The Rediff Special/Cho Ramaswamy

'Moopanar is not a petty-minded person. He will not indulge in blackmail and he is a good manager of men'

Any government that is formed out of this Parliament will face a lot of difficulties because there is no clear mandate. Parties which have opposed each other in the elections and parties which are going to oppose each other hereafter also came together to form this government. The verdict of the people is such, the constitution of the Lok Sabha is such, that these things will recur whenever a government is formed out of this Lok Sabha. It cannot be helped.

But still we are not sure what kind of a result the next election is going to give. And because the country cannot face one election after another in such quick succession, we have to accept this as part of a parliamentary democracy.

It won't be bad for the country to have such frequent changes in governments if the governments are not going to change policies. If there is a total change of policies with the change of government, it will be a problem for the country. For example, if the economic liberalisation policy is going to be continued, it doesn't matter whether Deve Gowda is the prime minister or somebody else. What is the big difference between the Congress economic policy and the United Front economic policy? There is no difference at all.

I would say that withdrawal of support to the Deve Gowda government is the right thing as far as the Congress is concerned. I differ with every editorial writer, I differ with almost every journalist in the country. I think the Congress did the right thing. It should have been done earlier. What is the compulsion for the Congress to go on supporting a government, a prime minister, who tries to divide the party? The Congress is bound to make sacrifices, and the United Front is bound to live out of its sacrifices. Is it so? I don't understand this logic at all.

Deve Gowda intervenes with the Congress, he meddles with the inner party fights of the Congress, he plays groups in it, encourages groups, encourages Sharad Pawar and considers P V Narasimha Rao as the leader of the Congress and Sitaram Kesri as the usurper. Why should he interfere with the affairs of the Congress?

And what is the kind of co-operation which the United Front extended to the Congress in Uttar Pradesh? So, all co-operation must come from the Congress whereas the United Front must enjoy the fruits of it. Is it so? I don't understand this logic.

Was it good for the country that this government came about and Deve Gowda became the prime minister of the country? You cannot say that it would be bad for the country to have another leader from the United Front. The mistake done by the Congress was supporting the governmental and not withdrawing support. They have corrected the wrong, I will say. Now they will support somebody else and not Deve Gowda. Let us see whether we have a better person.

The prime minister makes a lot of difference to the governance of the government. He is the most important person in the government. And, the United Front is not one party; it does not even have one ideology. It is a 13-party coalition with every party having three ideologies. So you can say 39 to 40 ideologies are together in the UF government. Naturally, the individual who leads the group is important.

The demand of the Congress to change Deve Gowda was right because they did not agree with the prime minister. Even the Constitution is formed in such a way that the President does not invite a group or a party -- he invites the leader. He invites one man to form the government. He does not invite the United Front, he does not invite the BJP or the Congress, he invites a leader who commands the confidence of the majority of the members of Parliament. Even the Constitution speaks of parties only when it goes into the anti-defection law which is a recent addition.

It was because of the weakness of the Congress that they were on the defensive in the House. That does not mean that they have to necessarily be on the defensive.

If I had been there in the Congress, I would have been on the offensive. I would have asked, "What credit does this government take? Economic policies? Was it framed by you? It was framed by us. The beginning was made by Manmohan Singh, by the Congress government.

"The talks with Pakistan? The relationship with Pakistan has not become that all right; only the talks have begun. And you take pride in that? But how did it happen? Was it because of you? It was because of Nawaz Sharief. If Benazir Bhutto had continued, there would not have been any talks. Because her platform is anti-Indian. It is because of the electoral results of Pakistan that the talks have come about. Are you going to say that Deve Gowda arranged for the defeat of Benazir Bhutto and the success of Nawaz Sharief? What is his achievement there?

"And, Bangladesh? What is the big achievement? You gave up your rights. Giving up rights is not an achievement. You can give up Kashmir and strike a deal with Pakistan. Do not ask back the areas occupied by China. Strike a deal with China. Give up everything and then you are the master? You are the tactician?"

Now tell me what do they take credit for? They can take credit for one thing -- tearing the Constitution to pieces in Uttar Pradesh. What else?

I don't think this 10-month-rule of the United Front government was particularly good. I am waiting to see one argument which should convince me that this government has delivered. It was good in this way -- the prime minister has not done all the harm he could do because he slept half the time. So, he did only half the harm that he was capable of.

His speech after the confidence motion was evil, small-minded and petty. It was not a speech at all. He wept like a woman.

They can keep the BJP as an untouchable, but branding the BJP as communal is not right. It is not justified at all. It is not a communal party. They have the Muslim League with them and then they call the BJP communal. It is as secular as the other parties.

Moopanar's chances are bright to become the new leader of the United Front. But I do not know how it is going to happen. Moopanar is not a petty-minded person. He will not indulge in blackmail and he will not interfere in the affairs of the Congress. So, that will be a big advantage. And he is a good manager of men. What is now required is not a great administrator, but a good manager. And Moopanar is very good at it.

He knows all of India's politics. He had been the troubleshooter for Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi for so many years together in various states. He has got a good rapport with many leaders, many political parties of all shades. I think he will make a success of it. I am trying to persuade him to say yes. I don't know whether I will succeed.

I do not recognise the United Front as an entity at all. It may be called the UF but it has continued to hamsham. All the partners in the UF want to avoid elections. I don't think ultimately the Left will move away from the UF. They may threaten to do it, but they will not do it. The only party which is prepared to go to elections is the BJP. So the UF will continue for some more time if they are able to pick a person of the calibre of Moopanar. Then they will be able to continue with the support of the Congress and later, perhaps, make the Congress participate in the government, which will give it greater stability.

As told to Shobha Warrier

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