The Hindu : Front Page : Congress confident of working majority

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Monday, May 18, 2009
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Front Page

Congress confident of working majority

Anita Joshua

Party in no mood to accommodate RJD, SP

— Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

TAKING STOCK: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi at the Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Sunday.

NEW DELHI: Even as the Congress Working Committee (CWC) met on Sunday evening to engage in a spot of self-congratulation, party managers were confident of rustling up a working majority. Congress sources claimed to have secured commitments from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the Assam United Democratic Front, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) and the Bodoland People’s Front — all of which have one member each in the next Lok Sabha.

These back-room efforts have placed the Congress in a comfortable position where they could well do without the support of the estranged allies – the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Samajwadi Party(SP).

Though the two parties have always maintained that they are with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the Congress sought to draw a distinction between them and those allies which agreed to have State-level pre-poll alliances.

This was indicated by the chairperson of the party’s media department, Janardan Dwivedi, who said the future course of action would be decided in consultation with “pre-poll alliance partners.” At the same time, he reiterated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s invitation to all secular parties to support the new government.

Consultations with allies will “officially” begin after Tuesday when the Congress Parliamentary Party is scheduled to meet to elect a chairperson. Asked whether the CWC discussed where to get the additional 11 members that the Congress needs to reach the half-way mark of 272, Mr. Dwivedi said this was not on the agenda.

The dominant view in the Congress is to keep the RJD and the SP out and, instead, tap some of the nine independents.

The Congress is confident that in view of the clear verdict, no party would try to bring down the government even if it does not have 272 on the board.

Though the Trinamool Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are expected to seek a commensurate share of the governance pie, Congress leaders insisted they were in a good bargaining position, thanks to the final score of 205. And the partners know it as evident from the change in the tone and tenor with Praful Patel of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) maintaining that his party would make no demands.

Deciding ministerial berths, Mr. Patel said, was “purely the prerogative” of the Prime Minister and “I am sure that based on the past performance of NCP ministers, he will take an appropriate decision.” While the SP offered support to the Congress, RJD’s Lalu Prasad spoke to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the phone and later clarified that it was he and not she who had made the call.

Addressing the CWC, Ms. Gandhi described the “moment” as a time of great significance, responsibility and satisfaction. She urged the Congress to work hard to restore the party to its former historical role as “the party of natural governance.”

The CWC also passed a resolution thanking the voters for the clear mandate.

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