The Rediff Interview/Peter Alphonse
'A mid-term election will be a disaster for the country'
Ever since the Congress withdrew support to the seven-month-old United Front government, Peter S Alphonse has been busy. Along with Tamil Maanila Congress chief G K Moopanar, Alphonse has met leaders of various parties to find a solution to the political deadlock.
Alphonse has an immediate agenda: that all secular parties should join hands to avert a mid-term poll.
A Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, Alphonse, along with Moopanar, M Arunachalam, P Chidambaram and Jayanti Natarajan, parted ways with the Congress to form the TMC in April 1996 after then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao forged an alliance with Jayalalitha's AIADMK.
In a telephonic interview from his home in New Delhi, Alphonse spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf about the emerging situation.
When do you feel this political deadlock will end?
Very soon, in a day or two.
Do you see the formation of a new government?
I hope so.
What kind of alignment do you foresee?
I can't say at this juncture, but I feel a mid-term election should be avoided. If the country goes for a mid-term poll, it will be a disaster. The Indian rupee is falling against the dollar which is not good for the country. A wellknown economist told me that if the current deadlock is not resolved soon, the rupee will touch Rs 45 by next week. I think we must avoid a mid-term election in the interest of the nation.
Don't you feel a mid-term election is unavoidable?
We are trying all means and exploring all possibilities to avoid a mid-term election. The country will go bankrupt in case of a mid-term election. Even if a new party comes to power, it will have nothing left in its coffers. The TMC is talking to all secular parties to avoid an election.
The Congress is unwilling to support the UF if the DMK remains in the government. The UF is unwilling to dump the DMK and support the Congress. Why does the TMC not tell the UF constituents to support the Congress in the interests of the country?
Exactly. We are also trying to do that. But the numbers are just not adding up in favour of the Congress. For some or the other reason, no Front constituent is willing to support the Congress.
Why don't you tell the DMK to bow out of the Front?
I don't want to mention anything about the DMK. If I mention anything about the DMK, the media will make a controversy out of it. So I have appealed to all secular parties to avoid a mid-term election.
Did you try to convince the Congress to support the UF once again?
Yes, we have also tried that. But so far no workable solution has come up. Today, the country is going through a phase worse than that after the Chinese aggression of 1962. In 1962 when the war broke out, all parties crossed party lines and supported the government to save the country. In the same way today, I feel, all the parties must break their ideological differences and join hands to save the country.
Why don't you support the BJP, which is short of 70 MPs?
The BJP is a communal party. We cannot see eye to eye with them. They have the ideology of 'Hindutva' which cannot be accepted by any secular party.
There are rumours that Moopanar may be an acceptable candidate for the prime minister's post, if the UF gives up its position on the DMK?
These are all lies. It is only the media which has projected him as the PM. Mr Moopanar was never interested in any post. In 40 years, he has held no ministerial post. He is a very down to earth person.
Isn't it true that Moopanar was upset when I K Gujral was elected prime minister after Deve Gowda lost the vote of confidence? In fact, your party withdrew from the UF temporarily in protest.
No, it is wrong to say that Mr Moopanar was interested in the PM's job. We were angry because the TMC's motives were seen as suspect. Some UF constituents felt that Mr Moopanar wanted to be the PM and that is why he did not like the candidature of I K Gujral. So, we withdrew from the UF. But, later when senior Front leaders discussed the issue, the doubts were cleared. Only then did we join the UF government.
Your party is sentimental about Rajiv Gandhi, so how does it feel to be in alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu after Justice Jain indicted them in his report?
I do not want to get into a controversy by expressing my views on the DMK. We are with the DMK. Our party stood by the DMK like all other UF constituents after the Congress withdrew support. And we still enjoy a good rapport with them. Till this minute the TMC is with the DMK and we look forward to being with them even if there is a mid-term election.
In case, there is a mid-term election, how many seats will you win?
We will win all the seats which we will contest in Tamil Nadu.
Which party will have a majority after the election?
I am sure no party will be in a position to form a stable government at the Centre. I feel there must be a pre-poll alliance rather than a post-poll alliance. Because if you have a post-poll alliance whichever government is in power won't last for long. And we will face the same kind of situation that we are facing today. And the Indian people will again have to face an election which will be one more disaster for the country.
The Rediff Interview
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