The Nation: Anti-BJP Front; Diversity in Unity

India Today
October 12,1998

ANTI-BJP FRONT
Diversity in Unity

With the Congress giving him the cold shoulder and the Left playing hard to get, Laloo's post-Bihar attempt to forge a third front comes a cropper.

By Javed M Ansari and Harish Gupta

Diversity in Unity Laloo Prasad Yadav seldom fails to seize an opportunity. A recent function in Delhi -- marking the release of Mulayam Singh Yadav's biography -- attended by leaders of various opposition parties was no exception. "We have saved Bihar," he gloated, referring to how the entire Opposition had joined hands in the wake of the BJP's move to dismiss the Rabri Devi Government. As he pointedly looked at the Congressmen and the communists on the dais, the message was unmistakable: "Now we must bring down the BJP Government."

There lay the golden opportunity. The Bihar issue, the former chief minister was saying, was a catalyst for the formation of a broad anti-BJP front. In fact, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM) floated by Laloo and Mulayam has been harping on the idea of a third front for quite some time now. The unexpected unity of the opposition parties over Bihar had only made things easier.

But has it? The guarded response of the Congress and the Left -- the parties that would really matter in any configuration -- as opposed to the RLM leaders' unbridled enthusiasm indicates that the road is uphill. While the Bihar imbroglio provided the Opposition an ideological platform to join hands in cornering the BJP, a long-term alliance is fraught with hurdles. "It has helped create an atmosphere," concedes CPI(M) General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, "but it will be premature to expect parties to take the giant leap overnight."

The Congress, on its part, believes that such a situation will never be. Party President Sonia Gandhi has been going out of her way to make that clear, missing no opportunity to publicly snub leaders of the RLM. In Patna last week, en route to the flood-affected areas of the state, she refused to meet Laloo who had specially driven down to the airport to see her. It was only when she was told that Rabri Devi was with him that she relented. The courtesy call lasted a few minutes. Disappointed, Laloo returned an hour later but Sonia excused herself and directed him to party general secretary Madhavrao Scindia. An embarrassed Laloo explained that he had come to merely offer a state Government helicopter for Sonia as her chopper had developed a snag.

Back in Delhi, Sonia found an eager Mulayam waiting for her. He wanted her to "grace" the book-release function. Barring BJP leaders, everyone who mattered was there. Even Amitabh Bachchan, a friend of the Gandhis, had flown in from Mumbai for the occasion. But Sonia stayed away on the plea that it was a Sunday, her Sabbath. Moreover, her "family had come down from Italy". Mulayam was visibly disappointed. Her absence was a subtle but emphatic blow to the cause of the third front.

That the Congress does not want to be party to such a force is clear enough. "Why do they want a third front?" asks Congress Working Committee member and former Speaker P.A. Sangma. " The Congress has decided to go it alone."

Even at Pachmarhi, when Sonia spoke of links with the communists, she left none in doubt that the collaboration would not extend to the Left-ruled states of Kerala and West Bengal. Senior Congress leaders have said time and again that the party has nothing to do with Laloo and Mulayam. Reading into the party's support to Rabri Devi, they maintain, would be foolhardy as it was limited to preventing a democratically elected government from being dismissed by the BJP.

By ruling out any pre-poll alliance in the ensuing assembly elections, the Congress has indicated that subsequent unity, if at all, would be on its own terms. A proposition that even the most ardent advocates of unity find hard to digest. "We can't allow others to walk all over us," says RLM spokesman Amar Singh, adding that the front had already begun to shortlist its candidates for Delhi and Rajasthan. Though it lacks a sizeable following in these states, it is banking on its "nuisance value". For instance, it believes it can cut into the Congress' vote in constituencies in the capital with a substantial Backward Classes and Muslim electorate.

For now, the RLM has also to contend with the conflicting signals from the Left. As opposed to the RLM's idea of a new front comprising all secular parties, the Left parties want to revive the previous third force. They are also talking of extending issue-based support to the Congress. Though the unity moves have been put on the backburner till October 11, when the CPI(M) conference is scheduled to be held, senior leaders are said to making efforts to "win back Karunanidhi".

The RLM also knows the Left is cut up about Mulayam "walking out" of the United Front. His refusal to leave even a single seat for the CPI in Uttar Pradesh in the last general elections also left a bad taste. Then there's the bitterness that has marked relations between Laloo and the Left in Bihar. Differences over the fodder scam apart, seven CPI MLAs crossed over to Laloo's fold last month, delaying chances of a patch-up. The state CPI is even accusing Laloo of engineering the split.

Quick to make amends, Laloo called on the CPI leadership at Ajoy Bhavan in Delhi. He spoke of the long-standing relationship between the two parties, only to be cut short by General Secretary A.B. Bardhan. "Look what you did to my party," he said referring to the split. "Forget all that," pleaded Laloo. "Henceforth there will be no cause for complaint, let's unite to capture Delhi." But no one made any commitments.

With the Left playing hard to get and the Congress giving him the cold shoulder, Laloo, it seems, will have to wait for yet another opportunity to do the convincing.

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