By Sunil Gatade: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has shaken off the challenge to his government by convincingly winning the trust vote in the Lok Sabha last week.
It has been an occasion for the Congress to rejoice for Singh has become the first Prime Minister of the party who has achieved this feat while leading a coalition.
The story regarding the trust vote in essence is that of Singh coming to his own as a politician.
The economist turned politician has always given the impression that he has been a reluctantl participant in this rough and tumble game.
Singh is now expected to proceed with breakneck speed to pursue the Indo-US nuclear deal, which he had failed to pursue vigorously for the past three years due to the Left's opposition.
With Comrade Prakash Karat and company off his back there no would be no more attempt to make him a 'bonded slave', a phrase that the Prime Minister used to target the CPI-M and other Left parties during the confidence vote.
The Left 'departure' has been at the right time, according to some Congress leaders. Their argument is that the next six to eight months could be used by the Prime Minister and his team to fulfill their incomplete agenda. The problem the Congress has been facing during the last four years was that the Left sought to take credit for all the good work the ruling party did, it be the NREGA or the Right to Information Act or legislation the give that sought to a fair deal to the fairer sex.
Singh is now his own man who would like to make the most of the remaining period as the UPA Chairperson and Congress President Sonia Gandhi would help the ruling alliance to get its act together ahead of the next Lok Sabha poll. A failure to win the Trust Vote would have meant that the party would have been forced to go to early Lok Sabha polls at a time which would not have been to its liking.
A time when the inflation is only heading north and the international crude oil prices are on a high is never a right time to go to the people.
The Prime Minister has lost no time to turn pro- active on the nuclear deal and has sent several Union Ministers and officials to countries that matter as India awaits the meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency for a India-specific safeguards agreement and later that of the Nuclear Suppliers group. Time is of the essence given the fact that the deal has to be wrapped up much ahead of the Presidential elections in the U S.
It is also time for the Prime Minister to concentrate on economic reforms and disinvestment. Comrade Prakash Karat and his Communist colleagues never allowed the Prime Minister to have his say on matters economic and always came out with their veto whatever may be the proposal.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram has given enough hints that the government will be going the extra mile to pursue the reforms. He has said that he would even approach the main opposition BJP to get key economic legislations approved in Parliament.
The new ally of the Congress-- the Samajwadi Party-- is a pragmatic organisation. Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav know the fact that the world has travelled a long way since the idea and ideals of socialism. This is despite the fact that their party carries a socialist tag and Yadav prides himself as disciple of Ram Manohar Lohia.
Besides, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress need each other badly in the days ahead as Uttar Pradesh is turning into a difficult state. BSP supremo Mayawati is strengthening her hold over the politically key state since she won the Assembly elections last year ousting Yadav.
The SP leader, who was a known detractor of the Congress President till the other day, is now her closest ally. In fact, the SP is expected to make the Congress relevant again in the land of the Nehru- Gandhi family.
Along with the SP, Congress leaders say that Ajit Singh-led RLD will be its natural ally in Uttar Pradesh. This is despite the fact that his party has sided with Mayawati in the trust vote. Expectations in the Congress are that by the time of elections the RLD could join an SP-Congress alliance in U P to make a powerful combination against the BSP.
Mayawati has also got new allies in the form of the Left parties and she has become the natural leader of the UNPA. This is due to the fact that parties like the TRS and TDP see her as the future Prime Minister. Samajwadi Party's place in the UNPA has been taken over by the BSP even ghough her party has not formally joined the alliance so far.
The BJP is disappointed that it has failed to oust the Manmohan Singh Government despite its best efforts. Congress managers have been one up on the saffron party in managing the trust vote and especially made a dent in the BJP camp in Karnataka. Needless to say the new Chief Minister B S Yeddiurrappa has hard times ahead.
But the fact is that L K Advani is not the man to give way. This has been especially so when the Leader of the Opposition has been projected the Prime Ministerial candidate by the BJP-led NDA.
The opposition alliance is sensing power in the back of rising prices creating havoc for the 'Aam Aadmi', the plank on which Congress-led UPA had come to power.
Despite his 80 years, Advani is a man with a killer instinct and is planning to give the Congress- led coalition a run for its money in the next few months. His assertion that the Prime Minister's victory in the trust vote was a 'tainted' one as it was the result of the alleged 'cash for votes' scam has brought worry in the ruling camp.
The fact that both Karat and Mayawati share Advani's views on the "tainted' victory is a reason for concern for the Prime Minister as also Sonia Gandhi. Advani has gone to the extent of saying that the scam was much bigger than the Bofors kickbacks scandal which resulted in Congress losing power in 1989, cannot be taken lightlly.
It has been interesting times ahead as rival sides prepare for the showdown in the next Lok Sabha elections. Singh has very little time on hand to set the house in order amid growing unrest over the rising inflration.
As the architect of the economic reforms way back in the ninetiess, Singh, as Finance Minister, had doggedly pursued his agenda despite pulls and pressure and being subjected to incessent attacks .
Now, he is faced with the challenge of leading the UPA in the next elections. If he emerges victorious in that 'trust vote', even his detractors would say "Singh is King".
Only time will tell the shape of things to come.
One thing is clear is that the political picture ahead is hazy and it is an upward climb for all the players.
--- PTI
