Win at Vienna, and Singur... Benign bonhomie at Hyderabad

Saturday finally saw the moment of reckoning for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when the Nuclear Suppliers Group in its Vienna meeting finally gave a waiver to India to engage in nuclear commerce, the penultimate step before the historic Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Agreement goes to the last Congress of the Bush administration for its approval. A tumultuous political drama back home that preceded this ominous NSG meet made it seem as vague as an Athenian comedy. It was a political bickering of the worst kind. But finally Manmohan Singh and the Congress party had had the last laugh.

The week also turned out to be memorable for it saw another resolution to a row, this time a corporate-political bickering. In perhaps one of the first instances of its kind, West Bengal governor intervened and brought together Trinamool Congress chief Mamta Banerjee and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to bring to an end to the Singur impasse. Manufacturer of world’s cheapest car Tata has been caught in a crisis over the social pitch dug in by Banerjee – she claims farmers are being forcibly made to part with their land – which forced the company suspend operations and its MD Ratan Tata stating publicly that if push comes to shove he would not blink to withdraw his protests. While Mamta’s tirade seemed to be robbing the ruling CPI M of its critical working class vote bank, the corporate camaraderie left the pro-reform, pro-industry CM nervous. Buddhadeb has worked hard to shun the state of its anti-capitalist image and made a fervent pitch in last few years to attract investments. Tata was a big deal and Buddhadeb would not let it go at any costs. Mamta had other ideas.

Thankfully wisdom prevailed but not before Mamta had wrested a political cost – her followers think she would reap huge dividends of this posturing in elections though many dispute such fanciful ideas. The case also points to the buoyant mood of the government vis a vis reforms and industrialization, a realization that in the changed socio-political milieu safeguarding the interests of farmers was as critical as protecting industry’s wellbeing. Till some time ago this would have been termed a predicament of the government but no longer. One must note that a large chunk of the vocal, urban middle class India today relates more with the new mood of industrialization. And political parties know it too well.

From cacophonic unease in West Bengal to not so benevolent bonhomie in New Delhi between Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, observers were quick to note the writing on the wall.

The Press Club of India, Delhi had organised an interactive session for Amar Singh on a sultry Friday (Sept 5) afternoon and it turned out to be just the right occasion for the SP leader to make his points on the current political scene. Not only he made amends to his senior Mulayam Singh Yadav’s “dilemma” statement over N Deal, he made a host of other politically significant points aimed at strengthening his party’s claims in the run up to the Elections. To begin with, Singh seemed very upset with Congress managers assigned the task of negotiating the UP deal. Singh was especially annoyed with Digvijay Singh who he said was “after all working for his party by strongly bargaining with us.” But he took a dig at the former MP CM when Singh said, “Digvijay Singh tells us to follow Lalu Yadav a role model of coalition politics. If we were to do that we won’t be able to give away more than 8 seats to the Congress and remember unlike Laluji we have not had the luxury of being in the Cabinet for past four years.” The import of this and many other uttering of Singh was clear: SP is not going to concede too much and too soon and Congress will have to remain contend with whatever they do. This may come as a bit of a disappointment for Rahul Gandhi and his likes who have been dreaming of putting the party on a revival course. However it’s easier said than done given the complex political scenario of this Hindi heartland.

Cameras pawned from tiny, grassless lawns of Press Club to the private jet and a swanky Rolls Royce which Amar Singh and his companions Jaya Prada and Jaya Bachchan rode to reach Southern silver screen heartthrob and new political star Chiranjeevi. It is being rumoured that SP is keen on expanding its footprint and a bid to allure Praja Rajyam could well be as per the script though officials of both parties hastened to dispel any political meaning to this “courtesy meeting.” SP could especially be interested in finding a strong alliance partner like Chiranjeevi in AP as its bete noire and UP CM Mayawati of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already tied up with another Andhra outfit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by flamboyant Chandrababu Naidu.
As it is turning out, who forms a government will depend on who has forged the best alliance, won hearts and have willing sprinters for a relay run. Amar Singh knows it pretty well and has begun his campaign. From Raisina Hills to Singur and South of Vindhyas, Singh with his flamboyance is out to win hearts for the next big event in April-May 2009.

A pic worth a 1000 words? Ask journos

A picture is worth a 1000 words, said someone. And if he saw how his worldly wisdom is put to use today, he would be turning upside down inside his grave!

Picture this: Four leaders of the ruling Indian coalition representing three main parties come together to counter the barrage of assaults from the Opposition Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) over the note-for-vote scandal that hit the Parliament on July 22 when PM Manmohan Singh was seeking a Trust Vote over Indo-US Nuclear Agreement. RJD’s Lalu Yadav, LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan and SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh come together to counter attacks from BJP, a political compulsion to say the least. This show of solidarity, sprung up in the aftermath of BJP’s attack, has been necessitated by the need of the parties to flock together and reiterate their opposition to the “communal” forces in the country.

Picture this as well: A day after this some newspapers (including some prestigious English dailies) have gone gaga over the coming together of these leaders. Some have gone to the extent of saying that this marks a new phase in the cow belt politics (major northern Indian states UP and Bihar, which send over 120 elected leaders to the Parliament, are referred to as the cow belt). Their logic: the leaders such as Lalu, Paswan and Yadav have come together after a long time. They forgot Lalu and Paswan have been together since this government was formed over four years ago while Mulayam is not anti-thesis to Lalu and vice versa. And they all represent the ruling coalition of UPA. A mere clasping of hands could trigger so much political analyses!

While it would be wrong to dismiss the analysis altogether, there is little doubt that the journalists have attempted to read a bit too much into this picture of solidarity triggered by the CD controversy.

And this: There also little doubt that those who propounded this theory, and possibly fed the journos, may have been able to at least momentarily create niggling doubts in the minds of Congress managers over the growing warmth among cow belt charmers. But this may have been too short-lived after all.

I will not be flummoxed to read analyses on how Mayawati’s whisperings to Sonia Gandhi, when they were catapulted into proximity at Late HK Surjeet’s cremation the other day, is beginning to jolt Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav!

Didn't you hear, a picture is worth a 1000 words!