Congress not a destabiliser, says party book

Congress has sought to debunk charges of destabilising the governments led by HD Deve Gowda and IK Gujral which it had supported from outside, saying that the United Front experiment failed due to attempts to undermine the party politically.

"This experiment failed on account of the fact that the United Front Governments could not fulfil their own common minimum programme and continued attempts to undermine Congress politically," says a book "Congress and the Making of the Indian Nation" brought out by the party.

The explanation is significant as the Congress had paid heavily for the opposition campaign about its "habit" of destabilising the governments propped up by it in the 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha polls .

The book says that the Congress being the single largest party with 140 seats in 1996 elections provided outside support to the two governments in order to avert fresh elections and counter BJP-led communal politics.

It does not dwell on the details about the fall of the Deve Gowda government after the then Congress President Sitaram Kesri withdrew support to it on March 30, 1997.

However, on the fall of Gujral government the party says that it withdrew support to it as it refused to remove DMK from the ministry which was indicted by the Jain Commission probing the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.

Interestingly, DMK is a key member of the Congress-led UPA since 2004 at the Centre. In Tamil Nadu, Congress is providing outside support to the Karunanidhi government.

"With the ministry led by IK Gujral as prime minister, the Congress fell out over the report of the Jain Commission," it says.

The government refused to comply its demand and on November 28, 1997, the ministry resigned after the Congress withdrew support to it.

Under Kesri, the party continued to criticise the policies of the UF governments as and when they differed from Congress policies. In June 1997, the Congress Working Committee criticised the UF government for the continuing economic downslide, the book notes.

During these years, Congress' influence had waned considerably in the Hindi belt.

The book was released by Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi at last week's plenary as part of the 125-year celebrations.

It is the fifth of a series planned during the 1985 centenary celebrations under Rajiv's leadership.

Rajiv is said to have instructed that the five-volume history should be written by "professionals" and the "facts" be presented in a manner that future generations can judge the Congress for themselves.

So, the party commissioned historians to write it. Pranab Mukherjee is the chief editor.