'Please do not see us as an ousted government today itself'

Syed Firdaus Ashraf and Tara Shankar Sahay in Delhi

Five days of negotiations have been futile. And with the talks between the Congress and the United Front failing, India’s political future is to be decided in the Lok Sabha on Friday, with the ruling 13-party coalition facing a vote of confidence.

The Congress finally sought only that Prime Minister Deve Gowda be replaced, but the UF refused to do it.

Speaking to Rediff On the NeT, Railway Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said, "The Congress just wants a change in leadership, but that is not possible. The Congress supported us because they wanted us to keep the BJP out of the power. And if they vote against the government tomorrow (Friday), they will go along with the BJP and their whole stance of fighting against the communalism will be a farce."

Congress spokesperson V N Gadgil, on the other hand, said, "If they (the UF) change their leader we are are prepared to resume the talks," giving the UF till 11 am on Friday to respond. "If the matter is not resolved by then we will vote against the government.

"Even after the government falls," he said, "we are prepared to negotiate any arrangement which will help us to contain communal forces. Our appeal is not to create any bitterness but to keep the debate on a high level."

This desperate appeal suggests that the Congress would love to patch up with the UF, but just wants a sop –- that Deve Gowda goes.

There is talk that the Deve Gowda government may even seek the dissolution of Parliament. But Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Telugu Desam Party leader Nara Chandrababu Naidu parried questions on the subject.

"Wait till tomorrow. Please do not see us as an ousted government today itself," Surjeet said. Other UF sources felt the coalition had no choice since it was going to lose power anyway.

"As the Deve Gowda government's majority has been in doubt ever since the Congress withdrew support, it makes little difference if the Cabinet recommends the dissolution of the House today or tomorrow," one UF source said. But Deve Gowda would continue as caretaker premier, UF leaders said.

There were some schisms visible in the Congress armour, with Mamta Banerjee, the volatile Congress MP from Calcutta, stating that party members should go by their conscience, implying that they may go against their whip. Dr Jagannath Mishra, Suresh Kalmadi, S S Ahluwalia and others met on Thursday to discuss their strategy. A lot of activity was also seen in the Sharad Pawar and Narasimha Rao camps, significant considering that Rao and Pilot too had suggested that partymen go by their conscience. But later Kalmadi and Pawar in separate statements said all party MPs should go by the whip.

Right now, with Lal Kishinchand Advani getting the all-clear in the hawala case against him, the Bharatiya Janata Party is sitting pretty. And their fortunes have been done no harm by the squabbles between the UF and the Congress. But it has been strangely circumspect lately, stating it will go by the decision A B Vajpayee takes on Friday morning. Till Wednesday, they had said they would vote against the confidence motion.

Speaking to Rediff On The NeT, BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said, "He (Vajpayee) will decide what the party members have to do when the vote of confidence is taken up for discussion." This opened the possibility that the BJP would help the UF government survive by abstaining from the vote. But UF spokesperson Jaipal Reddy told the Rediff Chat that the UF would not accept such backing.

Later, Surjeet said, "The change in leadership in the United Front government has nothing to do with the Congress." Naidu thundered that, "the United Front remained united and will remain so." That, of course, remains to be seen.