Cong checks allies’ bargaining power
The cleansing drive of the Congress has checked the bargaining power of its allies in the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre and the supporting parties as well.
The Congress has been sharing power with the DMK, Trinamul Congress, NCP and the National Conference at the Centre. But its tough stand against corruption is a significant development in the sense that the party does not want to be seen compromising with it to remain in power after realising that “corruption” is replacing “communalism”, felt a section of the Congress.
The party had given a long rope to the DMK and has been keeping the BSP, SP, RJD, supporting the Manmohan Singh government from outside, in good humour. But its action to remove Mr Ashok Chavan from the Maharashtra chief ministership on the Adarsh Housing scam in Mumbai and Mr Suresh Kalmadi from the CPP secretary against the backdrop of the Commonwealth Games mess-up in Delhi has cautioned its allies.
The party had virtually compelled DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi to “withdraw” telecom minister A. Raja from the Union Cabinet on the 2G spectrum allocation issue.
The DMK, depending on the Congress in Tamil Nadu, cannot fight the coming Assembly polls on its own while Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee cannot become a West Bengal chief minister without the Sonia Gandhi-led party.
Mr Karunanidhi has kept the Congress out of power despite running his government on the Congress’ outside support in Tamil Nadu. But the game could change when the two parties sit for seat negotiations.
On the other hand, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah is relying on the Congress’ backing.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s attempts to check the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections had marginalised him politically. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav got isolated even after backing the Manmohan Singh government on the nuclear deal with the US.
AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the government was taking “strong action” on corruption, wanting it to be “very strict”. “The government is in the process of taking strong action,” he told reporters at Fursatganj, UP.
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