Nitish’s convenor is almost certain, will he be able to become PM like VP Singh?

The post of coordinator has been considered very important in coalition politics. In 1996, Harikishan Surjit played a big role in forming the United Front government despite having fewer seats.  

In 1989, VP Singh, who was the convenor of the National Front, became the Prime Minister after the election. BJP also entered the game of coalition politics and Samajwadi George was made the convenor of NDA. 

In this story, we get to know in detail the leaders who were convenors in coalition politics and their stories…

Devilal was elected leader, but VP Singh became the Prime Minister
VP Singh, who left the Congress in 1988 and joined the Janata Party, was made the coordinator of the National Front in the 1989 elections. NT Rama Rao became the president of this front. The Congress party failed to form the government in the 1989 elections.

After this, the National Front staked claim to the President to form the government. A meeting of the Janata Party was held under the chairmanship of Madhu Dandavate in the Central Hall of the Parliament to elect the leader. 

In the meeting, all the MPs elected Chaudhary Devilal as their leader, but in a dramatic development, Devilal supported VP Singh. VP Singh became the Prime Minister after this.

Devilal said that VP Singh, as a convenor against the Rajiv Gandhi government, worked to create an atmosphere, so he has the right to hold the PM’s chair. Devi Lal said that he does not want to remain the prime minister, he wants to remain uncle.

Surjit made the name of the Prime Minister final on the phone
After the fall of Deve Gowda’s government, many rounds of meetings started in Delhi regarding the name. An internal vote was held for the PM face, in which Mulayam Singh Yadav overtook Moopanar, but Sharad and Lalu Yadav screwed up.

Seeing the problem not being resolved, Harikishan Surjeet left for Moscow as per his schedule. Meanwhile, the leaders of Telugu Desam Party forwarded the name of Inder Kumar Gujral, on which Lalu and Sharad also agreed.

(Photo-Getty)

After this Surjit was informed by calling. After finalizing the name of Gujral, Surjit started persuading Mulayam. As soon as Mulayam agreed, Gujral was informed about this at midnight.

In an interview, Mulayam Singh had said that GK Moopanar got 20 votes and I got 120 votes in the voting, but Lalu-Sharad played a trick. Later Surjeet called me and informed me about Gulzar. 

Harikishan Surjit: Convener who ousted BJP from power 2 times
After becoming the General Secretary of CPM in 1992, Harikishan Surjit got involved in forming the Morcha. After becoming the single largest party in 1996, the BJP staked claim to form the government. Atal Bihari Vajpayee also took oath as PM, but could not prove majority.

The Janata Party linked the formation of Atal’s government with a particular caste. The United Front said that Shankar Dayal Sharma administered the oath to Atal Bihari despite not having the majority because he was a Brahmin. 

After the arrival of Sonia Gandhi in 1998, the United Front disintegrated. Congress adopted the policy of Ekala Chalo in Pachmarhi, after which the NDA was able to form the government in 1999. Congress changed its strategy after this.

However, the Congress did not gain much in seats. Congress had won 145 and BJP 138 seats. After the election, Surjeet added many parties to the UPA alliance, taking the number of alliances beyond 280. 

Surjit became active again after the alliance with Congress opened. After the election, Surjit announced to join the UPA by supporting the Congress. As part of the agreement, the CPM also got the chair of the Lok Sabha Speaker. 

George Fernandes: The convenor who drew new lines of coalition politics
After being defeated by the United Front in 1996, the BJP turned to coalition politics. George Fernandes of the Samata Party was made the coordinator of the National Democratic Alliance. 

According to senior journalist Manmohan Sharma, George was a vocal opponent of the Congress and was against an alliance with it. When George got the command, he added all those leaders who used to do anti-Congress politics.

George inducted Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra, Mamata in West Bengal, Naveen Patnaik in Odisha and Haryana Janhit Party (HJP) in Haryana into the NDA alliance.

BJP kept issues like Ram Mandir, Article 370 away from Manifesto and Common Minimum Program only on the behest of George. George played an important role in cabinet expansion and portfolio distribution in the Atal government. 

BJP had given important departments like Defence, Railways, Health, Transport to allies in the Atal cabinet only on the behest of George. In 1999, BJP started running the government with the cooperation of 24 parties.

This coalition government lasted for the whole 5 years. For the first time a coalition government in India completed its full term.

Became coordinator but could not succeed, story of 2 leaders

Sharad Yadav- In 2008, the National Democratic Alliance made Sharad Yadav its coordinator in place of George Fernandes. After taking over the post, Sharad Yadav made many famous statements. Sharad also demanded to declare LK Advani as the Prime Minister. 

In 2009 elections only 8 parties came with BJP. In 2004 this figure was 12. In the 2009 elections, the NDA suffered a crushing defeat. NDA had won 189 seats in 2004, it was reduced to 151 in 2009. 

Chandrababu Naidu- In 2007, along with Jayalalithaa, Chandrababu Naidu formed the United National Progressive Alliance. In the presidential election of 2007, this alliance talked about giving its own candidate.

At the same time Chandrababu Naidu was also made its coordinator. Naidu took the initiative to make APJ Abdul Kalam the presidential candidate again with everyone’s consent, but he refused to become the candidate.

This alliance disintegrated even before the 2009 elections. Naidu also could not keep the alliance together. Some parties in UNDPA joined UPA while some joined Left Front. 

How much power will be gained if Nitish becomes the convenor?

1. According to a report, a committee will be formed for ticket distribution within the opposition front. The post of convenor will be important in this committee. 

2. There are only 3 parties out of 14, with which Congress is already in alliance. Nitish Kumar has done the work of bringing the remaining 12 parties together.

3. If the government of the opposition front is formed in 2024, then only Nitish Kumar can be the biggest contender for the post of Prime Minister. Apart from the parties involved in the opposition front, many parties are also in contact with Nitish.

4. The impression of Nitish Kumar’s issue can also be seen in the manifesto made before the elections, ie issues like caste census can be an important issue of the opposition front.