Opinion - Editorials   

Back to square one

After knocking at the doors of both the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front, the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) is back to charting its own course in the Kerala Assembly elections. What should have been obvious from the start is slowly dawning upon the DIC(K) in the wake of another round of failed negotiations with the Congress: that the best option in the prevailing political situation is to float a third front. Any new party that is yet to prove its electoral strength will, without doubt, get a bad bargain in alliance talks with established parties. Although DIC(K) founder K. Karunakaran derives great strength from his Congress roots, he cannot expect either the LDF or the UDF to accept this as a basis to gauge the alliance-worthiness of his new-born party. From the beginning, the effort of Mr. Karunakaran should have been to demonstrate his party's independent support base, and not to find a short cut to power by striking a deal with one or the other of the two major fronts. True, in Kerala's polarised politics, forming an alternative to the Congress and the Left parties is no easy task. But for someone who spent an entire political career fighting the Communists, and who had just walked out of the Congress citing irreconcilable differences with the party leadership, there was no choice other than leading a third front.

By displaying an amazing propensity to switch from one end of the political spectrum to another, the DIC(K) actually damaged its credibility. Indeed, the apprehensions voiced within the LDF that the DIC(K), an offshoot of the Congress, was unreliable as an ally seemed entirely justified. Not surprisingly, the UDF was also wary of a party that could switch sides with such ease. Hence the insistence on the part of the Congress during the negotiations that the DIC(K) contest on its `Hand' symbol. This would have made defection from the Congress impossible for the elected supporters of Mr. Karunakaran without their inviting disqualification. If Mr. Karunakaran had agreed to the proposal, it would have effectively meant a merger of the DIC(K) with the Congress. All his grievances against the Congress remain, and to return to the parent party for the sake of a few seats for his supporters would have seemed to be total surrender. Small parties play an important role in politically conscious Kerala, but only as constituents of either the UDF or the LDF. Some of the expelled CPI(M) leaders had found ready acceptance in the UDF without their having to test their strength independently, but Mr. Karunakaran, who had fomented trouble within the Congress before finally walking out, cannot expect such favours. To be taken seriously, the DIC(K) will have to show that it has the vote base that can make the difference between victory and defeat for the UDF or the LDF.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Revisiting capital account convertibility
Back to square one
Privatisation: come hell or high water
India's water and sanitation challenges
Corrections and clarifications
Two British-Indians in cash-for-peerage row
Who's stone age, U.K. politicians or bushmen?
Model Code
Unfortunate
Shocking
Judgment revisited

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu