Article : "A Political Circus Called Mahagathbandhan" by Hon'ble Union Minister Shri Arun Jaitley

A Political Circus Called ‘Mahagathbandhan’

- Arun Jaitley

​Over the last several months, India was exhausted with the talk of a ‘Mahagathbandhan’. The rationale was that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and the BJP were very strong and could not be challenged by individual party. The socio-economic profile of India has changed. Indians judge politicians by their merit and capacity and no longer by any traditional loyalty. We were promised a ‘coalition of rivals’ because India had to be saved. We were promised a common minimum agenda. Each leader amongst the aspirant Prime Ministers wanted to become a ‘sutradhar’ of the alliance. He/ she would periodically organise shows in his/ her State and invite the entire bandwagon.

​ Presently when nominations for the first two phases are over and those for the third phase are about to happen, let us review the situation.

Jammu & Kashmir	The Congress – NC alliance will contest against each other on some seat.
Haryana	No alliance likely. Shri Dushyant Chautala’s Party has clearly announced that they are anti-Congress.
Delhi	Did the AAP ever wanted an alliance with the Congress? If it did align with them by sparing three seats, then eight months before the Delhi Assembly election, it would be offering its electoral base to the Congress in 30 out of 70 assembly segments. The party would be extremely courageous if it did so.
Uttar Pradesh	The Congress has been clearly told that it is unwanted. The BSP leader having fixed her own alliance, is now busy ensuring that the Congress tally is reduced not merely in Uttar Pradesh but also elsewhere.
Bihar	The hiccups in the alliance are evident. Some former partners of the NDA have bagged a share disproportionate to their strength on account of the weakness of the Congress/ RJD. Some eminent former BJP men have been accepted by the Congress as a gift. We thank the Congress. Our problem is now theirs.  Good luck.
Jharkhand	The RJD has walked out of the alliance.
Assam	A desperate Congress is trying to tie up with Badruddin Ajmal’s Party. Having antagonised the majority community, it has now found a vote bank common with its new ally. The journey of Congress in Assam has been from ‘Who is Badruddin Ajmal?’ to ‘Let us walk together.’
West Bengal	It has become a four cornered contest. It will polarise a contest between Trinamool and the BJP. The Congress and the Left fight has broken out. The three biggest noise makers of the ‘mahagathbandhan’ gave collective television bytes but are now on each other’s throat. The Congress is fighting for the fourth position.
Odisha	With no ally, the Congress is fighting for the third position.
Andhra Pradesh	If the alliance between TDP and the Congress in Telangana was a marriage of convenience, Andhra has witnessed a tactical divorce between two members of the promised ‘mahagathbandhan’. They are contesting separately. The TDP presently considers the Congress as ‘untouchable’ in Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala	They embrace each other at ‘mahagathbandhan’ meetings but the Congress and the Left are pitted against each other in Kerala.

 

The above states account for almost half of the total parliamentary constituencies. In the other half, stretching from Maharashtra to Punjab, which includes Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the political winds are not exactly friendly to the Congress.

The leadership tussle

​ Already multiple candidates have made their desire clear to take over the mantle of the leadership. Each one of them is interested to see the strength of the other party’s contender depleting. Each one of them has high hopes in a chaotic and highly hung Parliament. He/ she believes that only in a chaotic situation he/ she has a chance.

​ The past track record of such governments in terms of policy, longevity and growth has to be borne in mind. Their track record of corruption is equally well-known.

Federalism and coalitions

​ Federalism requires that regional aspirations and representations find place in governance. But a larger national interest requires that India must have a national party with an electoral and legislative base which can become nucleus of such a coalition. The coalition under Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee was held by both the personality of the leader and the 183 MPs of the BJP. Similarly, the BJP had an absolute majority in the last Lok Sabha but it still formed a coalition.  It is only because of the size of the BJP and clarity on leadership in the last coalition that a successful government was run under Prime Minister Modi.

​ Today you have no ‘gathbandhan’ let alone ‘mahagathbandhan’. It is a ‘non-bandhan’. You have no leader, no programme, no meeting of minds. Stability, which is paramount, is a major casualty.  The only thing in common is negative agenda ‘’remove one man’. It is a recipe for chaos.

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