Congress, RJP to join forces

AHMEDABAD, June 2: The Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Party RJP have agreed in principle to give a joint fight to communal forces ...

AHMEDABAD, June 2: The Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Party RJP have agreed in principle to give a 8220;joint fight to communal forces in Gujarat8221; at the end of a one-to-one meeting between RJP chief Shankersinh Vaghela and GPCC president C D Patel last week.

Patel said the modalities of how to go about the task would be worked out at a later date and the party high command would be informed accordingly by the PCC to enable it to take the final decision on the electoral understanding. Patel said that if a tie-up with the RJP clicked, then the combine could wrest at least seven parliamentary seats from the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP in Gujarat.

Among these seats are Patan, Mehsana, Dhandhuka, Surendranagar and Kutch.

Patel and Vaghela will meet once again before giving final shape to their joint contest formula. Patel said both the Congress and the RJP had learnt from their past experience and that Shankersinh Vaghela is quite serious about the tie-up this time.

However, the manner in which the Congress has responded to Vaghela8217;s offer of having truck with it is amazing. Though the party leaders disagree, the move betrays a shaky confidence of attaining victory targets in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections single-handed.

The response is amazing because till the other day, party leaders in the State were sparing no chance of ridiculing any such feelers sent by the RJP and enlightening the concerned parties in private that the RJP was a party of no consequence as far as electoral adjustments went.

However, now they find it perfectly all right joining hands with the RJP with the common motive of defeating communal forces. Former Chief Minister Chhabildas Mehta insists that there is no question of the party rushing to the RJP because of a shaky confidence. 8220;We believe, in principle, that we should join hands with secular forces and it is true that we are exploring the possibility of a tie-up with RJP,8221; Mehta said.

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Asked about the progress in the talks, he said he was not involved in negotiations this time. Last year, when the two parties had unsuccessfully tried to have a truck for Bharuch Lok Sabha by election, Mehta was involved in talks.

There is one more shift in the Congress leaders8217; attitude to the RJP. Now they seem to have accorded it the status of a national level political party. 8220;Since the RJP is a national level party, decisions over political alliance have to be taken at the national level only,8221; says a press release of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee GPCC.

Senior party leaders defend the change in posture. They say that both the sides have learnt their lessons from the past and things 8220;will take a definite shape8221; but nothing can be said with certainty unless the party high command makes up its mind. A party functionary expressed hope that if a tie-up worked out, the RJP might not insist on having the ratio 50:50 it had demanded in 1998 Assembly elections.