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Will the Congress reciprocate?

If a report in the Indian Express is to be believed, in a chance encounter at the New Delhi airport, the leader of opposition L.K.Advani told Rahul Gandhi that Congress and B.J.P should treat each other as political adversaries and not enemies.

He told Gandhi that his party was concerned about this constriction in political space for the two main parties as it had serious ramifications for the near future. Advani asked Rahul whether his own party (Congress) was equally concerned about the issue. The reply, apparently, was in the affirmative. At this stage, Advani suggested that the only way out was that the two mainstream parties should view each other as “political adversaries” and not “enemies”. The Leader of Opposition was indicating that the leadership of two national parties should have a line of communication open on important issues and not let regional parties hijack the national agenda, [link]

This blog has previously advocated closer cooperation between the two national parties.  Their refusal to do business with each other has not only aided the rise of regional parties but is making both of them increasingly irrelevant. Nowhere was this seen more clearly than in the case of the Indo-US nuclear deal–B.J.P’s insistence on opposing the Congress even when they both advocate closer relationship with U.S.A only allowed the Communists to hijack the national agenda. The U.P.A governments’ record has hardly been exemplary. In case of reformist legislations like the Pension bill, it has refused to take the help of B.J.P only to protect its ‘’secular image.”

This state of affairs harms the national interest. Rahul Gandhi should press his party and its government to respond to Mr Advani’s initiative.