The Hindu : Karnataka News : `Allies will desert BJP, Congress'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 13, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

`Allies will desert BJP, Congress'

By Our Staff Correspondent

MADIKERI, MAY 12. The former Minister, M.C. Nanaiah, said here on Wednesday that emerging political situations would prompt the re-emergence of a vibrant "third force'' in the country to counter the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to The Hindu here, he said the allies of the BJP and the Congress would break away to align with the "third force." The parties that had an alliance with the BJP were not comfortable with it and they knew that the BJP was not a secular party. Those that supported the Congress, particularly the left parties, were doing so only to keep the BJP out. They were aware that they were supporting the perpetuation of dynastic rule, he added.

However, Mr. Nanaiah did not elaborate on who should initiate the re-emergence of a third force and did not name a leader.

On the earlier experiments in which the third front had disintegrate owing to squabbles among the leaders, Mr. Nanaiah said the creation and survival of the front would depend on certain leaders who could command the respect of the people. The third front could come up in two or three years, or even before, if the election results threw up a hung parliament. "I have belief in my own ideologies and will wait for my time," he added.

Mr. Nanaiah said he expected what he called a political de-polarisation in the event of a hung parliament. Under such circumstances, the BJP's allies in the NDA and the Congress allies would snap their ties and back the third front. Regional parties were supporting the Congress or the BJP as they were aware that they were the only two major political forces in the country, he said.

Replying to a question, Mr. Nanaiah said the Congress had better secular credentials than the BJP. The BJP should keep away the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh if it wanted to be seen as a secular party and be accepted by all. The "Vision Document" of the BJP in 2004 was authored by the RSS, Mr. Nanaiah said.

On his future plans, he said: "I want to serve the people either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha after more than 24 years in State politics." He might not be able to achieve this in the wake of the disintegration of the Janata Dal. He had not hankered after power but had accepted it when it had come to him. If the third front could not be forged within a couple of years, he would have to exercise his political option. However, he was capable of playing a key role in the development of society without being a legislator, he added.

Mr. Nanaiah said he would not sacrifice his ideologies and principles for political power. If the Janata Dal factions had come together, the people would have supported it, and that would have changed the political scenario in the State. The late Chief Minister, Ramakrishna Hegde, could have played a major role in forging unity from 1999. But, the developments did not work in the Janata Dal's favour.

According to him, enough wealth had been created in the State in the past 10 years thanks to government policies favouring urban areas. However, this had helped only 20 per cent of the population, he said. Rural areas still lagged behind in education, health, and other respects, and the gap between the rich and the poor had widened, he said.

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