Beyond Pachmarhi

Sir, - Your Editorial ``Beyond Pachmarhi'' (March 29) is a good analysis of the Congress party's current approach to political alliances. It has practically abandoned the Pachmarhi thesis rejecting coalition politics.

This change could be due to pragmatism, realpolitik and the compulsion of keeping communal forces at bay. In Pondicherry, it is for the TMC to explain why it did not discover the evils of communalism for a year (from the day the DMK aligned with the BJP). In Bihar the approach of the Congress has been one of sheer opportunism.

The findings of the A. K. Antony Introspection Committee on the Congress debacle in the Lok Sabha elections attributed the defeat to the ill-advised decisions of offering support to the Rabri Devi Government in Bihar and the tea-party understanding with Ms. Jayalalitha. The developments in Bihar show that the Congress is determined not to learn from past experience and seek power at the cost of principles.

That the Congress high command had to allow all its MLAs in Bihar to become ministers as an insurance against defection is evidence of it being neither high nor capable of getting its command obeyed.

R. V. Chandramouli,

Chennai

Sir, - You have rightly observed that the Pachmarhi resolution is a dead letter in Bihar and Pondicherry and the Congress is now quite willing to partake in the business of power- sharing.

But in these days of fractured verdicts, no party can be true to ideologies. What happened in Bihar is an alteration of the pre- poll alliance by the Congress in order to avoid President's rule whereas in Pondicherry the TMC has felt that the result of the pre-poll alliance is sufficient to form a Government for only four years and to have a post-poll alliance for the remaining one year. In both the States, the ruling parties do not represent the people's verdict. The Constitution Review Commission should look into this aspect also.

B. Balasubramanian,

Pondicherry

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Previous : Kashmir dispute
Next     : Role of former PMs