Regional netas in euphoria
Bengaluru: Broad contours of a possible national coalition of regional parties with or without Congress heading it to fight the crucial electoral battle against the BJP in 2019, emerged in Bengaluru on Wednesday from the dais at Vidhan Soudha from where JDS (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who arrived in the Karnataka state capital on Wednesday morning itself made his presence felt among the pantheon of the leaders who adorned the stage at Vidhan Soudha with his characteristic bonhomie and light-hearted banter.
Bengaluru presented a pan-India mosaic of regional parties with leaders of several political parties attending the ceremony. They included NCP chief Sharad Pawar, TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, Sharad Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, RLD chief Ajit Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao travelled to Bengaluru on Tuesdayto greet Kumaraswamy apparently to avoid the possibility of bumping into UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son and Congress president Rahul Gandhi who represented a party which is at odds with his Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in his state. The star attraction at the swearing-in ceremony, of course, were Sonia and Rahul who had helped lame Kumaraswamy with a handful of seats cross the stile and wear the crown.
The way they circulated made one wonder if a Congress might be leading the national coalition of the regional parties, but it remained difficult for one to get the impression as the leaders of major regional parties not endorsing the possibility.
However, Rahul Gandhi and Chandrababu Naidu shook hands with each other and Naidu patted Rahul’s back. Waving at the crowd that had turned for the Kumaraswamy’s spectacle, Sonia Gandhi, Mayawathi and Akhilesh Yadav were seen together discussing the event as though they belong to one party and West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's who was everywhere on the dais chatting up with all, particularly Chandrababu Naidu left one with little doubt over the new doughty political line ready to take the BJP by its horns in the next elections.
Sonia Gandhi and Mamata hugging each other also caught the attention of all leaders present there. Though there was no need for the leaders to reiterate their commitment to forming a front against the BJP if one went by the newfound conviviality among the parties, Mamata Banerjee and Chandrababu Naidu, however, did it to eliminate any doubt that may be persisting in the minds of the people.
Banerjee, speaking to media persons, said. "Our participation in the swearing-in ceremony is meant to strengthen the coming together of regional parties. All the regional parties are here and it is a good augury," she said and pointed out that they would henceforth be in touch with one another to take the spirit of this new cooperative effort forward.
She said: “If the state was strong, the Centre would be strong. Chandrababu and I came here strengthen the regional parties.” She hoped that the regional party coalition will fulfill all promises it makes. "We are not afraid of anyone. We will work fearlessly to bolster the coalition of regional parties in the country."
Asked about the role the Congress would play in the regional parties line up, Mamata was as slippery as the proverbial eel. "The Congress will do what it wants, and we will do what we want. Congress is a separate party. We came here to support Kumaraswamy because he is leading a regional party,” she said and left the question open-ended.
“If regional parties get together, they will have maximum strength. Jo hamse takaraega wo choor choor ho jaega,” Banerjee said, implying that those who try to cross its path would go up in molecular disintegration.
Naidu, in a veiled jibe at KCR, said: “We came here to express our solidarity. Telugu Desam does not have any qualms in attending the swearing-in ceremony of Kumaraswamy though his government is supported by the Congress”.