With electoral defeat of TMC and DMK the onerous responsibility has thus largely fallen upon Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav to steer the INDIA bloc through the crisis, writes senior journalist M Hasan
Lucknow, May 5: The electoral rout of two INDIA alliance satraps TMC’s Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and DMK’s M K Stalin in Tamil Nadu has created a piquant situation for the group and even some political experts have already written its “obituary”. Already the alliance had suffered major jolts in Bihar and Maharashtra with RJD’s Tejaswi Yadav and NCP’s Sharad Pawar respectively facing electoral humiliations.
The onerous responsibility has thus largely fallen upon the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav to steer INDIA bloc through the crisis.
It is for this reason sensing the impending trouble the leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi today quickly reacted to the criticism of Mamata Banerjee within the party. Sharply reacting to some statements Rahul Gandhi said “some in the Congress and others are gloating about TMC’s loss”. Gandhi further said “they need to understand this clearly the thefts of Assam and Bengal’s mandate is a big step forward by the BJP in its mission to destroy Indian democracy. Put petty politics aside. This is not about one party or another, this is about India”.
Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav, despite his party’s national vice president Kiranmoy Nanda’s critical statement against Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata, has come out in her support. Yadav said “fraudulent triumphs do not last for eternity and it has limited lifespan”. More than Nanda, whose contribution to Samajwadi Party has always been debatable during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s period, Akhilesh Yadav still better understands the political significance of Mamata Banerjee. She still commands a strength of 29 MPs in Lok Sabha and 13 in Rajya Sabha. TMC despite being routed in assembly election has won 41 percent popular votes. Similar is the situation about Stalin whose DMK has won 59 seats with popular votes of around 25 percent. DMK has 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha. Both TMC and DMK were instrumental in thwarting in passage of NDA’s controversial Delimitation Bill last month. There are reports about NDA’s attempt to sow seeds of dissension in the two parties to further weaken INDIA bloc.
Thus, with 2029 Lok Sabha election still far off, the parliamentary strength of TMC and DMK cannot be brushed aside. Rahul Gandhi’s call to Mamata Banerjee and Stalin during the counting of votes was thus aimed at keeping the INDIA bloc intact. There is no doubt that both Mamata Banerjee and Stalin, despite being part of INDIA alliance, never allowed Congress its due share in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu respectively. The Congress, which contested alone in West Bengal, has won two seats and five seats in Tamil Nadu in alliance in DMK.
The Congress, which has now “southern comfort” by winning Kerala and having control over Karnataka and Telangana, might support TVK of Vijay in the formation of new coalition government but there are reports that it would also continue to have truck with DMK. In West Bengal however Mamata Banerjee would have to recalibrate her political strategy by closely cooperating with Congress. Rahul Gandhi’s soft posturing during the last 24 hours has given enough indication about doing business with bruised Mamata.
Back in UP where electoral battle is due in 2027, Yadav would have to reevaluate his alliance strategy and decide whether he wanted the Congress to play second fiddle or a respectable partnership. There appears to be hardly any possibility about BSP chief Mayawati joining any non-BJP alliance as she has already announced to go it alone. Thus, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav not only jointly hold key to the survival of INDIA alliance, they could also regain lost ground in India’s most populous and politically important state.
( M Hasan is former Chief of Bureau Hindustan Times, Lucknow)
