COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

CWC to decide on electoral alliances

Senior Congress politician Sharad Pawar today said the party would formulate its strategy on alliances for the Lok Sabha election in the next three or four days.

Pawar told reporters at the Women's Press Corps in New Delhi that there were several schools of opinion in the party on the subject, and the working committee, which is slated to meet in the next three or four days, would take the final decision.

Asked whether the party would be able to get a majority without an alliance, he said the Congress would prefer to go it alone, but as the situation stands "we will have to go in that direction [towards forging alliances] to achieve success".

About his reported statement at the recent meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industry that the country would return another fractured verdict, he said the statement was made in a different context and he believed that the people, who are fed up with the politics of coalition, would give the Congress a clear majority.

The leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Lok Sabha said the feedback the party has been getting from various state units indicates that the Congress's showing will improve beyond expectations. But he refrained from predicting any figure.

"It is too early to predict a figure that we expect. The situation will be assessed," he said.

About issues like Bofors and Sonia Gandhi's nationality being raked up suddenly by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, Pawar said, "Ask them why they were keeping mum for the past 13 months."

Replying to a question about the party's assessment in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where it does not have much of a standing, Pawar said the situation would be much better this time.

Asked about the difference of opinion between the Bihar unit of the party and the central leadership over aligning with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, he said, "We have discussed the matter with the Bihar unit and they have agreed that whatever the central leadership decides, they will abide by that."

In Uttar Pradesh, he said the party's enemy number one would be the BJP and the campaign against the Samajwadi Party would only be a limited one. "We will only expose the SP as to what they have done against the communal BJP," he said.

Pawar said there was an opinion that the Congress should align with some party in Tamil Nadu, but the choice of partner has also been left to the CWC.

He denied that the party had diluted the resolutions of the Pachmarhi conclave on fighting communalism, casteism and corruption by inducting several leaders facing corruption charges and aligning with casteist forces like the RJD and Bahujan Samaj Party. Talks are also being held with the two factions of the Republican Party of India in Maharashtra.

Asked whether the election would be a Sonia versus Vajpayee battle, Pawar said, "Elections are contested on issues, not on personalities."

He felt the BJP and its allies would not be successful in their campaign to woo voters on the issue of Sonia Gandhi's nationality. "They had raised the issue during the last election also, but did not succeed."

Insisting that Gandhi was the unanimous choice for Congress president, Pawar said, "There should be no doubt about that as she is the chairperson of the Congress Party in Parliament and party president."

The choice of constituency from where Gandhi would contest the poll has been left to her, he said.

About the possibility of Priyanka Vadra nee Gandhi joining politics, he said, "Young blood is always welcome to join and work for the party."

He denied Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's allegation that President K R Narayanan had directed him to prove his majority under a threat from the Opposition that it would stall the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and not allow the money bills to be passed. "This is absolutely untrue," he said.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report