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ELECTIONS '96

Mandal messiah preaches politics of consensus

Former prime minister V P Singh today raised serious doubts on the longevity of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government, and visualised another election in the next two years.

Even if the BJP formed the government after a letter of support from the AIADMK and others, the manner in which they tried to extract political advantage put a question mark on the longevity of the coalition government, Singh said while addressing a crowded press conference in New Delhi.

Recent developments had shown that it was not only a hung Parliament but a ''hanged'' House, signaling that Indian polity was undergoing a transitional period, he said.

Making it clear that he was not for a fresh election, Singh said the recent poll was the semi-final, and the final which will give a stable government, was not far away.

Asked about the chances of a new government in the wake of the current fluid situation, Singh said all three main political formations -- the BJP and allies, the Congress and the United Front -- would be addressing this problem in their own way.

Ruling out the possibility of a national government at this juncture, he said there was a need to weigh the financial burden of holding a fresh poll with the price of a stable government.

Singh said in forming a government, the BJP was facing a peculiar situation which the Front did not. The BJP's allies were seeking their pound of flesh even before President K R Narayanan called A B Vajpayee to formed the government.

The BJP, which had been lecturing the UF on how to run a coalition government, was now finding it difficult to go about even with government formation, he observed.

However, he said, "We should not lecture each other but should understand the new political experiment as we all have problems -- be it the BJP, the Congress or the UF --- and we have to view it as a transitional phenomenon."

He said the political situation had become so unstable that the country had to evolve consensual policies in some areas of national concern.

He identified these areas as foreign affairs, defence, nuclear options, economic policy, agriculture and the public sector.

"Stability of policies is the real stability that the country needs at this moment," Singh said.

On the nuclear option, he said India should keep its options open. "We in no way will surrender our nuclear options," he said. There should be a national debate on testing the nuclear device, and it should no longer be a hush-hush affair.

Singh, however, sounded a note of caution against going in for an actual explosion, saying that it might invite economic sanctions which the country can ill-afford. He made it clear that all the issues should be decided by consensus by the country as a whole, and not by any government on its own.

On stability of national policies, Singh said the country's foreign policy till date continues to be the one shaped by Jawaharlal Nehru. Effective use of diplomacy and good neighbourly relations reduce the expenditure on defence, which in return was reflected in economic terms.

Singh stressed the need for reviving the National Security Council, giving priority to the development of infrastructure, creating a proper tax regime and a three-year policy on excise duty, devising ways and means to do away with corruption, bringing about a consensus on women's representation in Parliament and state assemblies, and effectively implementing the anti-defection law.

UNI

Elections '98

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