Holding The Front

By the first week of January, say senior lea ders of both communist parties, the leftists lost patience with the shenanigans of the 'cow-belt politicians' in the JD and requested Singh to intervene. On the agenda were firm-ing up crucial alliances in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Orissa and Assam, chalking out a minimum common programme for the NF-LF combine, finalising plans for a joint national campaign and discussing the distribution of seats. All issues that would give direction, and at least an aura of permanence, to the combine.

With the blessings of Singh, senior leaders of the CPI and the JD met at the New Delhi residence of I.K. Gujral to resolve these issues, and on January 24, the CPI(M), CPI and JD top brass reached a broad agreement on a majority of issues. The JD was to discuss the decisions taken at a meeting of its national executive scheduled for the end of the month, after which all three parties were to meet again and announce their plan of action.

But that didn't happen, as the JD leadership was preoccupied with the election of a new president for the party. In fact, the newly elected president, Laloo Prasad Yadav, reportedly emp-hasised the need to accommodate the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, at a time when the Left was keen that the alliance with Mulayam be given concrete shape before talks with the BSP were initiated. The consequences were immediate: the CPI(M) general secretary wrote to Laloo asking him, in effect, tocurb his impetuosity. And on February 5, senior Left leaders met Singh again and requested him to sort matters out. Over the next few days, some of his own colleagues, including S.R. Bommai, Ram Bilas Paswan and Gujral, are also learnt to have insisted that he take matters in hand.

According to sources close to V.P. Singh, it was doubtful that he would have agreed to "actively and fully participate" in the campaign for coming elections, considering the fact that his doctors have told him that his condition is worsening. What tilted the scales was the fact that the issue that needs to be addressed this time is notmerely the petty rivalry among fueding party leaders, but the very future of the NF-LF combine.

"We made it clear to him that the reason we are taking such pains is because of the issues at stake: a common minimum pro-gramme, a permanent Delhi-based body for consultation and coordination between the JD and the Left which will look at the entire gamut of issues, from a joint national campaign to seat adjustments on a long-term basis. If the Left is in a situation where adjustments with centrist parties have to be made, the least we can do is ensure that we don't cobble together a front just before the polls every time," says a senior CPI leader.

And then there is the practical side of the matter. In Tamil Nadu, where the JD is left with no ally thanks to their pursuit of the elusive Jayalalitha which resulted in the DMK quitting the NF, Singh remains the only person with whom K. Karunanidhi is willing to discuss the possibility of the DMK returning to the fold. The situation in Uttar Pradesh isvolatile, with Sharad Yadav, and to a lesser extent Laloo Yadav, intent on building pressure from below for a three-way alliance even at the cost of antagonising Mulayam. Again, it needs the 'VP touch' to rein them in at least till the alliance with Mulayam is fina-lised and thus assuage the feelings of the Left.

Similarly in Assam, where both communist parties are part of the five party front with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) as senior partner, the state unit of the JD needs to be convinced to give up its opposition to the AGP and join the front. And in Andhra Pradesh, the Left parties are looking to Singh to work out some sort of compromise for the general elections which will enable them to go with Chandrababu Naidu while the JD continues to support Lakshmi Parvathi's faction of the Telegu Desum Party if a reconciliation is not on the cards.

 But it might not be all plain sailing for what is being described as Singh's 'last hurrah'. The ailing former prime minister has left for Bombay for medical treatment and therefore will not attend the Simha Garjana rally called by Lak-shmi Parvathi in Vijaywada. Already, some party leaders are chaffing at what they see as his "over-indulgence of the Left". And resentment over the fact that the leftists have acquired a clout disproportionate to their strength is brewing within the JD.