:: Opinion

No ifs and buts in Congress victory

Jayanthi Natarajan

Oct.26 : The best quotable quote from the discussions on the verdict in the three Assembly elections held recently in Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana came from Bharat Kumar Raut of the Shiv Sena. He complained that the Congress Party was guilty of "allowing the Opposition to lose…" It is, of course, virtually impossible to fully parse the meaning of that quote, but taking it at face value, it was perhaps one of the more amusing observations made about these election results by a rather ungracious losing Opposition.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plumbed a new low by claiming that the Congress’ victory in these three states was due to faulty electronic voting machines which, according to them, functioned like "electronic victory machines" for the Congress. They immediately backtracked and contradicted themselves. The most often repeated refrain, however, from political spokespersons as well as political pundits was that the results were by no means a victory for the Congress, but rather a result of disunity among a fragmented Opposition.

As the results were being announced, various television channels aired the constant chant that the Congress had won "despite" the lack of governance by its government, and lack of performance by the party. Time and again, especially regarding Maharashtra, panelists claimed that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government had failed to perform, particularly on agriculture, farmer suicides, and power failures. Time and again Congress spokespersons pointed out that no government can possibly be voted back to power if it didn’t perform! Particularly the Congress which has been voted back to power for the third time (second time along with the NCP) beating anti-incumbency, a feat unparalleled in any circumstances.

Undoubtedly, the Maharashtra victory was by a bare margin, but that does not take away from the fact that it was a victory, and that the Congress-NCP is set to form the government in Maharashtra for the third time, something the voters of Maharashtra would have never ever allowed had they not believed in the Congress-NCP combine.

Another Opposition refrain has been the so-called role of Raj Thackeray and his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in "ensuring the defeat of the Shiv Sena-BJP, and the consequent victory of the Congress-NCP", as if this was the single major factor accounting for the Congress’ victory in Maharashtra. This argument is a convenient distortion of the Congress’ achievements. If the index of Opposition unity failed to work, resulting in the emergence of MNS and the decimation of the BJP and the Shiv Sena, surely that is a problem requiring introspection by the concerned parties. Also, the argument regarding the failure of Opposition unity can be easily countered by the fact that on its part the ruling combine faced the anti-incumbency handicap and yet managed to overcome it.

In other words, if Opposition unity is to be factored in the assessment of victory, then, equally, so must anti-incumbency. It would be a terrible underestimation of the Indian voter to say that she/he did not have clear views, or that his/her vote was rendered meaningless due to lack of Opposition unity. The further argument that had the MNS not dented the BJP-Shiv Sena’s chances the results might have been different, is also not very sustainable. In the ultimate analysis, the Indian voter knows his/her mind well enough to send out a very clear message and is, by no means, confused by the existence of one party or another. In this instance, voters have sent the BJP-Shiv Sena back to the pavilion, given the Congress their mandate, but also told us that they expect good performance from us.

An important reason why voters reposed faith in the ruling Congress-NCP combine, notwithstanding the challenges of the drought, farmers’ suicides in some regions, and the power supply situation, was the fact that important initiatives of the Central government — such as the loan waiver scheme for indigent farmers, the insurance schemes, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, and other social security schemes — were meticulously implemented by the state government. This mitigated some of the problems being faced by the farmers and gave them hope and confidence that they were not forgotten and that the Congress government would take care of them.

In this context, it cannot be denied that the leadership of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, along with the sincere and inspirational initiatives undertaken by Rahul Gandhi, placed the Congress head and shoulders above other contenders in terms of infusing confidence and faith. The voters were clearly impressed by the credibility and charisma of these Congress leaders and believed that the party, led by people such as these, would certainly make an honest effort to address and ameliorate their problems.

The tremendous importance of the verdict given by the voters of Arunachal Pradesh is a matter of considerable pride for the Congress, not just because of the clean sweep but also the substantial turnout of 72 per cent on election day. Voters reaffirmed their commitment to democracy and sent a clear message of contempt for China’s self-serving claims on the territory of Arunachal Pradesh.

Haryana too was a historic verdict for the Congress in the sense that this is the first time that any incumbent government will return to power in that state after the 1970s. However, our inability to get a simple majority on our own was certainly disappointing in the face of our far more optimistic expectations.

THIS MONTH will mark the 25th memorial day of Indira Gandhi. The Congress Party was the most towering presence on the Indian firmament at that time. In the years that followed, the Congress has seen many victories and an equal number of trials and tribulations. It is a matter of tremendous satisfaction for every member and sympathiser of the Congress that 25 years down the road, 10 years into the leadership of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the Congress has emerged once again as the largest, most principled, credible and successful national party in the country with a powerful pan-Indian presence.

The real achievement of the Congress under Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s leadership is the fact that the party has gone back to its roots and become, once again, the umbrella party that is steadfastly committed to, and works constantly for, the welfare of the poor and the most disadvantaged citizens of India.

Jayanthi Natarajan is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha and AICC spokesperson. The views expressed in this

column are her own.