VIEWPOINT
AMITABH SHUKLA
No one had heard of Trinamool Congress having
any political significance in north India
till about a fortnight back when the party started its operations in the region.
It was like launching a consumer product for consumption in the mass market.
All the ingredients of a
successful corporate launch were there when Trinamool set its foot in Chandigarh ,
the base for its operations in north India ,
comprising of Haryana, Punjab , Himachal Pradesh and the Union
Territory
Singh is an Industrialist and an
MP from Jharkhand. The state has become infamous in recent years for sending
corporate honchos without any parties to the Upper House and now some of the
MLAs are facing investigations on allegations that recently there was horse
trading in the Rajya Sabha elections. This allegation led to the cancellation
of the polls and a fresh schedule was announced where again the winner was one
who was least predicted.
I wonder how will a corporate
style launch endear the people to the Trinamool Congress in the area which has
a strong two party or alliance system. The new entity is looking for elections
in Himachal Pradesh in November this year and then perhaps Haryana where
elections are in the distant future, in 2014.
As the mercurial and
unpredictable Mamata Banerjee, the boss of Trinamool Congress, is hardly known
in the region, it will be the management skills which KD Singh has acquired
over the years and the money which he has made which will be crucial for the
survival and growth of the party. Congress seems to be the favourite poaching
ground for the fledgling TMC as a media advisor of Haryana Chief minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already resigned and joined the brand new political
outfit of the region.
TMC is not the only entrant in
the field to test the political waters. Team Anna could be a major player in
the Himachal Pradesh elections later this year. Arvind Kejriwal has given
indications to this effect in the Kangra region. He launched a diatribe against
both the ruling BJP and the Congress by terming them corrupt. As he has not
named any alternative to the main parties, it is understood that there is a
serious thinking in Team Anna to use elections to further its cause and move
beyond a Lokpal Bill.
As Himachal is a small state, it
could be used as a field laboratory both by Team Anna and TMC to gauge the
public mood ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Team Anna is so far taking
one step at a time from asking parties to vote against the Congress in the
Hissar Lok Sabha bye-election last year to being neutral in the elections in
Uttar Pradesh and Punjab earlier this year. Team Anna could openly endorse a few
candidates in Himachal assembly polls to judge its political strength and
whether it can translate its perceived popularity into votes. Endorsing
candidates and campaigning for them seems to be a natural way ahead to meet
their political aspirations. It could also be a response to the barbs thrown at
Team Anna that electoral battlefield is the only medium to have a say in a
democratic set-up.
So the battle for Himachal
Pradesh is headed for an interesting finish. While TMC may not be a player and
may not even get enough serious candidates to put in fray, Team Anna could
manage to become a serious player if it goes for appropriate alliances. Only
the Third Front of the state which comprises of the Himachal Lokhit Party and
could have the CPI(M) as a partner seem to be the possible alliance partners if
Team Anna indeed goes for it.
Congress is playing its cards well now given
that it is a do or die situation for the grand old party. It lost Punjab
even though it was expecting to ride back to power. The party cannot afford to
repeat the same mistake again and lose Himachal Pradesh at a time when there
could be some anti-incumbency against the incumbent BJP government and the
state too has a tradition of electing a new government every five years.
At 78 years, Virbhadra Singh,
popularly called “Raja” would be perhaps fighting the last major political
battle of his life. The presence of 21 of the 23 Congress MLAs in his rally to
mark his birthday and 50 years of public life points to the clout he enjoys in
the state Congress. Being a five-time chief minister, he knows every road,
every village and every important Congress leader and worker in the entire
state. Singh would like the Congress high command to declare its chief
ministerial candidate ahead of the polls but he knows that Congress is not in
the habit of doing so. Given the fact that an overwhelming majority of the
party MLAs support him, it would not be difficult for him to get the mantle of
leadership post elections if the party is voted to power.
Another Union Minister Anand
Sharma, considered to be Singh’s rival,
is known for his politics at the Centre rather than in the state and
even the top bosses of the party are aware of it. Rahul Gandhi would be visiting
the state this week and obviously the AICC General Secretary would talk to a
cross section of Congress leader and apprise the top leadership about the
popularity of various claimants.
Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal,
who would be the face of the BJP in the polls, is not taking the challenge
lightly. He is aware of the task ahead and has already tried to buy piece with
the disgruntled leaders of his own party. Dhumal has throughout kept the
central leadership of the party in the loop while making important political
decisions. At a time when the political activities in the state have
intensified, Dhumal is playing his cards deftly to come back to power again.
Appropriate permutations and
combinations, political maturity and statesmanship along with managing
contradictions would be the key to power in the state and both the Congress and
BJP are aware of it. (June 25, 2012)
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