The bye election results are out and the congress-apart from mayawati-is the decisive winner. pramod kumar analyses how the GOP can now dictate terms to recalcitrant allies
The coalition experience for the Congress Party during the last Lok Sabha was a tightrope walk. Regional satraps like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan or T. R. Balu always kept the Congress leadership on tenterhooks. Many a times, these leaders created political trouble for the government to get their demands fulfilled. However, the dice rolled in favour of the Congress during the 15th Loksabha. None of the allies are in a position of tough political bargaining. The Congress leadership feels political arithmetic is in its favour and that there is no need to face tantrums of NCP or DMK.
Political relationship between the Congress and DMK soured at the time of the formation of the government. Karunanidhi had wanted key portfolios such as telecom, surface transport, health and home. He had even stayed in Delhi for three days. However, after three rounds of discussions, he got the hint that his demands were not commensurate with DMK's strength in Parliament. He was even reminded of Ramadoss' confrontation with the AIIMS director, how he had kept pending files that would have increased seats of nursing and dental colleges and how it had maligned the image of UPA. The Congress leadership gave the Telecom portfolio to DMK and even accommodated Azagiri. An offended Karunanidhi returned to Chennai. He did not attend the oath ceremony. Now, he does not even pick calls of any Congress leader except those of Ghulam Nabi Azad. A bigger blow for DMK arrived when the Congress leadership decided to go it alone in the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
DMK is mainly unhappy, though it was given the telecom ministry, as it was made clear that no DMK minister will not be able to take any policy decision. A group of five ministers was appointed under the stewardship of Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee which will take policy decisions pertaining to these ministries. This clearly meant that the government denied a free hand to DMK ministers like Ramadoss or Balu had enjoyed in their earlier innings. The helplessness of these ministers can be gauged by the fact that nine bureaucrats from PMO and the National Security Advisor can also intervene in functioning of any of these ministries. According to reliable sources, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has a keen eye on nine cases involving the ministry of road and surface transport, 23 cases in the health ministry and 18 cases in the telecom ministry. The matter of spectrum allocation during the tenure of A. Raja in the last UPA government is already on the CVC radar. Government agencies are also trying to decipher how money allocated to Balu's ministry evaporated during his tenure. Ghulam Nabi Azad has been called upon to restore AIIMS to its glory days.
The coalition experience for the Congress Party during the last Lok Sabha was a tightrope walk. Regional satraps like Laloo Prasad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan or T. R. Balu always kept the Congress leadership on tenterhooks. Many a times, these leaders created political trouble for the government to get their demands fulfilled. However, the dice rolled in favour of the Congress during the 15th Loksabha. None of the allies are in a position of tough political bargaining. The Congress leadership feels political arithmetic is in its favour and that there is no need to face tantrums of NCP or DMK.
Political relationship between the Congress and DMK soured at the time of the formation of the government. Karunanidhi had wanted key portfolios such as telecom, surface transport, health and home. He had even stayed in Delhi for three days. However, after three rounds of discussions, he got the hint that his demands were not commensurate with DMK's strength in Parliament. He was even reminded of Ramadoss' confrontation with the AIIMS director, how he had kept pending files that would have increased seats of nursing and dental colleges and how it had maligned the image of UPA. The Congress leadership gave the Telecom portfolio to DMK and even accommodated Azagiri. An offended Karunanidhi returned to Chennai. He did not attend the oath ceremony. Now, he does not even pick calls of any Congress leader except those of Ghulam Nabi Azad. A bigger blow for DMK arrived when the Congress leadership decided to go it alone in the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu.
DMK is mainly unhappy, though it was given the telecom ministry, as it was made clear that no DMK minister will not be able to take any policy decision. A group of five ministers was appointed under the stewardship of Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee which will take policy decisions pertaining to these ministries. This clearly meant that the government denied a free hand to DMK ministers like Ramadoss or Balu had enjoyed in their earlier innings. The helplessness of these ministers can be gauged by the fact that nine bureaucrats from PMO and the National Security Advisor can also intervene in functioning of any of these ministries. According to reliable sources, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has a keen eye on nine cases involving the ministry of road and surface transport, 23 cases in the health ministry and 18 cases in the telecom ministry. The matter of spectrum allocation during the tenure of A. Raja in the last UPA government is already on the CVC radar. Government agencies are also trying to decipher how money allocated to Balu's ministry evaporated during his tenure. Ghulam Nabi Azad has been called upon to restore AIIMS to its glory days.
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