By Liz Mathew, IANS
New Delhi : A Congress party in turmoil after the Gujarat rout is debating how to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal and long-term electoral prospects even as the party rethinks its soured relations with the Left.
Congress leaders who were toying with the idea of going for early parliamentary polls in April-May on the assumption that they would perform well in Gujarat are reviewing their position after suffering an unexpected humiliating debacle.
Although most Congress members still feel that the voting pattern in Gujarat would not be repeated in other parts of the country, the vote tally in the state – the party won just 59 of the 182 seats – has stunned them.
According to party sources, a strong section had wanted to dump the Communists and go ahead with the India-US civil nuclear agreement – a scenario that would have led to an early election, most probably in April-May.
But the results in Gujarat, where the party failed to improve its vote share, have shattered their dreams.
“Now the party has to follow the Left on the nuclear deal as we are not in a position to go for early polls,” admitted a leader who was of the opinion until now that an early general election would benefit the party.
Although enjoying the confusion in the Congress camp, the Left is also apprehensive about the national political scenario following the spectacular win of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
“The Congress needs to have a course correction immediately,” said D. Raja, deputy leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI).
“It needs to go back to its non-alignment and anti-imperialistic policies again. It also needs to adopt a more aggressive position against communalism. Basically, it needs an introspection,” Raja told IANS.
Left leaders clarified that there would not be any change in their stance on the contentious nuclear deal, which they oppose vehemently. “There is no change in our stance,” Raja said.
The four Left parties, which extend crucial legislative support to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh government, oppose the deal saying it would make India a junior strategic partner to the US.
With the Left making clear that the government would fall if the government decides to go ahead with the nuclear agreement, the government can take the deal ahead only if it is ready for a snap election.
Congress leaders now argue that they too need the Left in the larger scheme of things.
“We may have to join hands with the Left in future too (to counter the BJP). So what is the point in antagonising them,” asked a Congress MP from southern India.
Congress managers say with Gujarat also going the way of states where the party is finding increasingly difficult to get to the dominant position – as in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa, the number of its “winnable seats” in any parliamentary election is falling rapidly.
The Left too is thinking about a scenario post any future general election where the Congress plus secular allies are not able to muster the half way mark in parliament needed to form a government.
But even in such a dismal scenario, the Left is unwilling to go soft on the nuclear deal.
“If there is a situation when the Congress wants Left support to keep the BJP out of power, we may extend support on the condition that the government does not have strategic ties with the US,” a Communist Party of India-Marxist leader said.
Meanwhile, the other section in the Congress – which believes that Gujarat is an isolated case – feels that the party can still opt for early general elections in a bid to end the present political uncertainties.
“The Congress can consider calling for elections later this year when Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan go to the polls,” said a party leader. Assembly elections in these two states along with Delhi are due next year.
But critics of this line of thinking feel this poses enormous risks. And so the internal war in Congress rages on.