There were moves yesterday to effect some shifts in national politics that could significantly affect the outcome of the next general elections.
Former Prime Minister VP Singh and BSP chief Kanshi Ram talked of the possibility of the BSP allying with the United Front. The likely consequence would be an alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.
SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who would immediately leave the Front if the BSP were to join, has already come close to the Congress, although he remains publicly committed to Gowdas leadership. Before and during the current imbroglio, Front and Congress leaders have indicated that there is a tacit understanding between Kesari and Yadav.
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For the moment, the talks between Singh and Ram are focussed on salvaging the Gowda government when it seeks the confidence of the Lok Sabha on Friday. Singh has already persuaded the Akali Dal to promise support.
His objective goes far beyond Gowdas survival, though. He wants to separate as many as possible of the BJPs allies from it and to strengthen the United Front as a larger alliance of regional parties.
Singhs politics are rooted in Uttar Pradesh, where he has wanted to ally with Ram for the past half-decade or so, particularly since he saw how potent Yadavs alliance with Ram proved in the 1993 UP assembly elections. An alliance between Singh and Ram could prove as powerful.
While Singh would not be able to draw away the states Yadav voters, he could hope to wean away his Muslim and other backward caste supporters if he were to ally with Ram, who has proved consistently that he now commands the support of more than 20 per cent of the states voters.
Singh has also argued that an alliance with the BSP could help to stymie the BJP in Madhya Pradesh. A BJP-BSP alliance would surely sweep the 40 Lok Sabha seats in that state, he has argued to his visitors. So would a Congress-BSP alliance. The BSP won only one seat from Madhya Pradesh last year but it alone polled 10 per cent of the votes cast.
Singh has stated that the current crisis could be turned into an opportunity to bring together a stronger grouping of secular forces, perhaps including the Congress. He adds, though, that the Congress is a declining force and the regional groups could form a stronger alliance even without it.