REWIND

New Delhi, 7 September 2023

Prime Minister & The Opposition

By Inder Jit

(Released on 4 October 1983) 

Speculation about the Opposition parties and their third conclave in Srinagar encourages me to share with readers a delightful story reportedly going the rounds in London. Mrs. Thatcher’s side of the matrimonial bed, according to Bernard Levin of the London Times, has two holes in the carpet, a few inches across and much the same distance apart, through which the floorboards can be distinctly seen. The reason? The Prime Minister has developed a habit of spending an hour on her knees every night before she retires to give heartfelt and reverent thanks to Almighty God for the Labour Party. Mr. Levin adds: “Gladstone became Prime Minister for the last time at the age of Mr Levin 83. Mrs. Thatcher will be 83 in 2008; I can see no reason why she should not still be in office then, and moreover without (unlike Gladstone) having been in Opposition from time to time in the intervening years. And yet, many and remarkable though her qualities are, I do not think she would be dreaming of such a record if it were not for the activities of her opponents.”

I do not know if Mrs Gandhi has a wall-to-wall carpet in her bedroom. I also do not know how she likes to pray sitting cross-legged on the floor as is the traditional Indian method or kneeling in accordance with the style she may possibly have imbibed during her student days in Switzerland. But one thing is certain. Mrs Gandhi has reasons to be as grateful to the Almighty for the Opposition. It enabled her to return to power triumphantly in 1980 and like the Phoenix rise from the ashes of 1977. Mrs Gandhi continues to be in remarkably good health. At 66, she leaves persons half her age panting for breath as was seen on TV last week, when she took a journey into Greece's glorious past and visited the Oracle of Delphi and the temple of Apollo. In fact, thanks to the way the Opposition has conducted itself over the past decade and more she would be justified in thinking that she could do as well as Gladstone (and Mrs Thatcher, as now suggested) and be Prime Minister at 83, which would keep her in office till the turn of the century -- 2000 AD.

Mrs Gandhi, I am sure, would rub her eyes in disbelief at the suggestion, wild and incredible on the face of it. But she has a greater likelihood of doing a Gladstone than Britain's Iron Lady. Mrs Gandhi has ranged against her an Opposition which is a great deal more obliging at least on two counts. One, it is badly fragmented, with leaders outnumbering followers in some cases. Two, it does not even seem to be fully aware of its role and rights. A parliamentary democracy provides, for a conscious and continuous struggle for power. Every Opposition is expected to have a one-point programme: to expose the failings of the Government of the day and seek its ouster. Yet, the story is different and pathetic in India. The Opposition by and large is invariably apologetic and defensively protests “no, no” whenever Mrs Gandhi asserts that it has only one programme: to remove her from office. Most Opposition leaders ignore that Mrs Gandhi is Congress-I and the Government and glibly explain: “We are not against Mrs Gandhi. We are only against her policies.”

Vijayawada and the first Opposition conclave convened by Mr. N.T. Ramo Rao held out hope of a new approach and a new thrust. The second conclave at New Delhi ran into rough weather. But concerted efforts by NTR and Dr Farooq Abdullah and some quick moves by Mr H.N, Bahuguna saved the day. Significant developments have taken place since then. The Lok Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party have formed the National Democratic Alliance.  (Explained a top BJP leader: “We are natural allies. We are complementary and supplementary. We have programmatic as also functional coherence.”) The Janata Party, the Congress(S), the Democratic Socialist Party, the Rashtriya Congress and the Janwadi Party have, for their part, forged a United Front. The CPI and the CPM have announced support to the Front. Dr Abdullah and his National Conference are also inclined to go along. But a question mark continues over the attitude of the Telugu Desam, Akali Dal and DMK and, more especially, the relationship between the two alliances, which would be of crucial importance in the Lok Sabha poll.

Things have not worked out for the Opposition as well as these might have. At one stage, it looked as though the Lok Dal, the Janata and the BJP might come together, thanks to quiet efforts by well-meaning leaders. Mr Charan singh, Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee even met jointly and separately. Early in August, the Congress-S, headed by Mr Sharad Pawar, also seemed inclined to chip in. Mr Pawar accompanied by Mr Chandra Shekhar even dropped into Mr Vajpayee's residence at the latter' a suggestion. The exchange of ideas was expected to be carried forward on August 9 at Pune, where a big youth rally was organised by the Congress(S) to commemorate Quit India Day. But the scheme and related ideas got blown sky high when the previous evening the Lok Dal and the BJP announced the formation of the National Democratic Alliance -- and Mr Vajpayee failed to turn up at Pune. Both Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr Pawar reacted sharply to the development against the backdrop of their gesture to Mr Vajpayee -- and continue to be sore even today.

Mr Chandra Shekhar and his colleagues feel that the announcement of the NDA's formation was so timed as to achieve three ends. First, to pre-empt the Janata Party's move to forge an Opposition front. Second, to isolate the Janata. And third, to force the party to knock at the door of the Alliance. Consequently, the Janata leaders hit back in their own way, notwithstanding the explanation offered by the BJP. They went ahead speedily and forged their own front even if in the bargain they killed a better proposal mooted by Mr Bahuguna. (The DSP President wanted the United Front to include some more parties, such as the National Conference, Telugu Desam and the DMK, and the formal announcement made with a bang at the Srinagar conclave.) That Mr Chandra Shekhar reacted as he did should surprise no one. He has so far stoutly refused to be brow-beaten by any one, howsoever great or powerful. He is also clear about the basics of politics and the fact that it is ultimately a game of survival.

Both the BJP and the Lok Dal have vehemently denied the Janata charge and adduced evidence in support. The Alliance, it is pointed out, was not forged suddenly through a conspiracy. The BJP initially gave a call for a national democratic front sometime in April. Subsequently, it adopted a resolution on the subject in May and sent copies to five parties -- Lok Dal, Janata, Congress(S), Telugu Desam and Sanjay Vichar Manch. (A copy of the resolution was also sent to Mr Jagjivan Ram some days later at the pressing instance of Mr Charan Singh.) Only the Lok Dal replied promptly and positively. The Janata Party also sent a reply. But its wording only made matters worse. Mr Chandra Shekhar, it is said, wrote back that a mere resolution was not enough and what was needed was the will to cooperate. Mr Charan Singh's positive response was followed up by talks, which culminated in the Alliance. Interestingly, Mr Charan Singh repeatedly pressed for a merger of the two parties. But the BJP firmly declined and agreed only to an Alliance.

Considerable misunderstanding has also been created among the Opposition parties by the Srinagar conclave. The Lok Dal and the BJP were not invited to the meeting, originally scheduled to be held on September 14 and 15. (Ironically, they came to know about it only when the CPI leader, Mr. Rajeshwar Rao, sent a copy of his reply to Dr Abdullah's invitation to them and others who participated in the Vijayawada conclave.) The two parties have also held all along strong views about what should be discussed at Srinagar, they would have preferred to talk about electoral reforms or on “misuse” of AIR and Doordarshan by the Government instead of a debate on Centre-State relations because of their opposition to Article 370 of the Constitution and J&K's Resettlement Bill. At any rate, the next few days will show how the two alliances will conduct themselves and whether there is any scope for the Opposition parties to evolve a code of conduct under which all would agree not to call each other names -- attacks which would only help Mrs Gandhi.

In fact, concerted thought has been devoted in the two camps to the question during the past week and more. Both sides appear agreed that Congress-I is their “main target” and they must, therefore, go by Chanakya's view that an enemy's enemy is a friend. Mr Chandra Shekhar has since denied that he ever described the NDA as being worse than the Congress-I. At the same time, however, he has said something else which cannot possibly generate goodwill among the BJP and the Lok Dal. He told reporters on Friday that the NDA was without any political personality and might not last more than a few months. There is no gainsaying the fact that both the Alliance and the Front have their compulsions. The Alliance is anti-Communist and is anxious to project its own image of unity and secularism. It regards Congress-I communal because of its alliance with the Muslim League and is not willing to have any truck with the Akali Dal or the National Conference. The Front is anxious to woo the minorities, who, it believes, are getting disenchanted from the Congress-I. It is also keen to emphasize its “progressivism” and keep up its liaison with Leftists, who, they believe, may bag up to 70 Lok Sabha seats.

Where do the Opposition go from here? Both the NDA and the UF – and their allies-- need to be clear about what they wish to achieve in the next Lok Sabha poll. Some enlightened leaders among them feel that when the chips are down, seat adjustments, if not mergers, will become inescapable. This, according to them, is the basic compulsion of the overall situation. (Significantly, almost 40 per cent of the UF members of the Lok Sabha have been “contributed” by the Lok Dal.) Thought will thus have to be given from now on to the scenario on the eve of the poll. True, this may involve walking on the razors edge for the present. But this cannot be avoided if the Opposition really wishes to put up agreed candidates against the Congress-I on the basis of one against one. They would also do well to take note of the advice given by Bernard Levin to the British Labour Party riddled with clashes of personality: “If two dogs go on fighting long enough over a bone, a passing cat will make off with it!” --- INFA

(Copyright, India News And Feature)