Why not a Cong-BJP govt?

Suman K Jha
Posted online: Monday, May 19, 2008

New Delhi, May 18: After Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma suggested a Congress-BJP coalition at the Centre, senior RSS leader M G Vaidya has now said that the two parties should come together to form a government “with mutual cooperation”.

In his weekly column in Marathi daily Tarun Bharat, Vaidya said that he felt the need for such a combination.

In a recent interview to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV’s Walk the Talk, Sangma had advised the Congress and BJP to come together and run the country. “There is no great difference between the economic and foreign policies of the BJP and Congress. If this happens, in no time India will be a superpower,” he said.

Vaidya, in his column, observed: “Besides the Congress and BJP, only the two Communist parties (CPI and CPI-M) have the same national perspective and vision while the other remaining political parties have confined themselves to regionalism... These parties (DMK, ADMK, RJD, BJD etc) should be allowed to fight only state Assembly elections.”

Many top RSS leaders told The Indian Express this was Vaidya’s personal observation. “It’s true that we have debated the issue, but how can the binary opposites come together for power?” a senior RSS leader asked.

RSS pointman for BJP Suresh Soni, when reached for comments, said: “Vaidya has been writing regular articles.” When reminded that the late Bhaurao Deoras too had written on similar lines, Soni said: “That again was his personal take.”

BJP president Rajnath Singh too echoed the line. “How can the BJP join hands with the Congress when the latter failed to make India a developed nation in the 50 years that it was in power?” he asked.

On the commonality of views between the two national parties on economic issues and foreign policy, as well as the total lack of communication between them, Singh said: “Yes, there should be a channel of dialogue open (between the two parties) and a regular exchange of views.”

The Congress has also dismissed Vaidya’s idea. Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said: “It’s not a realistic idea and it’s not happening... The RSS propaganda has always been to confuse issues and to project something which is totally false as the truth.”