DP Tripathi, general secretary, Nationalist Congress Party, tells Aasha Khosa there is no United Progressive Alliance at the national level.
Who is your party's prime ministerial candidate in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections?
Our claim about prime ministerial candidate was pre-poll talk. Now, we are in the middle of the elections and any talk about a candidate for the PM's post is not proper. Though every party has a right to project its leader, the actual decision will have to be based on the number of seats we get in the Lok Sabha elections.
What is the NCP's assessment of the election results?
We believe the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) will not have the numbers to form the government and therefore LK Advani cannot become the prime minister. Second, there is no UPA at the national level. The Congress has arrangements with a few parties in the states, including us, but the UPA as a pre-poll alliance does not exist. At the end of the Lok Sabha elections, even in the worst case scenario, it will be the UPA which will be the single-largest alliance. But within the UPA, non-Congress parties together will have more seats than the Congress.
What will you do in such a situation? Whom will your party align with?
After the elections, the UPA constituents, which have been in the government together for five years, will meet to chalk out their future course of action. So far, the UPA has not formally met to take stock of the situation. Another important situation that would emerge is that the non-UPA secular parties would have more numbers in the 15th Lok Sabha than the Congress. The UPA, therefore, will need their support. This also means that the UPA will have to seek support from the Left parties and also parties like the Biju Janata Dal.
Sharad Pawar (NCP president) and the NCP have been consistent in their stand that once the results are declared, the UPA constituents should meet and decide the best way to give the people a stable and efficient government.
How can the Congress and the Left come together again so easily?
We know that both the Congress and the Left parties have taken extreme stands on supporting each other. Actually, once the numbers are out, it will become clear if the UPA has to necessarily be a Congress-led formation. We in the NCP have been trying to talk to the Congress as well as the Left parties on the need to work out a middle path to come together. We should base this alliance on the basis of shared policies and perspectives and not just sharing the crumbs of power.
One wonders how will Mamata Banerjee sit with the Left leaders and how the BJD will be comfortable with the Congress in the proposed formation?
The choice before them and all of us here is to first make a secular front that will give a viable and stable government. In the past too, there were occasions when two rival political parties, like the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, supported the UPA government. Instead of talking about third and fourth fronts, let us first make a political front.
You say the UPA does not exist as a pre-poll alliance. Then how do you believe the UPA will come together and get support of others after the elections?
It was the Congress which disbanded the UPA as a pre-poll alliance. The Congress had been adamant with most of its allies, including us. It was strange that while the Congress felt the UPA was fine for running the government, it felt the alliance was not suitable to fight elections at the national level. We hope that after the election results, the Congress will have a better understanding with its allies.
The Left and many other so-called non-Congress secular parties may not do so well this time. How are you banking on their support?
Even if the Left parties go down in numbers, they will be the largest block among the non-Congress secular groups. We believe Mayawati will increase her tally in Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav may not do so badly, Lalu Prasad and Ramvilas Paswan may get at least 10 seats each while Jayalalitha's AIADMK will emerge as the largest party from Tamil Nadu.
Your leader Sharad Pawar did a flip-flop on his political alliances. While he continued to be in the government and the UPA, he joined the BJD in Orissa. How do you explain this?
Naveen Patnaik took a historic decision to snap ties with the BJP in Orissa and there was no way the NCP would not have shown its solidarity with him on this. We even appealed to all secular parties to extend their support to the BJD. We were morally bound to show our support for the BJD.
Your entire effort seems to be targeted at keeping the BJP out of power. Don't you feel, this could backfire later and the BJP, as a victim of so-called conspiracy of secularists, would gain support in the long run?
This is a debatable issue and a cause for worry. However, this will become a potent worry in case the new alliance is not based on positive issues. That is the reason we are focusing on policies and shared perspectives than power-sharing.
What is NCP's view on the debate that the prime minister should always be a Lok Sabha member?
Constitutionally, there is no bar on a Rajya Sabha member becoming the prime minister. However, we feel it would be better for the country of India's stature to have a prime minister who is directly elected by the people. Maybe he can get elected after being made the prime minister.
What are the prospects of your party in these elections?
The NCP will increase its tally in Maharashtra. For the first time, we are also contesting from other states and union territories. Tariq Anwar is contesting from Katihar in Bihar, where the Congress has not fielded its candidate against him. We hope to get five-six seats from outside Maharashtra this time.
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