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RLM hopes to be fulcrum in government's downfall

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal to pave the way for an alternative government at the Centre, indicates the further erosion of the United Front and the sharp differences of opinion among the Opposition parties.

The new alliance, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha, symbolises the cleavage between Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP and the United Front. Since it was apparent that Mulayam was disillusioned with the UF, his alliance with Laloo Prasad Yadav's RJD, which had earlier been expelled from the UF, really comes as no surprise. Little wonder that the Janata Dal, a constituent of the UF, has criticised Mulayam. The sum total of these developments is that the Opposition parties are still squabbling even over their avowed objective of dislodging the BJP-led government.

Even as the RLM's formation symbolises the SP's disenchantment with the UF, it has come as a god-send to the beleaguered Laloo and his RJD. Its government in Bihar faces the prospect of dismissal in view of the breakdown of the law and order machinery. The formation of the RLM thus gives Laloo and his RJD an opportunity to strike back at the ruling BJP and its allies, considering that the new alliance has been formed with the main objective of dislodging the Vajpayee government.

For Mulayam and his SP, the chief reason for forming the RLM is that the BJP government has been unleashing a vendetta against the SP, especially in Uttar Pradesh. Mulayam has evidently discovered that the UF is ill-equipped to fight BJP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in Uttar Pradesh. Thus, in his perspective, the formation of the RLM would help him kill two birds with one stone -- dislodging the central as well as the UP governments. But how he would dislodge the UP government is a mystery because it still has over three years left to rule the state, and it has proved its majority on the floor of the House at every available opportunity.

It seems that although the Congress does not appear willing to dislodge the BJP-led government at this juncture, both the Yadavs find the RLM an exciting development, for it is after quite some time that the SP and the RJD have got a stick to beat the Vajpayee government with. However, whether they would be willing to accept former prime minister Chandra Shekhar's leadership for the purpose remains to be seen.

Congress spokesman Ajit Jogi has welcomed the birth of the RLM. The Congress sense of relief at this development is apparent since it hopes that other parties will end up doing the dirty job of dislodging the BJP-led government. This gives Congress president Sonia Gandhi an opportunity to watch the developments from a distance, which suits her and her party very much.

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