WSN service
NEW DELHI: The cat is out of the bag. The Hindu fundamentalist R.S.S. has formally mooted the idea of 4 Coalition government to be joined in by Congress (I) and BJ.P.
Bhauras Deoras, younger brother of R.S.S. chief Babasaheb Deoras, has in an interview suggested Coalition in the interest of providing stability at the Center. He was not in favor of bringing down the Rao government and would like it to continue for its full term of five years. If a Congress (I) – B.J.P, government was not possible, then the B.J.P. should continue supporting the government from outside, he said. Deoras, however, said these were his personal views and had not been discussed with BJ.P Leaders.
Rao is a sober person, It is easier to discuss issues with him than with his predecessors, Chander Shekhar and V.P. Singh. I expect Rao to initiate talks on the Ayodhia issue. It is satisfying that Rao does not have 4 confrontationist attitudes towards proponents of Ram temple. There are many persons in the Congress who are good”, stated Deoras.
Deoras further said “The R.S.S is prepared to extend all cooperation to the government in eradicating crrorism all over the country. We would like the Hindu youth who have left the Kashmir valley to be trained, Supplied arms and sent back to Kashmir to counter insurgents”.
The R.S.S. leader revealed that he had already met the Prime Minister and had suggested to him to send back Jagmohan as governor of Kashmir and establish full-fledged diplomatic relations with Israel. The Prime Minister, he said, was non-committal on the two issues and remained quiet.
The observations of Deoras caused a great deal of embarrassment both to Congress (I) leaders and B.J.P. leaders, Congress (I) spokesman C.P. Thakur, described the Deoras proposal for a coalition as “political mischief”. He asserted that Congress (I) was capable of providing stability on its own through consensus. On his part, Advani commented that the Deoras proposal for a coalition was “totally off the mark”.
According to political observers, R.S.S. leaders do not cloak their views for the sake of tactical convenience as do Congress(I ) and BJ.P. leaders for it is already an established fact that most Janata Dal leaders are no longer enchanted with the Rao government, it is largely dependent for its survival on the B.J.P. support.
Stray observations by such leaders as L.K. Advani that he held Rao in the highest esteem after the late Lal Bahadur Shastri give an indication of the state of relationship that has grown between the two major Hindu parties. The Indian government’s attitude towards the Ram temple issue also points to the fact that the two are not diametrically opposed to each other.
But the leaders of the two parties cannot afford at this stage to join hands publicly because that would disturb the delicate balance created by each for itself. A secret understanding between the two serves each well. Any public positions in favor of coalition would be more harmful than beneficial. In particular, Congress (I) still banks on Muslim support which will be eroded the moment it became known to Muslims that Congress(I) was in reality a Hindu fundamentalist party. On the other hand, B.J.P. still relies to some extent on anti-Congress (I) stance and that benefit to it would be weakened once it comes to a transparent arrangement with the ruling party.
In practice, the two parties joined hands on the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha. The two parties-are also in agreement on Punjab, Kashmir, Assam and Tamil issues. They see eye to eye on a series of economic liberalization measures. The two parties are also in broad agreement on pro-U.S tilt in the country’s foreign policy.
The observations of Deoras have, in fact, served the cause of political straight-forwardness in Indian politics howsoever inconvenient these may be for scheming politicians.
PATNA, INDIA: The Janata Dal will move an impeachment motion in Parliament against the chief election commissioner, T N Seshan for acting in a Partisan manner during the general elections earlier this year and the by- elections on November 16, party general secretary Sharad Yadav said.
Yadav, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Madhepura in the by-clections carlier this month, alleged that Seshan actions during the elections were biased against the Janata Dal government in Bihar.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 6, 1991
Article extracted from this publication >>
