Strange as it sounds, a senior Congress minister says without batting an eyelid that there was an instance when PV Narasimha Rao the Congress president had rolled back prices raised by Narasimha Rao the Prime Minister. Their point: there is nothing unusual about the Congress Party seeking a reduction in the petrol price hiked by its own UPA government. It is only following a precedent set earlier. This, however, is one of the few instances the party is relying on the late Narasimha Rao to justify its actions. One explanation for the fracas over the petro-price hike is that this is a milijuli kushti by the government and the party to upstage the Left, which as usual wants to milk the issue politically and show the Congress in a poor light. By demanding a reduction in the prices hiked by its own government, the Congress is out to prove its bonafides as a well-wisher of the aam admi. The price hike had been inevitable and had been on the cards for over six months. There had been no hike since September 2005, because the PM was mindful of the sensitivities of the UPA allies, who were facing elections in the states. This “milijuli” theory has many buyers, for there is no way Sonia Gandhi would not have been consulted by Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, known to be close to 10, Janpath. Deora, in fact, was heard telling friends that Sonia Gandhi had urged him not to do anything that would hurt the common man and to leave the price of kerosene and cooking gas untouched. Explanation Two—murmured in party circles—is that there was a “miscommunication” between the government and the party, and Deora “goofed up”. Or why should the party spokespersons officially express their differences with the Government’s decision? It is said that Sonia Gandhi was given to understand that the figure would be lower—Rs 3 a litre hike for petrol and Rs 1 a litre hike for diesel. But in his note before the Cabinet, Deora had presented two possibilities: either Rs 4 and Rs 3 or Rs 4 and Rs 2, and the Cabinet opted for the lower of the two options. But Deora is too much of a loyalist to say one thing to Sonia Gandhi and do something different in the Cabinet—even if the Prime Minister is reportedly of the view that the increase is very low and the decision, which involves energy security and the health of PSUs, has only been postponed. It would have been easy for the government to have raised the price of petrol to say Rs 6 or Rs 5 a litre and then to bring it down under Congress pressure, if the party wanted to take credit for forcing the reduction. But this did not happen. Nor did Congress ministers oppose it in the Cabinet when the decision was made. It is possible that the party woke up to its implications after the Left and the BJP went on a rampage. Then it came up with the idea of reducing the sales tax to cushion the hike and suddenly it was Deora, an MP from Mumbai—and not the Congress Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh—who announced that Maharashtra was going to do this. Whatever be the truth, the incident has made one thing amply clear. Tension is on the rise between the Congress and its allies, including the Left. As it is, the NCP’s support to Rahul Bajaj for the Rajya Sabha, joining hands with the BJP and Shiv Sena, the Telengana Rashtra Samithi gravitating to the BJP, the Congress’ break with the JD(S) leading to Karnataka going out of its hands—these have not been happy signals. There is no love lost between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party either. It was expected that the Left parties might “settle down” after their victory in Kerala and West Bengal. But instead, both Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury have made it plain that their goal is to create a non-Congress and non-BJP alternative in the country. Though the general election is three years away, the Congress reactions give an illusion that it is round the corner. Or is that actually the case? The Left parties never had it so good and are unlikely to want to bring down this government unless they are ready to face elections. Of course, accidents can always happen, when it becomes difficult to retrieve a situation—as in 1997, when the United Front Government had to go. But as of now, the Left’s plan seems to be to spread wings outside their strongholds, hanging on to the coattails of other parties. An alternative non-Congress, non-BJP government is impossible in the 13th Lok Sabha. But there is enough heartburn in the Congress camp that the CPM and the CPI have got the best of both worlds—taking credit for opposing the government’s unpopular decisions and leaving the Congress to face all the flak. Congress leaders are also riled that the CPM should tie up with arch opponent TDP for the local elections in Andhra’s Nalgonda and Khammam. The Left was in alliance with the TDP during the United Front rule. Even M Karunanidhi has very good personal rapport with Chandrababu Naidu. There is another factor to keep in mind. Will Dr Manmohan Singh be allowed to complete a full term by his own party? If he does, he will be the natural contender for Prime Ministership if the party emerges victorious in the next elections. Or will the party dump him for moving away from the “aam admi”, say a year before the elections and put a stop gap in place, while Rahul Gandhi hits the road to emerge as a rising star? At the moment, this is speculation, but the questions have already begun to be asked in Congress circles.
