charges - Kesri
was noticeably coy on the subject to reporters. Mr Gujral is not
likely to oblige. Although as Information Minister to Indira
Gandhi, he went along with her hypocritical concern for editors as
a means of dividing them from inconvenient proprietors, notably
Ramnath Goenka, he would go so far and no further. He did show
considerable courage.
Sonia Gandhi has little choice but to console herself with the
thought that she got rid of a troublesome Prime Minister, at least
for the time being. After all, if Deve Gowda can be branded
communal, it is not difficult later to work up a bout of spurious
hysteria alleging that Gujral is in the pay of the Pakistanis
because he is talking to them on Kashmir and that he is
congenitally anti-national because he gave Bangladesh the river
water they needed, never mind that this gesture opened a new vista
in relations between the two neighbours.
The question that the Congress must ask themselves is whether they
are so bankrupt in thought and action that they must hold on to
Sonia Gandhi's petticoat. It was not a pretty sight to see Kesri's
men telling nervous MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament that they
need not worry, Rajmata Sonia will lead them to victory. hi the
first place she can lead them to nothing worthwhile, in the second
place she is too shrewd to expose herself in this way; it suits her
to oblige with a glance here and a frown there, manipulating them,
raising hopes then turning away, leading the pathetic lot to live
in hope. If they think she will dip into her no doubt considerable
reserves and provide cash for the campaign they do not know her.
They have only to see how she uses the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation for
her purposes and in particular how she raises huge sums, free of
tax in her hands. The operation is questionable. Also it is
established that if Rajiv had lived he would have lost the
election; Narasimha Rao benefited from a sympathy wave in the same
way that Rajiv benefited from the cruel murder of his mother. This
may be politics but it does not lend support to the theory that
Sonia can do for the party what they have so conspicuously failed
to do for themselves.
Meantime a respectful welcome to Prime Minister, Inder Kumar
Gujral.
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