Cong ready to tackle "forced" polls: Sharief

his party “would not like to make sure” that the BJP government was ousted. He said if the BJP forced mid-term elections in various states, the task of working out a strategy vis-a-vis “secular” alliance partners would rest with the six-member political committee of the AICC, set up recently by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Sharief is himself reportedly tipped to be either taken on as a Congress Working Committee member orconsidered for the state party president’s post in the restructuring proposed by Sonia Gandhi, after she formally takes over the party presidentship on April 6. He however, refused to confirm these reports.

Meanwhile, the committee which comprises Sharad Pawar, Arjun Singh, Jitendra Prasada, Manmohan Singh, Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy and Pranab Mukherjee, has been given the job of liaising with other party leaders in order to consolidate support for creation of a “secular front”. This was with a view to determining the line of approach inside Parliament, Sharief said. But if there are elections in some states, “there also, we will need our own strategy” he added. Among the states where the BJP was expected to “force early elections” are Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (where elections are due anyway), Bihar where the “BJP may try to force elections” and perhaps UP though the chances here are much less since the BJP itself is in power here, he said.

The Congress now apparently regrets not havinggone in for strategic alliances in various states during the Lok Sabha polls — a tactical move that benefitted Maharashtra strongman Sharad Pawar immensely. “The secular parties who should have fought the BJP, fought the Congress instead. Take Uttar Pradesh. Ultimately Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kanshi Ram’s decision to field candidates in all 85 constituencies benefitted the BJP. While opposing the BJP, they did not support us. So there was a division of secular votes”. Understandably, in reviewing its recent performance, the Congress is most critical of its defeat in two states — Uttar Pradesh where it was routed and Tamil Nadu where “we lost badly”. “There is need for serious concern regarding both these states” Sharief said.

Dismissing any significance in the fact that no minority leader has been represented in the AICC political committee, he said, “Today we have to understand that the Congress belongs to all sections of society and every section of society has a rightful place in theCongress. No leader can win on the strength of his own community or caste."

Asked how long he expected the Janata Dal government to last in Karnataka, he said, “We feel that the foisting of elections without allowing a government to complete its tenure should not be allowed to become a fashion and an unnecessary burden on the exchequer.”