VP poll aimed at altering formations

The sole objective of the VicePresidential election, which is slated for next month, is to try and alter the current political formations, with the aim of testing the strength of both the major groups. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that if the contest was to take place between C.P. Radhakrishnan, the NDA nominee and Justice B. Sudershan Reddy, the I.N.D.I.A bloc candidate, the odds favour the BJP and its allies.

The NDA has a clear numerical strength, and in this context, Reddy stands hardly any chance. However, in what is being billed as a Telugu versus Tamil contest in the southern part of the country, the political parties, particularly in the Andhra and Telangana region, shall have to make a difficult choice. In Tamil Nadu, going by the nature of politics there, it is more or less settled that the DMK and the AIADMK, can never be on the same page.

The question of both of them supporting a common nominee would impact their own politics, and they shall always be forced to play adversarial roles. If the BJP strategists figured in their head, that M.K. Stalin and his party would back Radhakrishnan, it is most improbable. And if they thought that the move would help them to make inroads in the Assembly elections due after a few months, that too is never going to happen. C.P. Radhakrishnan is a two-time MP, but he does not have the clout and position to compel the entire state to vote for his candidacy.

The situation is somewhat similar to what existed during the Congress regime. R. Venkataraman, a very tall leader in his own right, occupied many key positions including those of the President and Vice President. But his elevation proved to be of no assistance to the Congress, which continued to play second fiddle to one of the two Dravidian parties.

The Congress has also given a lot of importance to P. Chidambaram, but this has never helped its election fortunes in Tamil Nadu. G.K. Moopanar, the most influential Congress leader after K. Kamaraj, could also never bring the party to power there, and had to settle for a secondary position so far as state politics was concerned.

In other words, Tamil Nadu is a unique state with its own kind of politics and political narrative, which would never get changed unless there was an emotional quotient to it. However, things are a bit different in the Telugu speaking regions and for both Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Chief Minister, and his principal rival, Jagan Mohan Reddy, it shall be a difficult choice to make. Justice Reddy is a nonpolitical person of great eminence and thus cannot be associated with any one political party in the I.N.D.I.A bloc. Even K. Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana may have to take an uncomfortable call on his candidacy. Real politics is sometimes about hard choices and if one was to presume that the NDA allies in the Telugu speaking states were to stick to their political positions, it could come to haunt them in the Assembly polls whenever they are held. The opposition bid is to somehow make inroads within the NDA, and force some of its constituents to adopt a stand, which is at variance with that of the BJP. Whether this would happen is anyone’s guess.

Undivided Andhra Pradesh played a major role in the country’s politics so far as top positions are concerned. Even in the famous 1969 contest between V.V. Giri and Neelam Sanjiva Reedy following the first Congress split, the conscience vote carried the day. It is another matter that both Giri and Reddy served as Presidents at different times. P.V. Narasimha Rao was a former CM, who rose to become the country’s Prime Minister in 1991 and served for a full fiveyear term. Unlike Tamil Nadu, the Congress consolidated its position in Andhra following PV’s elevation, and had it not been for some politically naïve moves in 2009, the grand old party would have dominated the politics. The Congress is in power in Telangana, and it is thanks to Revanth Reddy, who has acquitted himself very well, despite being in different parties in the past.

There is another angle to the Vice-Presidential polls, which the Opposition believes could work to its advantage. It is a far-fetched assumption, but a possibility which the detractors of this government are banking on. In the recently held Constitution Club elections where it was a BJP vs BJP contest, the faction backed by a powerful section suffered a setback. Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who eventually won and defeated Sanjeev Balyan, was supported by many in his own party, who went against the established leadership, as also the Opposition.

The handshake which Rahul Gandhi offered him after the victory outside Parliament, was perhaps, a story in itself. The reports of differences over choices within the BJP have some basis to them even though by and large, they have not been able to create any major impact on the political narrative.