The coalition of Congress, JD (S) and BSP will be the precursor for a ‘people’s alliance’ and will decide everything post the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. says Secretary General of JD (S), Kunwar Danish Ali, who played a catalytic role in bringing about a post-poll alliance of his party with Congress in Karnataka. He, along with veteran Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, worked to bring leaders of both parties together to form the government after BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa quit as Chief Minister as his party was short of simple majority in the Assembly. Mr Danish Ali says similar alliances will be stitched ahead of Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while a grand alliance of Opposition parties will strive to avoid multi-cornered contests across the country during next year’s elections to Lok Sabha. Excerpts of the interview with B.R. Srikanth:
The coalition government has assumed office with almost the entire team of ministers. Will it serve as the template for Opposition unity before Lok Sabha elections?
People throughout the country have lot of hope and expectations about this government. The coming together of leaders of almost all Opposition parties on a common platform, specially Mr Akhilesh Yadav and Ms Mayawati, Ms Mamata Banerjee and Mr Sitaram Yechury, Mr Sharad Pawar and Mr Sharad Yadav during the swearing in ceremony was a significant development. Mr Chandrababu Naidu was there too though he is fighting the Congress in his home state and for the first time, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi were seen at a event in which all these leaders were present. It’s not only question of running the government but the parties must rise to the expectations of people as they want Opposition unity. The people want Opposition parties to unite and defeat the authoritarian rule of Mr Narendra Modi as the present dispensation in Delhi wants to demolish all constitutional institutions. The show of unity gives a hope that in spite of political differences and contradictions within, the opposition is gearing up to face the challenge and defeat Mr Modi and the BJP. So, this coalition does not stop at formation of a government, but has tremendous political implications and will be able to checkmate the BJP across the country in future. Even those who had nothing to do with politics were watching the developments in Karnataka as legislators of Congress and JD (S) stood together despite all types of allurements by BJP leaders.
Are you confident that Opposition parties will stick together till Lok Sabha elections?
Just after formation of the government, see the reaction of people through byelections to Lok Sabha. They have come to the conclusion that the Opposition can unite and defeat the BJP. Mr Modi is a very good speaker and laces his speeches with lots of phrases for good impact of jhumlebhaji. But people have realized after four years that jhumlebhaji will not work and the government has not delivered much. That’s why since 2014, BJP has lost 31 of 37 bypolls to Lok Sabha. So the BJP’s graph is already on a downslide and the Opposition unity has taken off from Bengaluru.
You had a role to play in bringing all Opposition leaders at the oath taking ceremony?
I am not the architect. I am a small player with a small role in formation of the coalition in Karnataka, and will try to bring all the Opposition parties together under the guidance of Mr Deve Gowda as he is respected because of his experience and his tenure as Prime Minister. Our main intention of forming this coalition is to unite the Opposition ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The JD (S) is the first party to strike a pre-poll alliance with BSP in Karnataka. Earlier, BSP had alliance with Congress and SP, but this is the first pre-poll alliance after Ms Mayawati took over the president of BSP. We have kept our word on ‘Coalition dharma’ and accommodated the lone BSP legislator in the cabinet which also has ministers of Congress. That’s how coalition should work. And coalition politics is here to stay in India. Just look at the reaction of BJP leaders who are talking to coalition partners for the first time in four years. So coalition politics is here to stay and we should learn to run coalition governments on the Karnataka model.
Do you foresee pre-poll alliances before Lok Sabha elections?
In most cases, one will witness pre-poll alliances, and most of them will be state-specific alliances. Let’s be pragmatic and understand that all 18-20 partners cannot be given a share in every state. And in states where regional parties are more powerful, the national party (Congress) must allow such regional parties a greater share in seats. Likewise, in states where Congress has better support on the ground, regional parties should play second fiddle. This is the broader model which we are working on ahead of the general elections.
Speculation is rife about early Lok Sabha polls? Will the grand alliance of Opposition parties be ready to contest early elections?
The Opposition is ready. The leaders of BJP, however, are in dilemma whether to go with Assembly polls in three states in November-December or take the risk of facing Lok Sabha polls after these elections. If Opposition leaders can come together in three days to attend the swearing in ceremony, I don’t see any hurdles in stitching an alliance. We will do our best to ensure a one-to-one contest though it could be multi-cornered in some Lok Sabha constituencies.
What about states where regional parties have differences in AP, Telangana or West Bengal or Kerala or Oddisha?
We are not worried about multi-cornered contests in these states as the euphoria about BJP has diminished during last four years. The only southern state where the BJP could have won is Karnataka but the coalition of Congress and JD (S) has prevented it by coming together. In north India, particularly Uttar Pradesh, where the SP, BSP and RLD have already come together, Congress will join this alliance as the Karnataka model is the best to stop the BJP in its tracks. JD (S) and Mr Deve Gowda have played a positive role with this experiment in Karnataka for BSP and Congress to come together in northern states. So far, BSP leaders were not willing to talk to Congress leaders but the swearing in ceremony, we gave an opportunity to Opposition parties to bridge the differences.
Will talks on seat sharing commence now?
Behind the scene activity has commenced and we are confident that pre-poll alliances will be a reality in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in November-December. In Karnataka, we have a written agreement to go together with Congress for Lok Sabha polls though the number of seats to be shared and other details are yet to be worked out. In Uttar Pradesh, SP, BSP and RLD are already together and the Congress will join soon. In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Congress and other parties are in talks.
What about differences among leaders of various Opposition parties?
Alliances are prone to such problems, but we have to tackle them and move forward. When the intentions are clear and positive, there can’t be any hurdles. Our aim and goal is to counter the BJP, and we will be able to do it.
Who will lead the grand alliance?
We are a parliamentary and multiparty democracy. Each party will have its candidates elected by the people. Whichever party wins the highest number of seats will elect the leader of Lok Sabha. So we will go unitedly, and after the results, we will decide who can take the responsibility of leading the government.
It was earlier called a United Front, National Front?
We will not touch issues like the name of this grand alliance, its structure, and who will be the leader. These are all irrelevant. It’s the people’s alliance which will decide everything. When Mr V P Singh became the Prime Minister, it was a pre-poll alliance but the PM candidate was not announced. During the United Front, there was no pre-poll alliance, all came together as post-poll partners, and Mr Deve Gowda was elected the Prime Minister. During UPA-I too there was some state-specific alliances but Dr Manmohan Singh was elected the Prime Minister. So we will look at these three options or even devise a new formula before the general elections.
Some leaders are opposed to Mr Rahul Gandhi taking the centre stage in such a grand alliance?
This is certainly creation of the media because Mr Rahul Gandhi is the president of the largest constituent of this alliance. In today’s scenario, we cannot think of any Opposition front without the Congress. It’s very early to suggest such issues like leadership. That’s why I said we have three examples of Opposition unity in the past, and we might have one, or invent a new formula.
Back to Karnataka, do you agree that the performance of this coalition will be crucial for a united Opposition to contest the general elections?
Yes. People will watch the performance of this government and whether it meets their expectations before Lok Sabha elections. That’s why it’s the responsibility of both Congress and JD (S) to ensure smooth functioning of the government. To monitor such smooth functioning, the coordination committee has been formed and central leaders of Congress are involved in it. You can see how serious leaders of both parties are to facilitate smooth functioning of this coalition government. People expect a lot from this coalition headed by Mr H D Kumaraswamy.
Will Chief Minister Kumaraswamy be able to match the expectations of people of Karnataka?
I am very confident that he will do very well as Chief Minister and address the problems of all sections, in particular farmers. He has promised waiver of loans of farmers, and he will stand by it with the concurrence of Mr Rahul Gandhi. He has commenced meetings with officials on how to write off farmers’ loans. He will not merely stop with an announcement but he will ensure that the benefits will trickle down to every farmer. So neither BJP leaders nor other disgruntled elements will be able to point fingers at this government.
