On Formation of National Secular Alliance, 19 April, 1999

"The defeat of the Vajpayee Government has been hailed as a victory of the forces of secularism and as a deliverance of the people from the clutches of communal chauvinism which, under a hidden agenda, was fast acquiring fascist overtones.

In the circumstances it will be highly frustrating and disappointing for the people if the secular parties failed to provide a stable alternative government.

Since many options are possible, unless the secular parties rise above partisan interests, and local considerations, no party, not even the Congress, which is the biggest of them all, may be in a position to satisfy the President that it commands a prima facie majority in the Lok Sabha and should be invited to form the government.

It is obvious that no government in which the Congress does not form the core will be stable or durable. It is, therefore, the duty and responsibility of the Congress to come forward and seek the support of all others to form the Government.

It is equally obvious that if one supporting party wishes to enter the government, some others may also want to. It may not be possible or desirable to satisfy all the aspirants as every addition will multiply the instability factor. Thus, there is no option but that the Congress have a free hand to form a government on its own, and the other parties extend support from outside. The CPM, the CPI, the TMC have already set the tone.

The BJP is down but not out. The real objective of the secular parties should be to defeat it in the next general election. Since the division of secular votes has always helped the BJP, the Congress and the supporting parties must come to a long-term understanding. As a quid pro quo for their support, the Congress must give a commitment to the supporting parties that it shall not contest the seats won by them, or in which they had the second position after the BJP, in 1998. A rational basis for a National Secular Alliance lies in applying the same criteria for the Congress and dividing the remaining seats on the basis of the profile of the candidates sponsored by interested parties and the social demography of the Constituency."