How not to win friends and influence people

As the phase of alliance-making and seat adjustments draws to a close, the Congress party8217;s record in making friends and winning allies...

As the phase of alliance-making and seat adjustments draws to a close, the Congress party8217;s record in making friends and winning allies presents a pretty dismal picture. Following the December debacle, Congress president Sonia Gandhi made a mad scramble to sew up a grand 8220;secular alliance8221; to take on the BJP-led NDA, but three months down the line the party8217;s belated 8220;give and take8221; policy has meant mostly give and very little take.

In Bihar, the party8217;s 8220;most trusted ally8221; Laloo Prasad Yadav has left it a mere four of the 40 seats; in Uttar Pradesh, the wooing by turns of the BSP and SP have left both parties fuming; in Tamil Nadu the Congress has got 10 seats not of its choice from DMK; in Pondicherry it failed to secure DMK8217;s support for even a sitting MP; and in Andhra Pradesh the Congress has had to part with as many as 6 of the 16 seats in the Telengana region to the as yet untested Telengana Rashtra Samiti TRS.

Only in Maharashtra has the Congress worked out an 8220;equitable8221; deal 8212; leaving 18 seats to NCP, another four to the three factions of the RPI and the JDS and contesting the major share of 26 seats.

Disheartened by the party8217;s failure to work out an alliance in the Indo-Gangetic heartland comprising 120 seats, party men secretly concede that the leadership did not show 8220;adequate firmness with flexibility8221; that is required in striking alliances.

8220;We are new to the game and we botched it up badly,8221; a UP Congressman said, alluding to the fact that the Congress first bend over backwards to appease Mayawati and Mulayam, but did not work to a plan.

Another senior leader who requested anonymity said the Congress leadership failed on two crucial fronts 8211; in 8220;devising strategy8221; and in its 8220;negotiating ability.8221; In the case of Uttar Pradesh, the party remained divided on whether BSP or SP would be a better ally and ended up losing both.

8220;Neither Maya nor Mulayam were sincere about an alliance because both want to be players in the post-poll scenario. Instead of showing our desperation for an alliance, we should have declared our intention of going it alone 8212; and then if they showed an interest we could have discussed seat adjustments discreetly,8221; said a Congress leader.

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As for negotiating ability, partymen point out that the nitty-gritty is always discussed at the 8220;lowest level8221; and moves upwards instead of the other way round. But in the Congress 8220;there was no clear command structure8221; and since Sonia Gandhi initiated the talks, other parties did not take other negotiators seriously. 8220;R.K.Dhawan wasn8217;t given the time of day by Laloo and Amar Singh 8212; who is a mofussil level politician 8212; felt he was equal to Sonia Gandhi,8221; rued a former MP.

One reason the talks were successful in Maharashtra was that it was left to Sushil Kumar Shinde and Vayalar Ravi to work out the details and the 8220;high command8221; pencilled the agreement much later. In Tamil Nadu, the Congress could have negotiated a better deal but it was in too much of a hurry to get on board the anti-NDA alliance in the making. In Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, the party gave away too many seats, particularly assembly seats, AP Congressmen feel.

But more than the lack of strategy and tactics, the Congress8217; failure to build a pre-poll alliance only underlines that the party8217;s stock is rated pretty low still. 8220;At the end of the day, we have to depend on our own organisation and our party workers8217; morale in this election 8212; allies will flock to us only if we independently revive the party,8221; a Congress leader maintained.