NEW DELHI: In the run-up to the general election in 2009, the Congress party clinched two major pre-poll alliances with the Trinamool Congress of former Union Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) of former Union Minister and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren. The man, who made it possible is Congress Working Committee (CWC) member in charge of West Bengal and Jharkhand, K. Keshav Rao. In the short time that he has been entrusted the charge, he has emerged successfully by clinching what is considered to be winning alliances for the Congress in the two states, which account for 56 Lok Sabha seats. K. Keshav Rao rubbished the opposition criticism that the UPA is cracking up. On the other hand, he pointed out that none of the allies has walked out of the alliance, while allies, like the BJD, were deserting the BJP. Keshav Rao emphasized that although the Congress could not finalize seat-sharing arrangements with some of the UPA allies, all the parties are committed to supporting Manmohan Singh as the UPA prime ministerial candidate.
Excerpts from an interview:
With the Congress sealing a pact separately with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha of Shibu Soren, does is signal the cracking up of the UPA, with the RJD and LJP kept out of the pact?
There is a basic difference between an alliance and seat sharing. The UPA allies are together at the national level. What we are doing is to enter into seat-sharing arrangement at the state level.
Even if the parties contest separately, they could still come together at the national level, post-poll. An alliance is a basic commitment to a larger national objective, while seat sharing is merely a process of maximizing electoral gains.
Is it a tit for tat by the Congress in Jharkhand, after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad decided to leave just three seats for the Congress?
If you carefully examine the seat-sharing arrangement, you will appreciate that the two seats won by the RJD in the 2004 elections have been kept pending. If the RJD is willing to come on board, we are still offering the sitting seats to the RJD. So, there is no such thing as tit for tat.
Have you spoken to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leaders?
I have personally not spoken. But others leaders from the party are talking. So, the talks are going on.
Where was the need for inking a written agreement?
The Congress is the senior partner in Jharkhand, winning six of the 14 seats in Jharkhand in 2004, against the four seats won by the JMM. This time around, the JMM has been given one more seat and JMM will now contest five seats.
Similarly, the Congress is also contesting one more seat and the Congress will now be contesting seven seats. Still, we are open on two more seats. That is why we thought it fit to have a written agreement, which has been signed by Soren and by me on behalf of the Congress.
Is it true you are also talking to the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha in West Bengal?
A: Yes, it is true. But there is no electoral gain for the Congress from it. Purely as a good will gesture, I am trying to explore whether an arrangement could be worked out within the framework of the constitution.
