Party sends out strong message to partners by tying up with CPM in Siliguri.
First, it was long-term ally Lalu Prasad and the DMK, then the NCP and now, it’s the turn of Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress. One by one, the Congress is cutting all its allies to size.
There has been a silent but unmistakable change in the party’s equations with members of the UPA and its handling of allies reflects that.
In the previous government, Congress political managers spent a considerable time ministering the egos of alliance partners and catering to all kinds of demands made by them. Not anymore. Powered by the strong mandate it received in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the party has begun asserting itself. It makes no secret of its ambition of recapturing the space ceded to regional and smaller parties.
The point was driven home last week when the Congress, miffed with Mamata’s unaccommodating attitude, cut a deal with the CPI(M) to install its mayor in Siliguri. In the process, the party sent out a message to the mercurial Trinamool chief not to ride roughshod over it in Bengal. “She ought to realise that we cannot be taken for granted,” an AICC general secretary said.
Earlier, the Yadav duo of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and the SP’s Mulayam Singh had tasted the Congress’ newfound assertiveness. Unwilling to allow the Congress space in their strongholds of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP), the two leaders refused to leave many seats for the party during the Lok Sabha poll.
The Congress fought on its own, won two seats in Bihar and 22 in UP, only one less than the SP. As a result, not only did the Yadavs not find place in the UPA government, but they now have to also reckon with an aggressive Congress out to reclaim its space in UP and Bihar.
There is distinct change in strategy in dealing with UPA-II allies. The party did not have a sway in the portfolio distribution, but it succeeded in keeping out the DMK’s TR Balu. The party has been pushing its interests, and has succeeded in getting the NCP to part many seats in Maharashtra.
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