REWIND

New Delhi, 13 July 2023

Opposition Needs Credibility

By Inder Jit

(Released on 1 September 1981) 

Quiet and not so quiet efforts are continuing among the Opposition leaders for some arrangement to meet what is described as the “menacing challenge” posed by Mrs Gandhi and her party. These leaders have once again come to the conclusion that the choice which faces them is clearer today than ever before: stand together or hang separately. The Congress (I) is currently in the process of acquiring more and more strength in a situation in which most politicians, like Mr Y.B. Chavan, have gone soft and seek easy dividends. The Congress (U) units in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have already joined the party unconditionally. The Karnataka unit is also poised to join it. Many other units are thinking likewise. They see their future only in the ruling party notwithstanding the Congress (U) Working Committee’s decision to elect Mr Sharad Pawar as its new President and assert its separate identity. The decision of the Election Commission declaring the Congress (I) as the real Congress has come in handy. Many Congress (U) men, who talked of lofty Congress principles and criticised Mrs Gandhi until yesterday, have now been provided an easy excuse to join the Congress (I)’s bandwagon without any qualms of conscience.

Bits and pieces of news about the effort made by some of theOpposition parties to come together has appeared over the past fortnight and more. Some of these stories have given the impression as though these parties had decided to merge in a fresh bid to provide a viable national alternative to the Congress (I). Yet the truth is that at no stage has any such exercise been undertaken seriously. Some leaders undoubtedly took initiative in the matter and informal talks were even held. But these were essentially designed to identify the issues of common concern with a view to jointly mobilising public opinion for mass action on such matters as electoral reform, which many feel has acquired “grave urgency”against the backdrop of the Garhwal bye-election, spiralling prices and the deteriorating law and order situation. In fact, the Bangalore meeting of the National Executive of the Janata Party in May cleared the decks for action by authorising Mr Chandra Shekhar to explore the areas of cooperation with the other Opposition parties beginning with electoral reform.

This eventually led to an invitation from Mr Chandra Shekhar to 15 parties for a meeting on electoral reforms on July 17 and 18 in New Delhi. Twelve of those invited attended. Only the CPI, PWP and AIADMK stayed away. (The CPI had no objection to being together with the BJP if the meeting was held at the level of parliamentary parties.) This meeting, as is known, appointed a nine-men committee to formulate agreed proposals on electoral reforms. The committee has held two meetings so far and the third is due to be held early in September. The Janata Party has, meanwhile, taken one more step towards greater cooperation among the Opposition parties. Its National Executive, which met again in Hyderabad on August 12 and 13, has amended the original Sarnath resolution which laid down the Janata’s attitude towards the other parties and its determination to go ahead individually and offer the nation a viable national alternative. The Sarnath resolution, as modified, now permits the party leadership to explore the possibility of cooperation with the other parties in launching joint action on agreed issues.

Simultaneously, informal efforts have been on by the top leaders of the other opposition parties to explore the areas of cooperation. Mr Devaraj Urs approached top Janata and Lok Dal leader a few weeks ago and pressed them for a merger of the three parties. Initially, the response ofMr Charan Singh and Mr Chandra Shekhar was cool. But Urs persisted. Ultimately, Mr Charan Singh and Mr Chandra Shekhar not only agreed to sit together with Mr Urs but suggested that Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee might also be invited. Invitations then went from Mr Urs to the three leaders for a conclave at Karnataka Bhawan on August 4. On the appointed day, however, Mr Charan Singh failed to come. Instead, Mr. Madhu Limayeturned up for the meeting and explained that “Chaudhury Sahib” could not come as his pulse was “missing a beat”. Mr. Limaye’s arrival took the three leaders by surprise and had the instant effect of throwing cold water on the meet. None was happy over the presence of one they regard as an “arch splitter” with “a penchant for creating trouble”. Nevertheless, they decided not to make an issue of Mr Charan Singh’s absence in their anxiety not to delay matters.

During discussion, Mr Limaye said that the Lok Dal would be happy to join hands with the Opposition parties and open a new chapter in a spirit of “forget and forgive”. He then suggested that the four parties should merge together. (BJP too? Yes! Remember, Mr Limaye issued a few days earlier the astonishing statement that RSS wasnot the issue that broke the Janata!) But Mr. Chandra Shekhar promptly made it clear that he and his Janata Party were opposed to any merger, which was impracticable because of the clash of personalities. There would always be trouble over who should be what in any new or merged party. They had had bitter experience of the “clash of egos” in the Janata Party which ultimately led to the fall of its Government. Mr Limaye, however, persisted in pleading for merger and argued that the problem was not insurmountable. True, there was a clash of personalities. But this could be resolved. He then suggested that Mr Charan Singh could, for instance, be made the President of the new party and Mr Vajpayee its leader in Parliament. Mr Urs could be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Board.

Mr Urs interrupted Mr Limaye to ask: “What about Chandra Shekhar?” Mr Limaye replied: “He could be the Secretary of the Parliamentary Board”. An embarrassed Mr Chandra Shekhar immediately clarified that he was personally not concerned with any position as he had never hankered after office. He would be quite happy to be the General Secretary if they so desired or even to be office secretary! The important thing was to work for a cause and work ardently. But he asked: “What about Morarjibhai? How can you ignore and eliminate him? He is our leader”. Mr Limaye is then reported to have said: “Morarji Desai is now very old”. Mr Chandra Shekhar whereupon queried: “Are you suggesting that Mr Charan Singh is very young?” The “exchange” ended in good humour. But the clash of personalities was heavily underlined. Mr Vajpayee, for his part, heard things quietly with a smile. Towards the end he said: “Well, you friends can merge or create a new party. But insofar as we are concerned, the BJP will not merge with any party. We shall retain our identity. However, we shall be happy to cooperate on issues.”

The meeting ended without reaching any decision on the basic proposition. However, it was agreed that the exercise should be continued and, meanwhile, “no publicity” should be given to what had been discussed. In fact, it was even decided that the fact of the meeting should be kept a secret till something tangible had emerged. All four realised that some news hounds might still come to know about the meeting and approach them individually. It wasthen agreed that Mr Urs should brief the Press, if necessary. He advised to say no more than the fact that the four leaders had met. Further, that they had discussed issues of common interest and concern and would meet again in due course. But Mr Urs, Mr Vajpayee and Mr Chandra Shekhar counted without Mr Limaye. Barely a week later, Mr Limaye, to their great horror and shock, spilled the beans in Bangalore at a Press Conference and went far as to wrongly state that the Lok Dal, Janata and Congress (U) had decided to merge. The premature disclosure caused expected reaction: embarrassment and anger and an end to the effort.

A question which might be asked is: Why did Mr Limaye make the disclosure in Bangalore contrary to the understanding reached at New Delhi? Informed sources provide two answers. First, the Janata Party and the Congress (U) have been slowly coming closer to one another over the past six months. Unknown to most people, some Janata and Congress (U) leaders as well as prominent MPs have been meeting informally over the past few weeks and considering ways and means of enlarging the areas of cooperation between their parties both in Parliament and outside with the ultimate objective of coming together. Mr Limaye and his Lok Dal friends, it seems, wanted to block this development somehow. Second, Mr Limaye has an unrivalled record in Indian politics as the greatest splitter of all times. He first split the PSP, then the SSP, next the Socialist Party and finally the Janata Party. Many thought that Mr Limaye had perhaps had enough of playing the bull in china shop. But before long he even split the Lok Dal by bringing about something that many had considered impossible: a break between the Chaudhury and his Hanuman: Mr Raj Narain.

Top leaders of the Janata and the Congress (U) are, however, not disheartened by this development. They feel that the answer to the challenge which faces them still lies in getting the Opposition parties to work together on agreed issues even as they retain their separate identity. Encouragement for this approach has come from two “happy developments”. First, all the trade unions barring the INTUC joined together on the opening day of Parliament to organise a mass demonstration against the Essential Services Ordinances. Second, various Opposition parties have been cooperating actively with each other on the floor of Parliament even without any prior understanding. On the second day of the Lok Sabha session, Mr Madhu Dandavate raised a discussion on electoral reforms. All the Opposition parties took a powerful united stand. Fortunately, for the Opposition this cooperation has continued --as shown once again on the issue of censorship of mail and telephone tapping and the Speaker, Mr Balram Jakhar’s, amazing ruling holding both as legal.

Where do the Opposition parties go from here? The emphasis for the present will continue to be on working together on agreed issues even as informal moves and soundings continue to be made for possible mergers. Incredible as it may seem, Mr Charan Singh is said to be “very, very keen” to get the BJP to join hands with the Lok Dal and, if possible, even to get the two to merge and become Bharatiya Lok Dal. (This explains Mr Limaye’s tongue-in-cheek statement in regard to the RSS). There is also talk of other permutations and combinations. Mr Sharad Pawar has, for instance, expressed himself in favour of joining hands with the CPI(M). Mr H.N. Bahuguna and Mr Chandrajit Yadav have also been talking in terms of a left front and some moves in this direction have even taken place. But all this abracadabra will not take the Opposition leaders very far.In the final analysis, our people today are getting more and more sickand tired of politics and politicians. They yearn for leaders who are men of calibre and character -- and can be counted upon to give the people a good government and put the country before self. The Opposition leaders have thus to give top priority to        ways and means of winning back the people’s faith and trust. More than anything else they need first to establish their credibility.---INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)