Coalition Stories
If you look at Congress led UPA government in New Delhi from outside, you can't be faulted for saying that it is all the more funny.
When 2004 Parliamentary election results were out, Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was surprisingly way ahead of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Yet, the numbers were not good enough for the UPA to form the government. It was then the Communists who had about 60 elected members of parliament decided to support the pseudo-secular UPA with the noble intention of keeping the so-called 'communal' NDA at bay. Although Communists and Congress are bitter enemies in Kerala and West Bengal, both the parties pretended as if those states are not part of the country any more.
Communists were clever in the entire setup that they chose to support the government from outside – i.e., they chose to have power, but without any accountability. The game started only after the government was formed. For everything that the government tried to do, Communists would block or threaten to block. Though they never executed any of their threats so far, on several occasions they managed to bring the Congress to its knees, the glaring ones being Indo-US nuclear deal, privatization of Mumbai, Delhi airports etc.
Both the parties wanted another party one out of the government, but in effect, kept governance at bay. This is exactly what happens if parties with little or no common ground between each other form a government. Poor Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he has been thrown to the lions quite mercilessly. A political misfit that he is, he must be regretting the day his madam superior chose to listen to her sacred 'inner voice', for within few years of becoming the Prime Minister he managed to lose all of the goodwill he earned throughout his life time.
It is not that we are having such an arrangement for the first time. In 1989, when National Front led by Vishwanath Pratap 'Mr Clean' Singh came to power at the Centre, it was supported by the erstwhile 'untouchable' - Bharatiya Janata Party, who had 81 members of parliament in the ninth Lok Sabha. Like Communists of today, BJP cleverly chose to support the government from outside and wielded power without any responsibility. BJP squeezed the National Front government on various issues like Mandal Commission, Ram Janmabhoomi etc. Thankfully for the nation, due to external as well as internal contradictions, V.P.Singh government collapsed within nine months of formation. Similar fate awaited Chandrasekhar led National Front government, which took 'outside' support from Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress in 1990-91. Country witnessed two short-lived United Front governments during 1996-97 led by H.D. Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujral, who took outside support from Sitaram Kesri-led Congress.
At the State level, Muthuvelar Karunanidhi led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu is currently facing a similar situation as Congress at the Centre. If Congress had to dance to the tunes of Communists at the Centre, in Tamil Nadu DMK is suffering the same fate with Paataali Makkal Katchi led by Dr. S. Ramadoss. In the 234-seat assembly, DMK is holding 96 seats, way short of the magic figure of 117. It is dependent on the support of Congress (34), PMK (18) and Communists (15). Like many parties who support a government from outside, PMK wants to dissociate from any shortcomings of the DMK government, but wants to reap the benefits of being an ally.
Also, as the rise of actor Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) is sending shivers down the spine of Dr. Ramadoss, that he ideally want to reap the benefits of 'anti-incumbency' wave against DMK government during the next election. Moreover, if he plays his cards well by opposing Karunanidhi, he can raise his stakes by bargaining for more seats if and when he had to ally with Jayalalithaa Jayaram's AIADMK. All of these seems to inspire Dr. Ramadoss a lot that not a day passes by without him holding a press conference blasting the DMK government. Initially, he was opposing the government on certain issues like airport expansion, setting up of satellite township near Chennai, capitation fees in higher education, illegal sand quarrying etc. Gradually, he was seen stepping up the ante by personally targeting State Ministers like Ponmudi, Arcot N Veeraswamy, T R Baalu as well. The funniest bit among this is, after every attack on the State Government, Dr. Ramadoss will never forget to add a disclaimer that he will keep supporting the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government for its full term of five years.
If the readers think that it is always the case with the parties lending outside support to a government, this writer has got an interesting example to share. Way back in 1967, when Indian National Congress was a formidable force in Indian politics, a Congress leader from West Bengal - Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee broke away from the party and formed a new party named Bangla Congress, much like how Govindaswamy Karupiah Moopanar formed Tamil Maanila Congress in 1996. Incidentally, Ajoy Mukherjee's parting of ways with Congress was the first of many splits for the Indian National Congress after Independence. Shortly after West Bengal Legislative Assembly election in 1967, during which Congress was thrown out of power for the first time in the state, a new coalition was formed titled 'United Front' comprising more than dozen parties including Bangla Congress, Commmunists, Forward Bloc, Workers Party and what not. Ajoy Mukherjee became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of West Bengal. The coalition government also had a Deputy Chief Minister from Communist Party of India (Marxist) who also held the Finance portfolio. The Communists, despite being in the government were doing to Ajoy Mukherjee in 1967 what Dr. Ramadoss is doing to Muthuvelar Karunanidhi at present. Cabinet meetings were literally turning into battle grounds. If the Chief Minister announced a programme, the Deputy Chief Minister will soon block it publicly saying that there is no money in the treasury to execute the programme. These incidents went up to the level that one fine day Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee sat on a day-long fast at Writers Building at Kolkatta (Calcutta, then) protesting against his own government. Hilarious it may sound, but quite pathetic it is in reality. It is a different story that United Front government in West Bengal shut shop within two years. It is yet another story that the very same United Front under the leadership (!?) of the very same Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee came back to power in 1969. Thanks to the mathematics of coalition politics, Ajoy Mukherjee even had the same Deputy Chief Minister. Just in case, if you are wondering who that Deputy Chief Minister was, the world knows him by the name of Jyoti Basu.
The writer can't help if you think of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when we talk about Ajoy Mukherjee. The above examples are not all. There are many more such coalition stories in the world's largest democracy, which are equally hilarious and pathetic, if not more. Watch out, some of them might be unfolding right in front of your eyes!
When 2004 Parliamentary election results were out, Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was surprisingly way ahead of Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance. Yet, the numbers were not good enough for the UPA to form the government. It was then the Communists who had about 60 elected members of parliament decided to support the pseudo-secular UPA with the noble intention of keeping the so-called 'communal' NDA at bay. Although Communists and Congress are bitter enemies in Kerala and West Bengal, both the parties pretended as if those states are not part of the country any more.
Communists were clever in the entire setup that they chose to support the government from outside – i.e., they chose to have power, but without any accountability. The game started only after the government was formed. For everything that the government tried to do, Communists would block or threaten to block. Though they never executed any of their threats so far, on several occasions they managed to bring the Congress to its knees, the glaring ones being Indo-US nuclear deal, privatization of Mumbai, Delhi airports etc.
Both the parties wanted another party one out of the government, but in effect, kept governance at bay. This is exactly what happens if parties with little or no common ground between each other form a government. Poor Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he has been thrown to the lions quite mercilessly. A political misfit that he is, he must be regretting the day his madam superior chose to listen to her sacred 'inner voice', for within few years of becoming the Prime Minister he managed to lose all of the goodwill he earned throughout his life time.
It is not that we are having such an arrangement for the first time. In 1989, when National Front led by Vishwanath Pratap 'Mr Clean' Singh came to power at the Centre, it was supported by the erstwhile 'untouchable' - Bharatiya Janata Party, who had 81 members of parliament in the ninth Lok Sabha. Like Communists of today, BJP cleverly chose to support the government from outside and wielded power without any responsibility. BJP squeezed the National Front government on various issues like Mandal Commission, Ram Janmabhoomi etc. Thankfully for the nation, due to external as well as internal contradictions, V.P.Singh government collapsed within nine months of formation. Similar fate awaited Chandrasekhar led National Front government, which took 'outside' support from Rajiv Gandhi-led Congress in 1990-91. Country witnessed two short-lived United Front governments during 1996-97 led by H.D. Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujral, who took outside support from Sitaram Kesri-led Congress.
At the State level, Muthuvelar Karunanidhi led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu is currently facing a similar situation as Congress at the Centre. If Congress had to dance to the tunes of Communists at the Centre, in Tamil Nadu DMK is suffering the same fate with Paataali Makkal Katchi led by Dr. S. Ramadoss. In the 234-seat assembly, DMK is holding 96 seats, way short of the magic figure of 117. It is dependent on the support of Congress (34), PMK (18) and Communists (15). Like many parties who support a government from outside, PMK wants to dissociate from any shortcomings of the DMK government, but wants to reap the benefits of being an ally.
Also, as the rise of actor Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravidar Kazhagam (DMDK) is sending shivers down the spine of Dr. Ramadoss, that he ideally want to reap the benefits of 'anti-incumbency' wave against DMK government during the next election. Moreover, if he plays his cards well by opposing Karunanidhi, he can raise his stakes by bargaining for more seats if and when he had to ally with Jayalalithaa Jayaram's AIADMK. All of these seems to inspire Dr. Ramadoss a lot that not a day passes by without him holding a press conference blasting the DMK government. Initially, he was opposing the government on certain issues like airport expansion, setting up of satellite township near Chennai, capitation fees in higher education, illegal sand quarrying etc. Gradually, he was seen stepping up the ante by personally targeting State Ministers like Ponmudi, Arcot N Veeraswamy, T R Baalu as well. The funniest bit among this is, after every attack on the State Government, Dr. Ramadoss will never forget to add a disclaimer that he will keep supporting the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government for its full term of five years.
If the readers think that it is always the case with the parties lending outside support to a government, this writer has got an interesting example to share. Way back in 1967, when Indian National Congress was a formidable force in Indian politics, a Congress leader from West Bengal - Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee broke away from the party and formed a new party named Bangla Congress, much like how Govindaswamy Karupiah Moopanar formed Tamil Maanila Congress in 1996. Incidentally, Ajoy Mukherjee's parting of ways with Congress was the first of many splits for the Indian National Congress after Independence. Shortly after West Bengal Legislative Assembly election in 1967, during which Congress was thrown out of power for the first time in the state, a new coalition was formed titled 'United Front' comprising more than dozen parties including Bangla Congress, Commmunists, Forward Bloc, Workers Party and what not. Ajoy Mukherjee became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of West Bengal. The coalition government also had a Deputy Chief Minister from Communist Party of India (Marxist) who also held the Finance portfolio. The Communists, despite being in the government were doing to Ajoy Mukherjee in 1967 what Dr. Ramadoss is doing to Muthuvelar Karunanidhi at present. Cabinet meetings were literally turning into battle grounds. If the Chief Minister announced a programme, the Deputy Chief Minister will soon block it publicly saying that there is no money in the treasury to execute the programme. These incidents went up to the level that one fine day Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee sat on a day-long fast at Writers Building at Kolkatta (Calcutta, then) protesting against his own government. Hilarious it may sound, but quite pathetic it is in reality. It is a different story that United Front government in West Bengal shut shop within two years. It is yet another story that the very same United Front under the leadership (!?) of the very same Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee came back to power in 1969. Thanks to the mathematics of coalition politics, Ajoy Mukherjee even had the same Deputy Chief Minister. Just in case, if you are wondering who that Deputy Chief Minister was, the world knows him by the name of Jyoti Basu.
The writer can't help if you think of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when we talk about Ajoy Mukherjee. The above examples are not all. There are many more such coalition stories in the world's largest democracy, which are equally hilarious and pathetic, if not more. Watch out, some of them might be unfolding right in front of your eyes!
posted by Indian Voter at 6:11:00 PM
2 Comments:
Very insctructive and hilarious.
Hi IV,
Welcome back! Its really nice to see your wonderful posts again. Really missed them. Saw your apt Tamil comments on idlyvadai and then found my way here. Then saw your comments on my blog too. Thanks again!
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