NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister has presented the Opposition with a fait accompli by announcing the candidature of Dr, Shankar Dayal Sharma for president ship without linking it to the Vice Presidential election as demanded by them, This has been possible because of the division in the opposition ranks and because Narasimha Rao has got his arithmetic right even in the worst case scenario of a joint opposition candidate,

A common opposition candidate however seems a remote possibility with the Left refusing to have anything to do with BJP candidate, with the Janata Dal leadership on its S c-ST trip and the BJP jumping into the act of exploring this possibility too late in the day.

The Prime Minister did not agree to the demand of a package sought by both the BJP and the Left for a variety of reasons, For a start, the Congress leaders point to the “technical” difficulties of formally announcing a vice presidential candidate because a vacancy cannot be presumed till the process of presidential election is completed. This would be “irregular” though Dr Sharma’s election is being considered a foregone conclusion,

To have yielded to the BJP’s demand that one of the two posts should be given to an opposition candidate could have given an impression of weakness and might have created problems for Narasimha Rao inside the Congress party, Given the post Tirupati power balance inside the Congress party, it is difficult for the Prime Minister to take a step which is seen as being soft on the BJP.

Rao could have openly tied up with the Left parties be agreeing to someone like K.R. Narayanan for vice president ship. He may not be against his candidature.

There is a section of the ruling party including Kerala Chief Minister K. Karunakaran, and some others who consider themselves aspirants for the post who are opposed to him. The Left had suggested a package 10 the Prime Minister with Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma for president ship and Narayanan for Vice President ship.

The Prime Minister may have chosen not to give an any asstirance to the Communist parties on the Vice President because he has not made up his mind on the Vice presidential candidate. Or he may not want to be seen as succumbing to pressure from the left. While not wanting to tie up with the BJP exclusively, he may also not want to do anything which might alienate the party given the precarious balance of his minority or near majority government.

The inherent contradictions between the Left and the BJP also give Rao a natural advantage. The Left leaders have stated repeatedly that their dominant consideration for the presidential poll has been to prevent an understanding between the Congress and the BJP as on the Speaker-Deputy Speaker election,

For all the noises the Left is making about the Congress party’s unilateral decision the Communist parties are likely to vote for Dr.Sharma. It’s leaders have already announced that they will neither field their own candidate nor forge an alliance with the BJP. The Prime Minister seems to have made doubly sure of this in his telephone talks with Jyoti Basu during the last three days. The Left parties are however keeping their options open on the Vice Presidential election.

There could be yet another factor for delinking the two posts. Any decision on the vice presidential candidate would have given the credit to one of the opposition groups and not to the Congress. While the initiative for the Presidential nominee was being taken by the ruling pany, it was the Opposition which was coming out with various possible candidates: for vice president ship, The Prime Minister initially tried for a situation of consensus on the candidature of Dr.Sharma which would have suited the ruling party the most. Though both the Left and the BJP leaders agreed to Dr. Sharma’s name, BJP’s subsequent condition that one of the two posts should be given to an Opposition nominee reduced the chances of a wide agreement A consensus might not have been Possible with Janata Dal leader V.P. Singh’s insistence on a SC ST candidate for President ship.

The BJP seems to have its compulsions for establishing its bonafides as an opposition party Which is critical of the Congress.

Article extracted from this publication >> July 3, 1992