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COVER STORY: NDA
OPPOSITION
On A Roll
For Congress President Sonia Gandhi, nothing could
have been more fortuitous than the Tehelka tapes. Fixing the BJP-led Government
in a defence deal was of immense political as well as emotional value to
her. Hours after the website released the tapes, she watched them on TV
with her daughter Priyanka at 10 Janpath, putting off a Congress Working
Committee meeting that was to finalise policy resolutions of the All India
Congress Committee plenary session in Bangalore. The tapes lifted her spirits.
During party meetings, senior colleagues found her in an extremely pleasant
mood. She offered them not one, but two cups of coffee. For a party accustomed
to interpreting every move
of Soniaji, that was indeed significant. Perhaps as
significant as the jubilation in 10 Janpath after the resignation of Fernandes.
"The tapes have destroyed the clean, patriotic
image of the BJP. Until the scam, the Congress alone was dubbed a corrupt
party. Now the BJP has also joined the league," says party spokesman
S. Jaipal Reddy.
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OFFENSIVE: With the Tehelka tapes the Congress had something to
celebrate
Coutesy by Hindustan Times
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The release of the tapes was also well-timed.
It came on the eve of the AICC session at which the party would seek to
end its political isolation by changing its views on coalitions. Senior
leaders such as Arjun Singh, who pushed for a less rigid position on coalitions,
wanted to use the Bangalore declarations to wean away the NDA allies.
The tapes came in handy to rock the Government. Contacts were established
with allies like Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav. Some Congressmen
even contemplated wooing the Telugu Desam.
The Singh camp also began working on building
opposition unity. With help from the Communists, particularly CPI(M) General
Secretary H.S. Surjeet and former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu,
they managed to lessen the Samajwadi Party's hostility.
At the launch of the People's Front to oust the
NDA Government, both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Basu did not make any negative
reference to the Congress. Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh
admits, "We share a common goal of fighting communal forces. Sonia
understands that." The regional party recently voted with the Congress
in the Rajya Sabha on an amendment to the President's address.
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Congress seeks to embarrass the Government
rather than oust it. Sonia doesn't want to appear power hungry.
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Nevertheless, the NDA meeting on March 14 was
an eye-opener for the Congress. Barring the Trinamool Congress, all allies
rallied behind Fernandes. "We do not see the NDA Government destabilised
in the near future. Most of the allies are state-centric rivals of parties
in the Opposition and as such cannot be put in the same sheath. Even after
the exit of the Trinamool and the PMK, the Government has 60 MPs more
than us," says an AICC office-bearer.
The only bright side is that the party can now
hope to have a tie-up with Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. This, coupled
with the party's hopes of winning power in Kerala and Assam and being
on the winning side in Tamil Nadu could, however, have a larger impact
nationally.
For the moment, however, the Tehelka tapes have
given the party a major campaign issue. By stalling the parliamentary
proceedings, the Congress wanted to take the issue to the public and not
bring down the Government. "We were trying to rake up the farmers'
issue but that didn't have the bite. With the tapes issue, we will sap
the Government's energy," says a party functionary. To a very large
extent, it has succeeded in destroying the BJP's holier-than-thou image.
"The BJP is a one-term party", asserted a Congress functionary.
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REJUVENATED: NDA's difficulties have given the third front a much-needed
boost
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But a sizeable section in the party is sceptical
about the good that the scam will do. Attack on Laxman raised the hackles
of the party's SC/ST leaders. They held an informal all-party meeting
at the Central Hall on the issue. Besides, the scam has also ruptured
compact between the Government and the Congress. Says an MP: "So
far the Government has treated Sonia and most Congress leaders with kid
gloves. There was a slowing down in the Bofors case. Now Sonia cannot
hope for such an arrangement to continue."
Party circles admit Sonia was not keen to take
on either the prime minister or even the PMO, not least because of a desire
to not appear desperate for power, but her senior colleagues overruled
her.
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The revival of the third front has led
to Mulayam Singh Yadav tempering his earlier antipathy towards Sonia.
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A less charitable version links her hesitation
to apprehensions over the extradition of her friend Ottavio Quattrocchi
to India from Malaysia in the Bofors case. Congressmen who have skeletons
in their cupboards fear it would now be an open season of muck-raking.
Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy's "chargesheet" against
her, linking Sonia to the KGB and the LTTE is believed to be the first
salvo.
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