SPECIAL FEATURE

I THE OPPOSITION I In Search of a Messiah 1 Intrigue and back-stabbing dominate an inconclusive conclave THEol7jectofth~irs~archwasanoldone: tions of the Opposition to get their act through the eye of a needle than for the a sirnple five-lrtter word that has taxed the together only succeeded in achieving the Indian opposition to achieve unity. rrzost pronlirlant opposition rnindsfor years. opposite. The four stalwarts responsible, Moreserious wasthe fact thatnotonly And as opposition leaders went through the JanataParty PresidentChandraShekhar, did the closed door parleys often degen- tt~otiorisofunity onceagain, theobject oftheir Karnataka Chief Minister Ramakrishna erate into slanging contests but that the hunt nio\x~dfrrrth(.rawayfrom thrrr~.S~nior Hegde, Jan Morcha leader Vishwanath sharp personality clashes, at one stage, E~~~O~PKARHITC'HAWI.A reports on the tragi- Pratap Singh and Haryana Chief Minister threatened to cause a major split in the cori~icscenes behind the c~flort. Ilevi Lal, spent a total of 150 hours spread JanataParty. a key component ofthenon- over 10 days, together and separately, left opposition forces. When the 12 leaders HERE was something biblical in the trying to exorcise the ghost that had finally emerged from the conclave it was gathering: the Last Supper minus haunted earlier efforts at unity. But in the obvious that the Opposition was now T the messiah. At one end of the end, it only paralleled another biblical moredisunitedthanithadeverbeensince dining-table strewn with dishes and drop- parableit is easier for a camel to pass the Janata split nine years ago. pings was a lean, bearded ascetic-looking In fact, what went on behind the figure, his weather-beaten face lined with the battle-scars of his long and lonely crusades. Nextto him, asuaveand sophis- ticated man of principles and painful triye and back-stabbing and the paradoxes, gentle of speech and manner individual hunger for control over but with a mischievous twinkle in his any possible new alliance that might eyes. In the adjoining chair. a emerge. Said Jaipal Reddy, the outspo- stern and righteous character ken Janata leader from Andhra Pradesh: sadly deprived of humour, his "It is ironical that when the country is lean body aquiver with moral ready to accept a viable and credible tremblings. And finally, the cor- opposition, some of us should be inter- pulent one, well-fed and well- ested in saving our own chairs and in the versed in the faults and process run down others." foibles ofmortal man. They If there was any one villain of the piece were the four apostles, the it was Chandra Shekhar. The lean and ones the other eight pre- hawk-eyed socialist who has run the sent at the table looked Janata as his personal fiefdom, displayed to for guidance and an unbending determination to prevent inspiration. The symbolism was all-embracing. What was certainly missing was the messiah, the cho- sen one who could lead jack the Opposition. And them out of the wilderness. trapped in the middle were

in the midst. Or was he? If Iscariot was not there in person he was certainly there in spi- Shekhar, with allies rit, creating distrust. like Lok Dal(A)'s Ajit But what was missing Singh and determined to lead the combined But in that context, the Last Supper opposition, was the was an apt enoug perhaps the last chance for the squabbling fac-

I4 TIIU 4) 4 Al'RII Ill 1988 tion leaders had agreed to ac- powerful minister in Karnataka, to quit. cept V.P. Singh as the leader, He then directed his supporters to train and a new party would be launc- their guns on Devi Lal. Ajit Singh, who is hed in Delhi on April 5 when the anathema to Devi Lal, stated sarcastically anata national executive was to meet. that "the announcement for a new party Devi Lal wrote an 11 -page letter to should come not from Chandigarh ...but prominent opposition leaders-though from the people who should sit together not to the party chiefs-about the need and halise things." for opposition unity. He also made it However, it was clear that the unity clear that leaders like V.P. Singh, moves were heading for another disaster. Hegde, Patnaik and himself would The Ajit Singh faction continuedits attack receive tremendous public response on Devi Lal at the street-level. At a rally 1 if they came together on the same addressed by llevi Lal and Vajpayee in platform. In an indirect reference to Barout in western Uttar Pradesh. Lok Chandra Shekhar, the draft note said: Dal(A) workers booed and shouted slo- gans against the two leaders. DeviLal was hardly likely to take that lying down. In Haryana Chief Minister his inimitable earthy style, he pointed out the incongruity of Ajit Singh, who had Devi Lal was as fought the Lok Dal(B) in Haryana with the determined to foil help of Congress(1) money, projecting himself as a leader of the Opposition. attempts by Chandra By now, tragedy had degenerated into Shekhar to hijack the farce. A blatant attempt was made by Chandra Shekhar's supporters to get Lok Opposition. He started Dal(B) chief H.N. Bahuguna to join the his own unification Janata. In Haryana, equally sinister at- tempts were made to win over MLAs and moves, which led to Lok Dal office-bearers to Chandra She- battle lines being- drawn. khar's camp. Claimed General Secretary of the ~&ata Party Subramaniam Swamy, who had earlier opposed Chan- "The number of opposition parties has dra Shekhar: "The Lok Dal(B) will be Hegde and V.P. Singh-neither proved little to do with their unity. If a political fragmented and attach itself to the Janata forceful enough to steer the conclave in leader does not have the support of a Party in bits and pieces under pressure ( the required direction. minimumnumberofpeoplesuchaleader, from the public and local level leaders. whatever his past, often performs a nega- HE writing on the wall was in tive role in the electoral process." evidence even earlier. On March26, Predictably. Devi Lal's unification Tkey opposition leaders including move met with stiff resistance from Devi Lal, Hegde, Biju Patnaik, George Chandra Shekhar's supporters. And the ' Fernandes, Madhu Dandavate and V.P. battle lines were clearly drawn. On one Sigh had met in Delhi to discuss the side, were Chandra Shekhar and his allies formation of a new political party. The like the late Charan Singh's son, Ajit idea was to merge both the Lok Dals, the Singh. Facing them were Hegde, Devi La1 Janata Party, the Congress(S) and other and the Jan Morcha's Ram Dhan. The smaller parties. Janata Party president drew first blood BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee had when heencouraged H.D. Deve Gow,da, a also given an assurance that his party would support any such combination, short of actually merging with it. Euentu- Trapped in the middle ally, it had been agreed that a new party between Chandra called the National People's Party with V.P. Sigh as its chief, would be formed Shekha and Devi Lal within the next 10 days. It was decided was Ramakrishna thatDeviLal would be the chairman of the new parliamentary board and he would Hegde. He wasn't formally write a confidential letter to forceful enough and important leaders giving details about the new party and solicit their support. failed in his attempt 1 i: But the plan was prematurely leaked ; 1 to steer the conclave in I* when Hegde gave an informal interview to an English daily. A day later. Devi Lal the right direction. also made a statement that most opposi-

AI'KII 30. 1988 + IUl>lA TODAY SPECIAL FEATURE I I Devi Lal cannot stop them." Rasheed ranks became even mare confusing But its future hinges on the appoint- Masood, another general secretary of when signals were raised that a rap- ment of a new Janata Party chief who the Janata, even went to the extent of prochement was on the cards. A for- willacceptV.P.Singh astheleader ofthe charging Devi Lal with playing the midable group IedbyMadhu Dandavate, new opposition grouping. And that may Congress(1) game by sabotaging at- Patnaik, HegdeandFwnandes, all deter- proveeven more difficult than thesearch tempts at: opposition unity. mined to ensure that Chandra Shekhar for opposition unity. No sooner had the By putting pressure on Devi Lal and is deposed as Janata president, claimed plan for Chandra Shekhar's resignation Hegde, the &st round in the infighting to have been given an oral commitment been made public, than his supporters went to Chandra Shekhar. He had ear- by Chandra Shekhar that he would step started a campaign calling for his con- lier obtained the stamp of approval for tinuation as party chief for the 13thyear. merging the Lok Dal(A)and the Rashtri- Chandra Shekharhimselfwasnoncom-

bined party's working president. This was endorsed by the Janata Party's national executive, cur- rently packed with Chandra Shekhar's nominees

posed National People's Party rapidly receding.

chiefsc0l.Irkdw his omsupporters

I leaders of theV.P. Sigh-led Jan Morcha and that he would also not insist on Ajit clear to Hegde and the others that he and their allies joined the fray. Ram Singh's candidature for presidentship. would suggest Ajit Singb's name as his Dhanlashedout at the Ajit Singhfaction Subsequently, a meeting was held aS replacement-+ move opposed by ama- for creating trouble at DeviLal's meeting Karnataka BhavaninDeIhiwhereitwas jority of Janata leaders. and accused Chandra Shelchar of sabo- decided that a he-member conuslittee. To add to the Opposition's woes, the I taging opposition unity. comprising Shekhar, Hegde, Danda- unity moves are being viewed with I vate, Ajit Singh and S.P. Malviya a intense suspicion by the communist ' HE damage, however, had been general secretary pf f-he Janata, would parties. In a recent signed article in a done. Most opposition leaders felt nominate the new presidqnt beforeMay daily, ~PI(M)General Secretary E.M.S. T that Chandra Shekhar's real mo- 1. It was also agreed that in case bf a Namboodiripad wrote:"Our people will b tive was to prevent V.P. Singh from deadlock, Chaadm Shekhar would cplh- not extend support to any party or emerging as an alternative to the Janata sult Hegde and Dandavate before ap combination of parties which openly in the Hindi belt. Some journalists were pointing a candidate. follow rightist policies." even given a detailed backgrounder Believing that theissue of achange of Against that chaotic background which tried to indicate that the Chandra president had been sorted out, Hegde what 6ndy emerged was the fact that Shebar-Ajit Singh combination was and the rest reopened