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Congress approaches Trinamul, TDP

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi

The Congress has approached the Telugu Desam Party and the Trinamul Congress -- both members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance -- for help in stopping the BJP-inspired moves to change the status quo in Ayodhya.

"Yes, our party leadership is in touch with TDP and Trinamul leaders who are agitated over the BJP's none-too-subtle moves in Ayodhya," a former party general secretary told rediff.com

"Thanks to its communal overtones, the Vajpayee government is in big trouble," he said.

"We will go in for the kill," party spokesman Ajit Jogi said, referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta's assertion that he would not prevent the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya if it is done peacefully.

Jogi said the BJP politicians' apparent intent is to disturb the status quo at a time when the Supreme Court had expressly forbidden any steps being taken till it gave its verdict.

He said that not only the Congress but other parties had been "re-energised" when they sensed that the BJP had "dug the Vajpayee government's grave and put several nails in its coffin".

Significantly, many constituents of the erstwhile Third Front government headed by Inder Kumar Gujral are making capital of the BJP's utterances on the Ayodhya temple. They believe this could be their chance to topple the government.

"What else can you expect from this communal government? The sooner the country is rid of it the better it is for everyone," said senior Communist Party of India, Marxist, general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet.

CPI-M sources said Surjeet is interacting with the TDP on vital issues.

The Congress, which has become more aggressive now, began sending feelers to the Trinamul and the TDP after learning that their leaders were upset by the comments BJP politicians had been making about Ayodhya and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's silence on the matter.

"By remaining silent on such a serious issue, the prime minister has shown his true colours," said senior Congress politician Madhavrao Scindia, deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha. "His silence transmits the message that he supports the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya on the disputed site, which cannot be tolerated by our secular community." Scindia said the Congress would protect the secular constitutional guarantees of the minorities.

Both the TDP and the Trinamul Congress have sizeable support among the Muslims. The Union home ministry has already received reports confirming that opposition politicians are meeting NDA figures, specifically those from the TDP, the Trinamul Congress, Samata Party and Janata Dal (United).

Senior home ministry officials said the government realises that this issue can affect the NDA's unity, even bringing down the government. "At the very least, such indications are there, and they are growing, which gives us cause for concern," they admitted.

While Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banerjee was unavailable for comment, one party member said, "Madam is extremely disappointed and angry with the BJP's utterances on the Ram temple." They maintained that Banerjee is a "cult figure" among the minorities in West Bengal.

They said senior party politicians like Akbar Ali Khondekar belong to the Muslim community and she had already told BJP politicians what she thinks of their statements on the temple.

Officials at the Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road said TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had already begun distancing his party from the NDA following the Uttar Pradesh chief minister's "howler" on the Ayodhya issue. But TDP parliamentarian K Yerram Naidu declined to comment on the matter, saying his party chief was the best person to comment on such matters.

The Congress officials said the arrest of Dara Singh, prime accused in the murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons, would further weaken the Vajpayee government since Dara Singh had links with communal forces like the Bajrang Dal and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

They said the Congress would take full advantage of this because "the BJP's communal links can now be exposed in the right perspective".

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