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Journalism of Courage
Talk of coming full circle. If anybody needed symbolic support for the theory that this is a time of political coalescing around the big parties,look no further than the Jan Morcha-Congress union. The Jan Morcha was born out of disillusionment with the Congress. After his resignation from the Congress government over the partys corruption in 1987,V.P Singh crafted a new peoples front. In a decade searching for alternatives,where the anti-caste agitation,the womens movement,environmental activism and tribal rights
issues loomed large,the Jan Morcha promised a fitting forum. In Singhs own words,the Morcha was not for elections,but for campaigning on issues of national importance. He said: We want to give organisational shape to the feelings agitating people today. Of course,that resolution didnt last long and the Morcha became a political party merging with the Lok Dal to form that soupy entity,the Janata Dal,and ultimately the oppositional energies of those social movements were absorbed into politics-as-usual.
Meanwhile,the Congress is probably savouring this little acquisition. After all,until a few years back,the party was thought to be in an advanced state of decline. It has clawed its way back with adept coalition-building and this event,while trivial in actual benefit,is sweet vindication indeed.
