The only parties that have been vigorously mobilising MPs against the government have been the Left parties, the BSP and those left behind in the UNPA, such as the TDP. For the Left, now facing problems with LS Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, it has become a matter of personal prestige—especially for CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. Karat has been addressing press conferences and rallies while his party has broken with its past aversion for the BSP, making common cause in the hope of ending its political isolation. For the BSP, suddenly up against the possibility of a SP-Congress-RLD combine in UP, and cbi cases against its leader, Mayawati, it's a battle for survival.
But equally, it is clear that this realignment of forces is not going to resurrect a Third Front. A senior Left MP, talking of the party's new-found love for the BSP said, "The BSP's growth represents our failure. That should have been our constituency...but still we have no reason to have any conflict with them. It may be a non-ideological party, but it does represent the poorest of the poor." In the BSP, though, the mood is not as adulatory. As a senior party leader put it, "These talks are limited to mobilising support against the government for the vote. There is no question of any alliance in UP. Outside the state, we can consider arrangements." The TDP too is not thinking of the future as yet. One of its senior leaders was heard saying, "We are now only thinking about the vote. After it's over, we don't know where other UNPA members like the INLD, AGP and JVP will go...they may all go with the BJP."
Clearly, for the moment, no one is thinking beyond the trust vote—for, on its outcome will depend the future of not just the political parties but also of major political leaders, notably Manmohan and Karat. If the UPA wins and presses successfully ahead with the deal, there is no doubt the PM will have won his political spurs—Singh will be King. If the UPA loses, Karat will smile again.
