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Opposition divided on support to Abdul Kalam

By Our New Delhi Bureau

The CPI (M) general secretary, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, the Samajwadi Party president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh and others after the People's Front meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. — Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NEW DELHI JUNE 11. A day after the National Democratic Alliance announced that the eminent scientist, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, was its new presidential candidate, the President, K.R. Narayanan, ruled himself out of a possible contest. The President's announcement came after the Opposition could not take a united stand on whether to support Dr. Kalam.

For most of the day, a divided Opposition worked on a post-Kalam strategy amid indications that Mr. Narayanan was no longer available — if he ever was — to the Opposition as a candidate. The day ended with a Left-Congress delegation, consisting of Manmohan Singh, K. Natwar Singh and Sitaram Yechury, going to the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the hope of ascertaining whether Mr. Narayanan was willing to contest against Dr. Kalam. After the delegation left, the Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a statement, which said: "There have been recent media reports suggesting that President K. R. Narayanan may be the candidate for the presidential elections 2002.

This is to clarify that K. R. Narayanan is not a candidate.'' If yesterday the Opposition had reasons to feel happy that it could force the NDA to jettison the Maharashtra Governor, P. C. Alexander, today it found itself unable to think its way through the situation created by the breaking of ranks by the Samajwadi Party (SP). For most of the day, the Congress, too, presented a picture of being befuddled; having committed itself to working jointly with the People's Front, a deeply divided party leadership could not finalise its stand without the Front first coming to any decision.

By the end of the day, the People's Front became a house divided, with the SP announcing itself in favour of Dr. Kalam. The Front met twice, once in the morning and in the evening; each time it was clear that the SP leadership was unwilling to go against Dr. Kalam. In the morning, the Front leadership dispersed without taking any decision and maintained that the interregnum would be used by the parties to consult their colleagues.

Even after the consultation, there was no change in the SP position. Its president, Mulayam Singh Yadav, asserted that it was his party which had first proposed Dr. Kalam as the ideal candidate and that there was no need for the SP to change its mind just because the NDA had adopted "his'' candidate. Mr. Yadav also said Dr. Kalam was a "wise man and a Bharat Ratna.''

Feeling chastened by the SP's breaking of the Opposition ranks, the Left parties admitted to differences within the Front. For now, the Left (along with the rest of the Front, the Janata Dal-Secular) will meet tomorrow to consider the changed situation.

CWC to meet tomorrow

The decision-making in the Congress, too, went into a tailspin, after it dawned on its leaders that Mr. Narayanan would not be willing to contest against Dr. Kalam, even if the Opposition remained united. The party president, Sonia Gandhi, twice called informal meetings of the Congress Working Committee; the CWC met once in the morning but the evening meeting was "postponed.'' And, in between, she had a visit from the senior CPI (M) leader, Harkishan Singh Surjeet. After the first CWC meeting, the party spokesperson, Jaipal Reddy, told newspersons that "Mr. Narayanan is still the party's candidate. Our request is still pending.'' After the late night statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the AICC announced that the CWC would meet tomorrow to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, support continued to build up for Dr. Kalam. The AIADMK formally announced itself to be for him. Indications were that the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Nationalist Congress Party would rather support him. The BJP formally welcomed Dr. Kalam's acceptance and the party spokesperson, Maya Singh, questioned the Opposition's diffidence in endorsing his candidature.

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