THE VICTORY MOVE

Madam arrived exactly on schedule. Kirti stood up and walked to meet her halfway. Madam extended her hand in greeting. Both began to walk in. Madam greeted everyone in similar style, unflinchingly, full of confidence. This was natural for her8212;after all she was a European. Thirty-five years ago she had married into a high-profile political family. Since then she had been living in India. She had even become an Indian citizen in 1987. Her attire had also become Indian though some European traits were still there. This confidence and lack of inhibitions were the part of those traits8230;

She had been in Indian politics for nearly 13 years. For six years she led the National Party and for five years she had been the leader of Opposition.

8220;She doesn8217;t look like a foreigner. Anyways after so many years in India she is hardly a foreigner now,8221; Kirti could not hide his admiration for Madam.

Together they walked up to the verandah. Madam glanced at the pictures hung on the walls. She walked up to see some pictures more closely. Disinterestedly Kirti asked her, 8220;More has not come8230;.8221;

More was a national leader. He hailed from Maharashtra, though he had spent his entire life in Delhi. For many years now he had been a political advisor to Madam. 8220;No, I did not bring him along. I thought I should meet you alone once and after that we can continue,8221; Madam explained.

8220;Actually I cannot understand any thing. The saffron parties have announced the elections before time and we are not even ready. Now you advise me as to what should we do,8221; Madam went on.

Kirti was more than ready to help.

8220;See Bibi, the biggest threat this nation faces is that of the saffron parties. In their last six years in power, they have caused great damage to this nation. We have to wipe them out8230;8221;

8220;I agree,8221; said Madam.

8220;If you too think the same then listen. If you think that your National Party alone will sweep these elections then you are wrong. This war will be won by small groups, one or more than one group. This war will be won by those who have the strongest group. You make a strong group, take other parties with you, especially those of the South, the Dravidian parties. The Telangana Samiti in the South, Salve in Maharashtra, Harijan Party in UP and Gopal from Bihar. You can take us along too, leaving aside states like Kerala, Bengal and Tripura.8221;

8220;Tell me, how should we start? We do not have much time on hand.8221;

8220;Your first step should be to call up the Dravidian parties.8221;

8220;I am slightly hesitant. Those people are seasoned politicians, will they listen to me?8221;

8220;You own the largest party of the nation. All the big leaders bow before you. Do not hesitate, just call up Venkatachalam. Tell him that you will contest these elections with him. He will listen to you.8221;

8220;You also call him up. He listens to you.8221;

8220;I will also do that but after your call. I will go to Chennai, sit with him and talk.8221;

8220;Ok. I will call him up immediately after I reach home. More will tell you about the conversation.8221;

8220;But take care, in case you want to send some emissary to Chennai, do not send Muthuswami. He doesn8217;t like him one bit. Muthuswami had deserted his party. He will never listen to him.8221;

8220;Ok, we will not send him.8221;

8220;Do not ask for a seat for him too, they will never agree.8221;

8220;Ok, we will not let him contest the elections. We will recall him from there. He can come to Delhi and work here8230;.8221;

8220;This would be even better. Vekantachalam will be very pleased. He will take this as a positive signal.8221;

8220;But we will need more seats in Tamil Nadu. We will have to compensate for the loss in Kerala. You know already that Kerala is siding with you.8221;

8220;Really?8221; Kirti expressed his surprise and began thinking, Bibi has done her survey and her analysis is good too.

Madam smiled and said, 8220;But then this does not hurt us. You get the seats for us, it is the same thing. The main thing is that the saffron parties will not be able to gain anything.8221;

8220;Bibi, I like your style of thinking,8221; Kirti praised her. 8220;We should think like secular parties. Let8217;s first finish working on the Dravidian parties. See, for them the picture is not too large. Tell them that we hold them as the main party in Tamil Nadu. When Tamil Nadu goes for assembly elections we will not ask for extra seats. We will not ask for a share of power in the government that will come in after these elections8230;8221;

8220;Ok, I will give them this assurance. Tell me more.8221;

8220;Tie up with Telangana Samiti in Andhra.8221;

8220;There is a problem in this tie-up. You know the rest of the Andhra is against an independent Telangana and if we tie up with the Samiti we will lose in the rest of the state.8221;

8220;Even our party faces this problem. But we need to take the Telangana people along and for this we should do anything. If they support us only then we will be able to defeat Rao.8221;

Rao was the leader of the ruling party in Andhra. He was the chief minister and had colluded with the saffron parties. At the Centre too, his party was a strong spoke in the power wheel. Andhra is a big state with many seats.

8220;Then tell me, what should we do?8221; Madam said.

8220;Tell the Samiti people for now that we will deal with their demand compassionately. Assure them that they will get the desired portfolios at the Centre.8221;

8220;We will do exactly this. Tell me more.8221;

8220;Talk to Bal Gopal in Bihar.8221;

Bal Gopal was the leader of the ruling party in Bihar. After he got embroiled in a court case he had to give up his chief ministership and he had given his seat to his wife. Gopal had formed a strong coalition in Bihar by bringing together the Yadavs and the Muslims. His party had been ruling this state for over a decade now.

8220;We have talked to him and he is not ready to part with many seats.8221;

8220;Don8217;t worry. Bal Gopal will not give extra seats to anyone. Basically your party is not very strong in Bihar. There is too much factionalism. Even if you manage more seats for your party, you will not be able to win. Saffron parties will gain from this loss. The most important thing is that we need to get the saffron parties packing from there.8221;

Everything was clear and transparent. None of the two parties was trying to fool the other.

Kirti picked up the conversation from where they had left it. 8220;Bibi, your party8217;s condition in Punjab is also very bad.Your party men are openly fighting and the opposition is getting stronger. We need to divide them.8221;

8220;I know this. Help us here too,8221; Madam replied. 8220;Try and talk to Aujla Saheb too,8221; added Madam.

8220;I have called him to Delhi. He is not keeping good health these days. He will support us fully, specially for the Patiala seat. Actually your enemies are cleverer than you are, they have lured Aujla with a proposition of the Rajya Sabha seat. They have promised a seat or two for his supporters too. What we need to do is support the anti-Akali forces. They will help us divide the Akali vote bank.8221;

8220;We are ready. You just us guide us on what we need to do.8221;

8220;Talk to the Dalit party too. If they agree to walk with us, the Akalis can be wiped out.8221;

8220;We have tried to talk to her, she does not agree8230;.8221;

Madam was hinting at the leader of a Dalit party.

8220;8230;. As far as my information is concerned, the Dalit leader has tied up with the saffron parties. She will field her candidates in all seats in UP to ensure a four-cornered contest and in this, the saffron parties will gain.8221;

8220;We can8217;t help it Bibi, for this lady has no ethics. She just wants the chair. We didn8217;t let her party get a foothold in Punjab.8221;

8220;Then tell me what we should do in UP,8221; Madam moved on to her next agenda.

8220;Talk to Pehalwan, Netaji.8221;

Madam understood the hint and smiled, 8220;His tactics are beyond my understanding. He fears our party more than the saffron parties. He can8217;t tolerate our victory.8221;

8220;There is still no harm in talking to him. At present he enjoys a good clout in his state. Only he can bring the saffron parties to their knees. On their knees8230;I mean.8221;

8220;Yes, I understand that but we find no need to talk to him. We cannot trust him. You also know he doesn8217;t stick to his words.8221;

Kirti had not forgotten. When the Deve Gowda government had fallen, Madam8217;s National Party and other parties had desired to form a government at the Centre. She had taken letters of support to the President to stake her claim to power. This Pehalwan-led party of UP was also one of the parties that had extended support to her National Party. At the last moment this leader withdrew his support, saying he would not support a government led by Madam. A new coalition government could not be formed. The ship that had almost reached the coast sank. Madam and her party became objects of ridicule. Madam did not want to be in a similar situation again.

8220;Ok, I will talk to him myself,8221; said Kirti. 8220;The least we can hope from him is that he will not field his candidates in the constituencies from where your candidates will be contesting.8221;

8220;No objections. We will not field candidates in seats where they have a hold,8221; said Madam .

8220;Have you talked to Salve?8221; From UP Kirti jumped to the extreme west, Maharashtra.

Mohit Salve was the president of the breakaway group of the National Party. The name of this breakaway group was Deshbhagat Nationalist Party. Before the split, Salve was a leading member of the National Party. He wanted to sit on the chair where Madam was ensconced now. He was a very clever man. He tried his best to get that seat, but failed. And when he realised his failure, he accused Madam of being a foreigner and left the party to found his own party. His power was confined to Maharashtra and he had clout in western Maharashtra, which was the region of co-operative sugar mills. If the saffron parties and the Shiv Sena were to be defeated in Maharashtra, then Salve8217;s support was crucial.

8220;We have talked to Salve. He is an intelligent man and knows that we need him. He wants extra seats, even those in which our victory is ensured. But no problem, to secure his support we are ready to sacrifice these seats8230;8221;

Kirti applauded Madam and said, 8220;This is the right plan. If you maintain this approach, you will be able to secure the magical number. But keep us in mind too.8221;

Madam smiled. 8220;Comrade, we never consider your party an outsider. Whatever you ask us to do we will do. In Bengal we will not let any one form a coalition against you. Even in Kerala we will keep our campaign low as it is your turn in Kerala this time. You know both parties take turns in this state and this time it is yours8230;8221;

8230;And thus the meeting ended. Both got up. Walking down the verandah, Madam shook hands with Kirti. Holding his hand she said, 8220;Comrade Kirti, I am highly obliged to you. You take care of the interests of the National Party, even better than we do.8221;

Shocked Kirti straightened up. He immediately dropped Madam8217;s hand and sternly said, 8220;No Bibi, I am more concerned about the interests of my party. But then at present the concerns of my party and yours have become one.8221;

IN just under an hour the picture was clear. The Secular Front was leading. It had won 217 seats. The National Party alone had won 145 seats, nine seats more than the last time. The saffron brigade had lost its steam at 185 seats, nine less than the previous elections. The Left front had been able to bag 60 seats, with the Marxist party garnering 43 seats8212;six seats more than the previous elections. Netaji8217;s Praja Party had won 36 seats, while Kamla Devi8217;s Harijan Party won just 19 seats.

In Bihar Bal Gopal8217;s party too had fared well. He had won 24 seats. His younger brother Dharam Raj8217;s party had taken four constituencies. The seats won by both the brothers would fall in the kitty of the Secular Front. The saffron brigade was wiped out. There was no way in which they could form a government at the Centre. Netaji8217;s 36 seats were useless now, no one wanted these seats8230;

8220;No one wants to buy Netaji8217;s product in this market,8221; murmured Kirti. He wanted to tell Sital Amar Singh, 8216;Bhai Sital, stay calm. No one needs you now. Despite your support the saffron brigade will not be able to form the government. And the National Party on its own can form a government8230;8217;

But this thought did not please Kirti. He did not want to see the

National Party romp to power

so easily. Not many of his own

comrades would find a place in the government.

The saffron brigade could see all this happening. When the sun rose the next day, the prime minister of the saffron brigade came on television and accepted his alliance8217;s defeat. His face was worth seeing. It seemed he would burst into tears any time. Seeing his face, Kirti said to Avtar Kaur, 8220;He wanted to be the prime minister for the second time. And now he has fallen flat on his face.8221;

Kirti muted his television and began thinking about the upcoming politburo meeting. Just then, his mobile phone rang. 8220;It must be More,8221; thought Kirti. But no it was Madam herself.

8220;Bhau,8221; she said.

8220;Yes,8221; said Kirti, noticing that Madam was now calling him Bhau and not Comrade Kirti.

8220;You have won, congratulations,8221; Madam said haltingly but in a loud tone.

Kirti smiled but was taken aback. His party had just won six more seats than in the previous elections. But then he realised that this was not just his victory, but the victory of all those parties who were a part of the Secular Front.