HVK Archives: Left inside or outside?
Left inside or outside? - The Pioneer
Ajoy Bose
()
17 April 1997
Title : Left inside or outside?
Author : Ajoy Bose
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : April 17, 1997
There is an old joke about CPI(M) general secretary Harkishan Singh
Surjeet that has gained fresh currency in the present political
crisis over who should be the country's next Prime Minister. If
offers a novel solution - Comrade Surjeet becomes the new Prime
Minister supported by all parties including the CPI(M) but from
outside!
Indeed, during the past few weeks of political turmoil, the antics
of the marxist Sardarji in particular and the Left in general have
become bit of a joke. After all, there is something decidedly comic
about the frenzied efforts by Surjeet to untangle the mess caused
by the withdrawal of Congress support to the United Front
Government only to end up being called names by those he sought to
save.
Ironically, notwithstanding the untiring zeal displayed by the Left
to keep the BJP out, few leaders of the so called secular alliance
have any god words to say today about Surjeet and his fellow
comrades. In fact, constituents of the United Front desperately
re-negotiating a fresh deal with the Congress after the downfall of
Prime Minister Deve Gowda have started looking increasingly askance
at the Left's attempt to scuttle such an arrangement.
Janata Dal president and Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav
had not minced his words in telling the Left that the latter was
actually pushing him and his party colleagues to be devoured by the
saffron beast in mid-term polls. Similar sentiments have been
expressed by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was
reportedly horrified at being asked to combat the BJP-BSP alliance
in Uttar Pradesh armed only with a video of Gowda's farewell speech
in the Lok Sabha.
Regional leaders have also tended to take a dim view of Leftist
advice after the Gowda Government lost the confidence vote. The
Tamil Maanila Congress, which has its own Moopanar plan, as well as
the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) have openly rejected Surjeet's
optimism about the Congress buckling down under the threat of
mid-term polls or of a famous electoral victory under the
leadership of Gowda.
However, the unkindest cut for the Left has come from its blue eyed
boy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. The Telegu
Desam Party (TDP) chieftain is reported to have asked Surjeet
menacingly, "Are you trying to push us over to the BJP?"
It is this harsh warning from a regional leader hitherto considered
to be the closest to the Left which had caused the latter to beat a
hasty retreat on the question of changing the United Front
leadership. Much to his chagrin, Surjeet found that the Front
leaders themselves were not sure of how long the alliance would
last purely on the steam of anti-BJP rhetoric.
Even Gowda's joy at the Left's touching faith in his leadership has
been shortlived. After initially taking a tough stance, the Left
Front has swiftly backtracked and on the eye of the crucial United
Front Steering Committee meeting on the leadership question
virtually capitulated to replacing Gowda with whoever the others
decide.
Surjeet and his fellow comrades have been reduced to nitpicking
about the wording of the Congress Working Committee resolution and
whether the Congress should withdraw its claim to form a government
first or the United Front change its leaders, however, privately
admit that they have little option but to go a along with whatever
happens.
Such a climbdown was perhaps inevitable given the present
compulsions on the Left, but is nevertheless a ad reflection of its
inability to set the political agenda. This signal failure is
compounded by the fact that of all the groups in the United Front,
it was only the Left which should have had the perspective to turn
the motley alliance into a credible political alternative.
Unfortunately, right from the inception of the Front, the Left has
instead of guiding the alliance towards a definite direction has
constantly vacillated from grasping the reins. The "historic
blunder" of forcing West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu to spurn
the prime ministerial mantle and the curious decision of the
Marxists to stay in the Front but out of the Government had made
the role of the Left in the new arrangement quite dubious from the
beginning.
Yet, despite its half-hearted approach to accept responsibility to
make the United Front a success, the Left lost to no opportunity in
moaning and groaning about the alleged shortcomings of the Gowda
Government. While the Marxists constantly carped about the leanings
of the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister towards big business
and multi-nationals, the CPI Home Minister Indrajit Gupta spent
much of his fulminating at being marginalised by Gowda.
As for the brewing confrontation between Congress president Sitaram
Kesri and Gowda the Left proved quite incapable of defusing the
crisis before it went out of hand. This is not surprising because
despite Surjeet's constant public relations exercise, the Left
simply did not carry enough weight either with the Prime Minister
nor with the Congress to make both see reason. Even more
importantly, Leftist leaders have persistently failed to recognise
the unviability of a broad anti-BJP front where some constituents
were more equal than others. Indeed, with the largest by far party
treated as untouchables and kept out of government and the second
largest group also taking only an advisory role, the experiment was
bound to end in disaster.
Much of the Left's present woes stem from its refusal to come to
terms with ground realities which offers only three clear options.
The first is to join the Front wholeheartedly and lead it from the
front. Or else it could be a part of an exercise to draft the
Congress into the Front which would tacitly mean accepting the
latter's leadership. Finally, the Left could totally opt out of the
Front and leave the alliance to work out whatever arrangement it
chooses to cobble together with the Congress.
At the moment however, the Left is caught in a maze of
contradictions. Its most visible face is that of Surjeet who is
quite content in backroom manoeuvers which accomplish little in
political terms and far more in official transfer and promotions of
favoured candidates.
Then there are the Marxist commissars who sitting in Vithalbhai
Patel House make no secret of their distaste for the present rough
and tumble of Indian politics. They neither seek a role in
Parliamentary politics nor dies their world view extend much beyond
a theoretical framework of what is politically correct or
incorrect.
There is finally the comrades from West Bengal and Kerala who while
providing the numbers in the two Houses of Parliament are little
better than their counterparts from various regional parties. It is
ironic that although these MPs have crafted stable and pragmatic
coalition governments in their respective State, they have failed
to provide any of this expertise to help run a similar exercise at
the Centre.
With such conflicting interests within, is it surprising that the
Left continues to put its finger in every pie and yet refuses to
get its hands dirty?
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