HVK Archives: Congress groping in the dark
Congress groping in the dark - The Observer
Dina Nath Mishra
()
September 24, 1998
Title: Congress groping in the dark
Author: Dina Nath Mishra
Publication: The Observer
Date: September 24, 1998
The way the Congress has categorically opposed the central
government's recommendation of President's rule in Bihar suggests
that it has learnt nothing and forgotten even more after its much-
hyped Panchmarhi conclave. The situation in Bihar is for
everybody to see. Not only has the law and order situation become
incomparable with any other state, but also the rule of law is
missing in financial procedures. It was more than evident in the
fodder seam. Reliable sources of the home ministry say that Bihar
has, of late, has become the citadel of ISI and the state is
sitting on a volcano. Recently, when the ruling party organised a
'bandh', it was nothing less than state-inspired hooliganism, at
places even terrorism. What Bihar had witnessed is a sort of
Laloo's 'mafia Raj'. Even the Patna High Court had observed that
Bihar is a fit case for applying Article 356 and imposing
President's rule. At least, half a dozen occasions have arisen
during the last eight years when President's rule should have
been imposed on the state.
During the Narasimha Rao period, the central government hesitated
to use Article 356, for, it would have further benefited Laloo
Prasad Yadav. During the UF rule, Laloo Prasad's party was part
of the central ruling front. This special position gave him the
audacity to muzzle CBI in the way he liked. Even after
chargesheet and arrest in the fodder scam, he continued to rule
the state from the jail by installing his wife Rabri Devi as
chief minister. Officers used to take directives from Laloo
Prasad by visiting him at the jail. It was an absolute mockery
of democracy. Now that the central government has taken a belated
step, the protest of Laloo Prasad Yadav and his party, as well as
RLM leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, can be understood. The reaction
of the Left too is understandable, for, their leaders have shared
the platform with Laloo at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on numerous
occasions to support him. But one is at a loss to understand the
Congress.
At the brainstorming conclave at Panchmarhi, they came out with
the final documents regarding their various policies. The
political approach paper had castigated the casteist forces. This
enraged Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav to the extent
that they came down heavily on the Congress. Laloo and Mulayam,
it is learnt, are threatening to field several of their
candidates against the Congress in the three states where
assembly elections are due in November. While RLM does not have
much of a presence in these areas, they hope to bring the
Congress to its heels by the threat of cutting into their support
base of minorities and backwards. A vast majority of Congressmen
m Bihar, barring a few who owe their parliamentary seats to Laloo
Prasad Yadav, are against the continuance of RJD government.
It's a fact and most of the top leaders have realised that the
Congress vote-bank has been taken away by casteist forces in
various states, including Bihar and UP. Congress has survived for
decades on the votes of Muslims, Harijans and backwards, as
forwards were always divided among the various political forces.
The rise of Laloos, Mulayams and Kanshirams has brought doom to
Congress. The most important message of Panchmarhi was that the
Congress would still strive to form the government on its own
whenever it is possible. It attempted to identify the causes of
the sustained decline of its electoral fortune. It also tried to
seek avenues to improve its electoral performance by bringing
back the alienated vote-banks.
The Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while inaugurating the
brainstorming session, came out with a definite statement that
Congress would not like to form a coalition in order to come to
power. However, she changed her stand in the concluding remarks
by saying that she accepted the need for temporary coalition and
it would not run away from shouldering the constitutional
responsibility. The so-called temporary coalition which Sonia
Gandhi hinted at is possible, if at all, only with casteist
forces and the traditional enemies of the Left Front.
The strong stand taken by the Congress leadership regarding the
BJP-led government's decision to impose President's rule in Bihar
shows that Congress has decided to play the game of casteist and
Leftist forces despite the bravado of Sonia Gandhi. It may be
recalled that the Congress has electoral understanding with RJD
in Bihair. That explains the marginal improvement of its
electoral fortunes during the last Lok Sabha elections in the
state. Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi's displeasure regarding continuing
with Laloo Prasad Yadav was visible through various news stories.
Congress spokesperson Girija Vyas's attempt to differentiate the
party's opposition to the proposal of President's rule from the
rest of the opponents does not carry conviction. It is amply
clear that the Congress is still groping in the dark after
Panchmarhi.
During the Rao and Kesri period, the Congress was decimated
further by conceding supremacy to Mulayam Singh Yadav in UP,
Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar and aligning with BSP in UP and
Punjab. The game of covert casteist equations played by the
Congress for decades was defeated by overt casteist politics of
JD, RJD, SP, BSP and the like. The Congress-style of governance
by slogans and tokenism at the macro level and making convenient
casteist equations at the micro level was vanquished by
straightforward casteists and Mandal fundamentalists.
Even the primary students of Indian politics can conclude that
Congress would not be a vital force till it regains some of its
roots in UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, as these states
account for over 220 Lok Sabha seats out of 542. In the rest of
the India, Congress has not been decimated to the extent it has
been in these four states. The most unfortunate part of the
Congress strategy has been its obsession with BJP and is making
and breaking alignments with casteist and communal forces
parading anti-BJP secularists. They allied with those forces as
average Congressmen are disclined to take a long term view which
a great and close-second party like the Congress should have
taken.
But short-sighted leaders go for short term and area-to-area
alignment with contradictory forces. That is what is reflected
in the Congress approach towards the proposed President's rule in
Bihar. By opposing it, they hope to have RLM with them and hence
in a position to promise power at the Centre as soon as possible.
Party leaders are promising it for years and losing the future,
state by state. If the Congress has to remain a vital democratic
force, it will have to have a little more patience of honouring
the mandate of the people and willingness to wait for its chance.
This is the only way to develop bipolar politics in India.
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