Downbeat Cong mulls over polls
Vijay Simha
The Indian Express
May 6, 1999
Title: Downbeat Cong mulls over polls
Author: Vijay Simha
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 6, 1999
For a gathering which represents the core of the Congress leadership
across the country, today's arrival of PCC heads and CLP leaders at
10, Janpath, went almost unnoticed in a curious air of wariness and
diffidence.
Party president Sonia Gandhi's day-long discussions with her state
commanders was hardly the stuff of a party gearing itself up for the
task of running the country: instead it was like that of a party which
had missed the bus. People came and went, by turns, spending their
half-an-hour with Soma and ending with the usual line of going by
whatever she would decide.
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu, which form the trouble-some
triangle for the Congress, showed no fight at the end of the tunnel.
Salman Khurshid, Sadanand Singh and T Ramamurthy, PCC chiefs of UP,
Bihar and TN respectively, apparently felt the Congress must go it
alone and any alliance should only be at no cost to the Congress.
Olive branches were extended, albeit hesitantly, for the BSP in UP,
RJD in Bihar, TMC in Tamil Nadu and RPI in Maharashtra but there were
no good words for the Samajwadi Party or the ADMK. Khurshid stayed
with his line of contempt for Mulayam Singh going to the extent of
claiming the fight in UP was a "straight one" between the Congress and
the BJP.
Ramamurthy felt Moopanar should now end the TMC's existence and merge
with the TNCC while Sadanand Singh, whose opinions are mattering less
and less, said the RJD is "ok" but the Congress should contest all 54
Bihar Lok Sabha seats. And at the end of a day, which was expected to
be the first serious strategy session in the Congress for the coming
polls, friends and enemies were listed on the anticipated lines.
Friends of Congress are Laloo Yadav's RJD, the various RPI factions in
Maharashtra, Ajit Singh's Lok Dal, the Kerala Congress (M),
Banatwala's Muslim League, Moopanar's TMC and Rameshwar Thakur's PWP.
Fond acquaintances, who could turn friends, are the BSP, Jayalalitha
ADMK and Subramanian Swamy's Janata Party. Necessary allies, whose
help might be needed after the elections, are the Left parties.
Arch rivals are the BJP, TDP, Samata Party, Akali Dal BJD, Lok Shakti
and a host of other BJP-friendly organisations. Mamata Banerjee's
Trinamool Congress which was earlier seen as a possible prodigal, is
now on the verge of being classified as a foe, if the West Bengal
PCC's opinion matters. That then was the essence of today's
deliberations which are slated to continue tomorrow as well.
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