We are ready for polls

Interview with Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily.

SENIOR Congress leader M. Veerappa Moily, a key figure in the negotiations between the Congress and the Left parties on the nuclear deal, asserts that the party is fully behind the Prime Minister and that the government will go ahead with the deal. If the Left withdraws support and early elections become necessary, the Congress will come back stronger and the Left will be the real loser, he said in an interview, Excerpts:

What is the Congress stand on the nuclear deal, given the Lefts stand that it will withdraw support if the government goes ahead with the deal?

We are fully behind the Prime Minister on the nuclear deal. We will take it to its logical conclusion irrespective of the Left. If they withdraw support, so be it. We are not unduly bothered about that.

If the Left parties withdraw support, the government may face the risk of early elections. Is the party prepared for that?

The elections cannot be held before November-December. In any case, in the normal course the elections will take place in February-March.

It makes no difference whether the elections take place in November-December or February-March. We are fully prepared.

In view of the high rate of inflation and rising prices, is this not a particularly unfavourable time to call elections?

Our government has taken a set of fiscal measures and we hope these will start showing their impact in a couple of months. By September-October, to be precise, we expect inflation to be controlled and prices to come down. When the elections take place, price rise will not have an immediate negative impact on our electoral prospects.

The Congress appears to be in a buoyant mood despite the prospect of the governments falling. What is the secret?

No secret, it is the knowledge that we will come back stronger if the elections are held now. Our internal impact assessment studies have shown that running the coalition government with all its given pulls and pressures and compromises has not made us stronger, we have become weaker.

If elections are held now, we will come back stronger because the government has been seen to be performing well despite the constraints. Its the Left that will be the real loser, we will emerge stronger from the elections. The Left will lose heavily in West Bengal and Kerala, that is for sure.

What is the basis of this optimism, especially in view of the Congress recent defeat in Karnataka?

In Karnataka, it was sheer mismanagement on our part that cost us the election. We lost because of wrong selection of candidates, wrong management, wrong strategy. I have pointed out these factors in my report on future challenges, which I have submitted to the Congress president. But we still managed to get the maximum votes in Karnataka. Better management of elections should help us win. Besides, we have strong alliances, deal or no deal, so we are not unduly worried about elections.

We are also hopeful of new allies coming on board, such as the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.

Are you confident that your allies will stand by you if the government falls?

Our allies are with us, deal or no deal, that is the beauty of it. It is the Left that should worry because it will not win as many seats as it did in the last elections. Even in Karnataka, the Congress will be the gainer, just wait and see.

Why put the government at stake for the deal? What is the urgency for the deal?

The nuclear deal is in the interest of the nation. Besides, the Prime Ministers prestige and credibility are also associated with this deal. We cannot let them down. It is a matter of national sentiment for us now and we stand by the deal and will go ahead with it as per our own timing, Left or no Left.

This is an opportunity for us to restore the prestige of the Prime Minister. In any case, after October, the country will go into election mode, first the State Assembly elections, followed by the Lok Sabha elections, so a few months this way or that does not make any difference. We are ready and will come back stronger.