Southern Front forgotten as satraps diverge on relationship with Modi
With each party acting per their own compulsion and political requirements, the concept of a Southern Front seems to have been pushed to the backburner.
By his own admission, the YSR Congress Party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had “prayed hard” at the time of elections that the NDA should not cross the 250-mark in the Lok Sabha so that the regional parties could play a greater role at the Centre. And, more importantly, his party could have better “bargaining power” to get things done for Andhra Pradesh.
“It is now clear that God has not only blessed my party in Andhra but also blessed Modiji with copious numbers. He has a comfortable majority in Lok Sabha and doesn’t need us. We have to cooperate with the Centre and work in close coordination with them,” Jagan had said, soon after taking over the reins of the state.
This pretty much sums up the Hobson’s choice before Jagan as he gets down to running the state, with near-empty coffers and a long wishlist of central funding requirements staring at him. Struck by a similar conundrum, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, whose party Telangana Rashtra Samithi lost three of its Lok Sabha seats to a resurgent BJP, may have to relinquish his dreams of a Federal Front and instead concentrate on saving his home turf.
In Tamil Nadu, DMK’s MK Stalin, whose party swept the Lok Sabha polls with 37 of 38 seats, has been critical of the BJP almost on a daily basis since the results. While his bonhomie with Jagan during the latter’s swearing-in ceremony sparked speculations of a Southern Front, experts say the leader may just stick to adding fuel to anti-Modi sentiments in his own state to come to power.
With each party acting per their own compulsion and political requirements, the concept of a Southern Front — a much discussed possibility ahead of the polls — seems to have been pushed to the backburner.
Antagonising BJP, not Jagan’s safest bet
Jagan, the 46-year-old businessman-turned-politician, is expected to adopt a non-confrontationist and conciliatory approach towards the Centre for two reasons — political and financial. At a time when the Disproportionate Assets case is still hanging over his head, Jagan cannot afford to antagonise the BJP leadership. He has already spent 16 months in jail in 2012-13 in connection with a CBI case.
On the financial front, Jagan desperately needs help from the Centre to tide over the crisis. Several promises made by the Union government under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, are under various stages of implementation. A friendly disposition at the Centre becomes imperative for his government to ensure a steady flow of funds. The mounting debt burden, unfinished projects and the capital city mess are major worries for Jagan. An unresponsive Centre at this stage would compound his woes.
KCR in the same boat
KCR’s Federal Front dream came crashing down with the NDA pulling off a swashbuckling victory. KCR had expected a hung Parliament and a greater elbow room for the regional parties to decide the contours of the next government.
With the BJP wresting three Lok Sabha seats from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), retaining Secunderabad and looking to expand its base with a renewed sense of aggression, KCR will be forced to go on the back foot in the months ahead. Faced with the possible erosion on his home turf, given the BJP’s assertion that southern states would be its next target of expansion, he is expected to focus on containing the damage, rather on attempting to take on a formidable and stronger NDA at the Centre. Moreover, the country’s youngest state needs liberal funds and new projects from the Centre.
Anti-Modi stand, DMK’s only saviour
The situation is different in Tamil Nadu. Even as the ruling AIADMK is an ally of the NDA government, its opposition — DMK led by MK Stalin — has already made its confrontational stand with the Centre clear. The signs were evident when Stalin turned down the request of Chandrababu Naidu and KCR to join the proposed Federal Front, and formed an alliance with the Congress.
If his anti-BJP stand helped him consolidate votes against the BJP, the sentiment became clear when the DMK allied with similar-minded parties (like VCK and Left parties) ahead of the elections.
Stalin charged the NDA and the state governments with imposing an anti-people project in the state, after the Centre on May 31 approached the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court’s order on quashing the GO for land acquisition proceedings for the Chennai-Salem 8-lane project.
The same day, the Centre released its draft of the national educational policy. The draft mentioned that the government would implement a three-language policy making English and Hindi compulsory. Expressing his discontent on the issue, Stalin on June 1 warned of a disaster if the same is imposed in the state. His reaction reflects the sentiments of many Tamils, especially when the state in the past has witnessed a series of violent agitations and protests against the imposition of Hindi in Tamil land.
A Ramasamy, head of Tamil department in Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, said Stalin’s confrontationist stand would gain the support of the people. “People in Tamil Nadu voted against the BJP-AIADMK alliance. So, being confrontationist is his only options. It would increase his credibility among the people,” he said.
