We will explore all possibilities. It does not mean we will compromise on basic principles
According to the PTI, despite their firm opposition to the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, the Left parties today rejected BJP’s plan to drive a wedge between UPA and its Left allies and made it clear to the main opposition that they would decide their parliamentary tactics on their own. The signal came from CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat hours after Leader of Opposition L K Advani rang him up to solicit Left support for holding a discussion in Parliament on the nuclear issue under a rule that entailed voting.
It was not the Left’s “go it alone” response to the BJP but the foreign Minister’s slip that gives an interesting twist to the events playing out in the national capital.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the party’s key trouble shooter including with the Left parties said this after a meeting with CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
“Congress party is interested in running the Government for full term. We will explore all possibilities. It does not mean we will compromise on basic principles,”
When Offstumped had called on the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to call the Left’s bluff little did we expect that he would go so far as to dare the Left to withdraw support. In assessing the fallout from the Prime Minister’s remarks Offstumped had speculated on the likelihood of the wedge finally beginning the countdown to draw of curtains on the UPA-Left axis.
Pranab Mukherjee’s comments today confirm two things – nervousness in the party and the wedge between the UPA and the Left.
But before we get to that it is important to pose the question why did the Prime Minister go so far as to dare the Left to withdraw support ?
The Indian Express had an excellent piece on how the Left had reduced the UPA Government and especially the Prime Minister to a doormat riding roughshod on every policy issue. Now one must juxtapose this doormat like treatment with the Prime Minister’s own standing within the Congress Party. It is no accident that the Prime Minister sought re-election via the Rajya Sabha rather than take the opportunity to seek a direct mandate from the people to enter the Lok Sabha. Behind the sphinx like silence of Sonia Gandhi lies this rather unpalatable reality for the Prime Minister. She does not see him as an election time Prime Minister who will lead the effort to seek another term for the Congress.
So from the Prime Minister’s standpoint between now and 2009 there would come a time when he would have to cede the centerstage to the heir-apparent. So what really is happening here is you have a Manmohan Singh looking at the lame duck half of his tenure with very little leverage left to push policy leading him to be ever more sensitive to his legacy.
How will history remember Manmohan Singh as a Prime Minister ?
He clearly sees the Indo-US Nuclear Deal as his legacy and he was not just about to let the Left or his own party’s political considerations, including the abject lack of readiness of the “heir apparent”, to stand in the way of tarnishing that legacy.
Whether the Congress goes to polls in 2007 or 2009, there is little political capital left for the Prime Minister to build his legacy. The Indo-US Nuclear Deal is pretty much it.
So you have the Prime Minister willing to push matters to the very brink to save his legacy.
So coming back to Mukherjee’s comments, they are reflective not of the Prime Minister’s intentions to run the government for a full term but the “Congress Party’s” intentions, read Sonia Gandhi’s intentions.
Now the unsuspecting amongst us have assumed all along that the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi were of one mind on this issue. But apparently not, look at the clever political maneuvering as before to distance the Congress President from the Prime Minister.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is expected to reveal her mind tomorrow on the controversy over the Indo-US nuclear deal which has been rejected outright by the Left parties
Offstumped Bottomline: Pranab Mukherjee’s reference to the Party’s intentions and Sonia Gandhi’s evasive replies on the Prime Minister’s threat are clear indications of the nervousness that has gripped the Congress. The wedge is real, it is but a matter of time before the UPA-Left axis begins to unravel.
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Yossarin, looks like Manmohan’s days are finished…so you think Sonia will ask baby Rahul will take over – if she does, he’ll be another idiot like Sanjay. Or will Pranab take over now and let Rahul take the gaddi if left-wing axis win again and let Pranab take the fall if left-wingers lose and have Rahul run around for the one after the next election (he’ll at least be 40 then). Either way the disgusting Nehru clan is with us.
Also I won’t call it a UPA-left axis, it’s rather a UPA-Communists left wing axis.
Overall Sonia Gandhi’s stake in keeping this Govt going till 2009 is much more than Mr PM.
He can still be called a successful FM. He cannot have a future to build his legacy in the Congress. He still will be called PM whether he serves for 3 yr or 5 yr. So he has limited stakes.
But for Sonia, this is a matter of keeping the dynasty rule going.
Congress if in opposition can be very prone to breaking up.
In today’s context Sonia needs congress as much to exist as congress needs her to exist.
So I agree that Sonia will do all her bit to pacify this situation and try to make govt run its full terms.
I must say BJP has done a great job of almost “driving a wedge” between the UPA on the N-Deal issue – putting at jeopardy the landmark deal for post-independent India !
For several years now BJP’s hallmark and focus has been on playing “divisive politics” and it will dearly pay for this in the forthcoming 2009 elections when it will get wiped out from the Parliament.
Congress, on its part, has to stand on its own feet without the support of the Left… This should not the difficult since the seats lost by BJP has to go to some party !
Right or Wrong, I would like to disagree with you on BJP playing a divisive politics. It is otherwise instead because:
1) BJP was mostly irrelevant till 40yrs of independence, so responsibility of keeping the flock was with the Congress which was the only big party at that time. The very fact that the first division happened in 1947 with Congress being the party to it tells good about Congress
2) Second division happened when Congress allowed Ambedkar to provide reservations to SC/STs and not have affirmative agenda. This divided the SC/ST from rest of the people
3) Third division happened when Rajiv reverted Shah Bano judgement by dividing the people where you have one social code for one community and other for second community
4) Fourth, By doing a shilaniyas in ayodhya Rajiv was the one who started to again divide the community, take Hindu’s with him and leave Muslims.
5) A Congress guy (VP Singh) and then Congress was the one who divided the community further with another proposed reservation.
6) And now they are again dividing the country by giving all kind of sops to one community and nothing to others.
I don’t know how yu consider them to be non-divisive with 6 big examples and I am sure there will be many
On its part BJP is just trying to unite one major community. It was a upper caste/ business men party and now most of its chif ministers are OBC.
1) BJP is once again moving towards becoming an irrelevant force, like it was till 40yrs of independence. It will be partly brought down by its own mentor RSS and partly by the other Political parties like BSP, JD/RJD/SP, Congress, etc.
2) Congress & Ambedkar did not divide SC/STs from rest of the people ! The Dalits of India (who are now classified as SC/STs for affirmative agenda thru Reservation Policy) have been the “underbelly” of the Hindu Society for Ages – oppressed for generations like no other section of mankind have ever been on the face of this Earth. Even today you can visit the “Chamar” colonies in parts of India to see the realities of “Hindu society” which some members of VHP-RSS (mentors of BJP) subscribe to.
3) The only worthwhile cause BJP stands for (pays lip service to) is the Uniform Civil Code. Unfortunately, when it comes to implementating UCC during its Governance – it could not deliver ! It starts pandering to vote bank politics like any other Political Party (call it political complusions).
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On its part BJP is just trying to play politics – as they say – everything is fair in love, war and politics ! There is no ethics involved… YOU ONLY WIN OR YOU LOSE
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