Syed Ali Mujtaba
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The jubilation for the victory of India?s first women president Prathibha Patil seems to have drowned one of the ugliest episodes of the Indian democracy. Tamil Nadu?s main opposition party the AIADMK and its ally the MDMK defied its own whip and voted for Bhrion Singh Shekhawat, an independent candidate backed by the National Democratic Alliance in the recently concluded presidential election.
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In the run up to the presidential election, several senior BJP leaders held parleys with the AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa for eliciting support but she maintained no truck with either the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) or the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It t seems something dramatically happened at the last minute that prompted her to kick the fledgling United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) on its face. Â
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Rumors are agog that the last minute wheeling and dealing has led an unspecified amount of money change hands making way for a volte-face of the AIADMK and MDMK to support the NDA candidate.
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This shocking development has left many flabbergasted but the irony is this mockery of democracy conducted with utmost transparency was overlooked by the media, touted to be the watchdogs of Indian democracy. The politicians too seem to have joined the conspiracy of silence for want of breaking up their ranks as there is no permanent friends and enemy in politics. The election commission feigns ignorance about this episode as technically nothing was wrong in the voting for the President of India. It seems none is bothered about this travesty of democracy and in spite of major breach of public faith, its business as usual.
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Notwithstanding these facts, ever since the breakup of United Front (1996-1998), there always has been a demand for the formation of Third Front at the national politics. This was to provide an alternative to the two national political formations, the NDA that ruled the country from 1998-2004 and the UPP that?s holding the reigns of power since then.
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There was fundamentally nothing wrong behind the idea of a Third Front. It was seen an attempt to make the national politics multi-polar and check it from drifting into straight-jacketed two parties alliances.
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It was also seen as attempt by the regional satraps to assert on the national political scene. So far, the regional parties have been playing a second fiddle in the national politics and the so called national parties have been ruling the country since independence without any real grassroots base. The assertion of the provincial satraps in the form of third front was seen as an attempt by regional parties to harmonize the regional and national political aspirations.
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The move to form the Third Front has been in the air on since the conclusion of the 2004 general elections. However, this idea could materialize only during recently concluded UP elections, when as many as eight regional political parties joined hands to back the Samajwadi party calling themselves United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA).
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It included AIADMK, Telugu Desam Party, Samajwadi Party, INLD, Asom Gana Parishad, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, MDMK and Kerala Congress (J) and to this list, the National Conference joined later.
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The AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu were projected as the key members of this new political formation.
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After the UP election, the UNPA combine rallied for the re election of the APJ Abdul Kalam as the President of India. This was to tap on the public sentiments brewing in favor of the ?rocket-man? of India. After initial flip-flop, President Kalam fearing tarnishing of his public image, backed out of the Presidential contest leaving the UNPA in a lurch.
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The UNPA after a great deal of confabulation announced to abstain from voting in the Presidential election that was held on July 19, 2007. "We had already declared that we will not back a candidate supported by the United Progressive Alliance UPA or the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). There is no change in that decision. The UNPA will abstain from voting," AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa publicly stated.
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She added; "we have taken legal opinion on this position and were advised that there was no legal bar from abstaining to vote in the Presidential election."
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To this, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj sought clarification from the Election Commission on whether abstaining from voting would amount to issuance of whip.
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However, the D day witnessed a volte-face by the AIADMK and its ally the MDMK that voted for the NDA candidate sending shock and dismay across the country. The AIDMK had strength of 60 MLAs in the State Assembly and MDMMK six.
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On ?Chameleons thy name is Indian politician,? Ms Sushma Swaraj was no where was seen making comment on the TV.
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The Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu reportedly stated that the UNPA was very much intact and AIADMK?s decision would in no way affect the unity of the like-minded regional parties. He said; "the front as such is still in a state of fluidity, just two months-old and yet to take a proper form, so there is no question of any trouble within the UNPA."
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The Telugu Desam chief however did not specify whether the AIADMK and its ally were still with the UNPA and or have broken ranks. The stoic silence of the UPNA members on this issue, suggests that the renegade parties continue to be in the fledgling political formation, making a mockery of Indian democracy once again.
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Unfazed by the twin debacles; re-electing, the Samajwadi party and APJ Abdul Kalam, the UNPA now has stick its neck on the Vice President's election on August 10. It has pitched in Samajwadi candidate Rashid Masud, in a triangular contest with UPA nominee Hamid Ansari and NDA candidate Najma Heptullah.
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As the Vice-Presidential election gets underway, the UNPA candidate seems to have a number of skeletons flying out of its cupboard. A defeat to him is a foregone conclusion, since UNPA does not have the required voting strength. Knowing it well the results, the UNPA argues that it has put up its own candidate "to maintain its identity" in the national politics.
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The idea of regional satraps taking the reigns of the country is conceptually sound. However, with so much of pulls and pressure surrounding it, this idea operationally seems unviable. So far all its moves have misfired. It?s betrayed by one of its own architects. More differences seem to be brewing in its ranks. Will the alliance remain intact till the next general election due next year is any ones guess? Indian democracy seems to have a long way to go to harmonize the regional and national aspirations. The experiment with UNPA looks a non starter. India?s regional politics remain immature.
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The author is a working journalist based in Chennai, India. He can be contacted at [email protected] .
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