Assorted socialists team up again

What’s in a name, the Bard of Avon asked through his sweetest heroine, the winsome Juliet. She did not know it then, but Juliet was inexorably hurtling towards the tragic end of her short life. In faraway Delhi, in another age, a bunch of assorted socialists shall be drinking this weekend to that truism. Seasoned politicians, they know well that the end of their bigger, better party could be the next argument away.
When Samata Party met Janata Dal (United) this week, a new name was not born.Perhaps because all combinations possible all ready exist as offshoots of the Janata Parivar. Very tamely, it was decided that the Janata Dal (Untited) was the most apt way to describe the coming together of the two siblings.
George Fernandes achieved what had seemed impossible for 10 years now - dislodging Sharad Yadav as JD(U) President. Well he almost didn’t. Nitish Kumar, the other Samata chieftain who usually does not like anything George, stepped in for larger good and explained to Yadav the benefits of the arranged match.
The distribution of spoils has been minutely planned. Janata Dal (United) gets to keep its name, the Samata ceases to exist but its chief takes over as head of the new party. The JD(U) keeps its symbol, the Samata brings in the flag.
Yadav, most famous for refusing to allow any sort of democracy to interfere in the minor detail of choosing a leader for JD(U) all these years, has been placated for now by being made chairman of the parliamentary board. The leader of parliamentary party post is up for grabs, presumably to be Nitish Kumar to keep him busy.
That leaves George to do more of the balancing act he’s been practising on the uncomfortable Samata Party throne. The party base may have got broader with the merger, but his perch just got smaller. There are the customary sulks, primarily from JD(U) firebrand Devendra Prasad Yadav, who is feeling more left out than ever before with the coming together. He may well splinter with a satellite or two and all will be well with the world.
The larger plan is to get as many like-minded parties to do the like-minded thing. Merge. Who? The obvious thing would be to first call all outfits with Janata in their names to join the party. The next round could take in the Loks. The third round could get into other socialist terms – Samajwadi, Samaj. And to round it all off, the final call could be to all the Dals. (Seva Dal please excuse!).
The resultant affair will have few new faces. Chances are all those gathered would have been together in the same party not too long ago. There are serial benefits too in having an amorphous entity that can take any shape that it is required to.
They can all contest elections under one symbol and then decide to be different parties once polls are over. They can be the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the Janata Dal in Bihar and so on. And they can forever be in government – just align with the winning party and declare that the majority view in the party favours that ideology.
Investment will be little as the Samata-JD(U) merger proved. Readymade symbols, flags, party machinery and even leaders to rotate. At most it will mean a new set of visiting cards. Partymen could get smart there too. Print JD(U). When the next split happens, the party could be JD(Undivided) or even JD(Undecided). The next merger will follow soon anyway.