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ELECTIONS '96

Congress sheds anti-DMK stance, ready for another go with UF

The Congress and the United Front have toned down their differences in a bid to form a government at the Centre to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power.

While the Congress has indicated that it was not averse to holding a dialogue with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet asserted the Front would make every adjustment to keep the BJP out.

Asked whether the Left parties would support a Congress-led government, Surjeet said, "Without that you cannot keep the BJP out of power."

He also indicated that fundamental differences with the Congress on the issues of economic policies and corruption would not come in the way of supporting a Congress-led formation.

Asked whether the UF would indicate who should lead such a government, Surjeet maintained it was upto the the Congress to elect its leader.

Surjeet said the BJP had started the exercise of finding new allies. In fact, it had already begun dialogues with the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) of Om Prakash Chatuala in the last two days. If they managed an alliance with Chautala, the BJP would have to sacrifice its alliance with Bansi Lal's Haryana Vikas Party.

Both Surjeet and Congress leader Sharad Pawar said they would sit in the opposition if the BJP was anywhere near a simple majority.

Surjeet said the UF's core committee would meet in Delhi on March 5 to finalise the combine's stance towards a possible Congress-led government.

Pawar said the dialogue with the UF had commenced in right earnest on Sunday.

Pawar, who led the Congress to impressive gains in Maharashtra, said the party was reviewing its stand towards the DMK in the light of the judgement of the designated court in Madras, which sentenced to death all the 26 accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.(Incidentally, none of them had any links with the DMK.)

This change of stance, Pawar explained, was because the decision of the Madras court came after the Congress decided to pull down the government.

He said the Congress's main aim was to stop the communal forces from capturing power. He, however, conceded that, if the BJP managed to secure 250 seats, it would be difficult to stop them.

Pawar said the Sonia factor had contributed much to the success of his party in Maharashtra. Also, the Congress had a strong organisation in the state. The Sonia factor did not work in some other states since the organisational structure in those states was not strong.

The strategic alliance the Congress forged with the Samajwadi Party and the Republican Party also contributed to its success. In some states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu such an alliance could have been tried out, Pawar said.

''Unfortunately, the attitude of some of our leaders was that of Thakurs who, despite the loss of their land, still thought they were big," he said.

Pawar denied that the big brother attitude of the Congress came in the way of forging such alliances with regional parties. He said in states like Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the losses of the UF resulted in gains for the BJP.

Meanwhile, the BJP is planning to initiate a dialogue with friendly parties on March 4 ''to explore the possibility of forming a government at the Centre''.

The central office bearers of the party will meet in Delhi on March 6. The BJP parliamentary party leader will be formally elected on March 7.

Unfolding the schedule, party general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu said Atal Bihari Vajpayee has already been declared as their parliamentary party leader. He was supported by friendly parties, he said.

Expressing confidence about a BJP-led government, he said the nation was watching with amusement the CPI-M's strategy to check it.

"The hopes of non-BJP forces will be dashed," he said.

BJP vice-president K L Sharma, too, claimed his party would come to power.

''If there is any marginal gap, it will not be difficult to fill,'' Sharma said. He conceded the BJP suffered a setback in Maharashtra and Rajasthan. ''But we will make good all those losses in other areas,'' he said.

He claimed everything was 'favourable' for the BJP in the North-East and the South. It would be very difficult for the UF and the Congress to come together again, he said.

UNI

Elections '98

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