Cong wobbly in firming up alliances

KV Prasad
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 19

The inability of Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi to finalise alliances to date is a talking point among the parties that are opposed to the BJP amid a gnawing feeling that the grand old party is working on a different plan —- regain strength.

At a time when the BJP walked the extra mile to firm up alliances displaying flexibility in keeping allies in good humour, the Congress approach sticks out in contrast. Its leadership in the states are unwilling to walk the talk of its president Rahul Gandhi who tweeted after the Congress working committee meet that “No sacrifice is too great in this endeavour; no effort too little; this battle will be won’’.

In fact, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha, a rebel against the current BJP leadership, today issued tweets reflecting the sense of frustration. “Unsolicited advice to Rahul Gandhi, Pl finalise your alliances in Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi and elsewhere today. It is already too late,” Sinha tweeted.

He also suggested “unsolicited advice” to all leaders of Opposition parties — “Stop speaking against each other in public. Sort out your differences privately”. Both aimed at the need for the parties opposed to the BJP-led coalition to put their heads together in taking on Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo in the General Election.

The AAP sought some kind of alliance in Delhi, Punjab, and Haryana that was rejected and until this afternoon, the AAP held out hope of some understanding with two formulae doing rounds of possible seat-sharing arrangement — 4-3 or 3-3-1, with the one being a joint candidate. Running out of patience, AAP today said the Congress is playing for time with one leader observing that a three-way division would result in a big advantage to the BJP.

Similarly, in West Bengal, efforts by the Left parties to leave four seats ran into trouble after the Congress insisted it would field candidates even on two seats held by the CPM in the state. There were reports that Deepa Dasmunshi, widow of former Union Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, was willing to cross over in case she was not nominated from Raiganj she once represented. The party gave in. She is in the fray against incumbent MP Mohammed Salim of the CPM.

A senior Left leader told The Tribune that Rahul Gandhi could not demonstrate the firmness former Congress president Sonia Gandhi did when she worked out alliances to challenge the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime in 2004.

The Congress, which Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, wanted to be at the head of the battering ram against Modi-Shah duo, signs emanating are not in consonance with the objective. That leads to the surmise the Congress under Rahul Gandhi is seeking to rebuild the organisation instead of seen scrambling to wrest power from the BJP.