NATIONAL POLITICS
Report on Maharashtra Republic Party Revived
It is a force born of people power. Or to be precise, of the Dalits impatience with their egoistic and quarrelsome leaders. For nearly five decades they had been taken for a ride by various parties, particularly the Congress, styling itself as the savior of the backwards and the downtrodden.
But what hurt most was the betrayal of those who had inherited the Republic Party of India (RPI), the brainchild of none other than their beacon light, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
The mood of despondency among the backward masses in Maharashtra reached an all-time low after all the 10 RPI factions drew a blank in the last assembly elections. Despair turned to anger when they realized that the unrepentant leaders were still nursing their own bloated egos instead of realizing that divided they would be political nonentities; united they would be a force to reckon with what Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh did in UP will be replicated by the front in Maharashtra. There the socio-political structure was shattered. The Muslims joined Singh's SP, Dalits rallied behind Kanshi Ram and the Mandalites went over to the Dal and the upper caste switched loyalties to the BJP.
A similar scenario may be emerging in Maharashtra if the third front game-plan works out. The RPI leaders are hoping that Mulayam Singh works his magic on the state's Muslims who are wary of the Hindutva alliance and contemptuous of the Congress.
V.P. Singh, the RPI leaders believe, will galvanize the SCS, STS and OBCs. The third front will wean away at least 40% of the Congress votes. "Then people reluctantly voted for the Congress because there was no credible alternative. Now our fight will be with the Sena- BJP alliance. Congress is in a miserable position," says Makkaram, ex-MLA.
There is a distinct possibility that, like in UP, the Congress may be relegated to the third place in state politics. The RPI leaders concede that the front may not be able to cut into the Hindutva alliance votes. But the big question is whether the leaders will be able to sink their differences and present a united front.
The third front taking shape in Maharashtra may well be the nucleus of a larger alternative force emerging the national level. To bring parties as disparate as the Dal and the SP under one umbrella would itself be a tall order. And making them stick together would be a tougher task.
If the RPI-led third front does become a reality, the political dispensation in Maharashtra may be in for an carthquake. The Marathas and the Kunbhis (farmer class) who have been dominating the scene ever since the state was formed may have to give way to a coalition of backwards and minorities. The Lok Sabha elections could well be a watershed.
(Source: The Week, 3 March, 1996)
Report on Karnataka M.N. Chakravarty in The Indian Express
1 March, 1996
For Deve Gowda and his men there doesn't seem to be a problem in the world. And ever since they swept the hustings with a resounding clear majority, the going has been good for Karnataka's Janata Dal government.
allowed to raise its ugly head to ruin the image of the Dissidence has always been under check, never party and there isn't any state-level scandal that the party needs worry about. The recent polls to the zilla parishads continues to be in fine fettle and, most of all, that the and city corporations are ample indication that the party people's support is with it. It managed to bag most of the zilla parishads with the generous backing of Independents whose total strength in the Assembly is higher than the Congress and the BJP.
it got 28.8 per cent votes to win four seats in the Lok ,the BJP is saddled with more problems. In 1991, Assembly elections. Of the 20 zila parishads not one is Sabha, and this came down to 17 per cent in the 1994 under the BJP, and that it could not even get a toehold in Coorg - three of its MLAs come from there - proves beyond doubt that the party has to do some soul- searching as far as grass-roots support is concerned.
Congress, on the other hand, is taking the forthcoming but the leaders of the party are nonchalant. The Lok Sabha polls more seriously. With 23 of the 28 parliamentary seats in Karnataka having gone in its favor in 1991, the party now feels it can put up a good hawala is concerned, but hawala or no hawala the BJP show. The Congress may be pushing its luck as far as seems out of the reckoning.
Report on Maharashtra: Muslims Inclined towards Congress
Nitin Padte in The Indian Express, 27 March, 1996
The 11% Muslim voters in Maharashtra are slowly but surely veering towards the Congress. The party's inaction on Babari Masjid is still resented but the overriding concern is to keep the BJP and Shiv Sena out. Since no viable third force is in sight, the Congress is the obvious choice. "They surely don't like the Congress as a lesser evil," says a former state Congress but see no alternative. They will end up voting for the minister Ishaq Jamkhanawala.
Muslims are spread all over the state in significant numbers. Their stronghold are Malegaon, Aurangabad, Osmanabad, Bhiwandi, Latur, Nagpur, Akola, Raigad and Central Bombay, North Bombay and North-West Buldhana. In the city, Ghatkopar, South Bombay, South- Bombay are their bastions. In other parts of the state, some Muslims may vote for other constituents of the third force, like the RPI, PWP and CPI, if the candidate seems capable of defeating the Sena-BJP nominee.
It is generally believed that if the Congress government and convinces the minorities that a vote for successfully highlights the communal gaffes of the state the third force will be wasted, it will be able to sway the Muslims again.
(Source: The Indian Express, 27 March, 1996)
