HVK Archives: A democratic front
A democratic front - The Pioneer
Satyapal Dang
()
15 May 1997
Title : A democratic front
Author : Satyapal Dang
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : May 15, 1997
With India entering into an era of coalitions, a number of new issues -
constitutional as well as political - have been thrown up. Some BJP leaders have
demanded that "outside support should not be considered as support for determining
as to whether or not a government commands the support of the majority". But if
such were the constitutional position, we might have had to go in for another Lok
Sabha election within six months of the formation of the present Lok Sabha.
Some other leaders have given the proposal that with no party or front getting
absolute majority, the one with the largest number of seats should be allowed to
rule for two to three years and try to get majority in that period. The proposal
amounts to allowing the ruling party (without having a majority) to buy/win over
MPs by hook or crook to gain majority. Another proposal which comes up from time
to time from various quarters is that India should go in for presidential system
of government. In a multi-lingual and multi-religious country with a composite
culture, this "remedy" will prove worse than the disease.
The parliamentary system is best suited to India. Its many negative features are
to be taken serious note of and ways and means are to be found to overcome them
without throwing away the baby alongwith the bath water.
The Gowda experience has proved that no coalition government can last long with
the type of outside support which was expected by the UF Government from the
Congress, which was qualitatively different from that of the CPI(M)'s. When nobody
wants elections and some party gives unconditional support for that reason, it can
be taken for granted. Sooner, rather than later, a war of nerves will start and
that can easily lead to the collapse of the coalition government. A coalition
should be based on a programme agreed upon by all partners including those who may
give support from outside.
The coalition Government's troubles arose out of strong inhibitions of some
parties about having the Congress inside the Government. Left parties have been
particularly opposed to the idea of a coalition with the Congress. The main
reason for this inhibition of the Left and regional parties is that in their
respective stronghold States, they have to compete with the Congress for power.
If all the parties are motivated by national interests, it should not be difficult
to cooperate at the national level even while competing in States. Regional
parties are finding it possible to move in this direction; Left should also try to
overcome inhibitions on this score.
Left, especially the CPI(M), is accused of being blindly anti-Congress. The
allegation may be exaggerated but is not absolutely baseless. In the heart of
their hearts, the Left parties make a distinction between the Congress and the
BJP. There are valid reasons for the not treating the two as equal evils. The
Congress may have made many compromises with communalism of various hues but it is
not a communal party.
The Sangh Parivar stands for a Hindu theocratic state. This is a vital difference
which must not be overlooked apart from the fact that the BJP is a rightist party.
Despite this, a coalition with the Congress is neither simple nor easy. A good
coalition will be the result of a front based on a common minimum programme on the
basis of which it must seek the mandate of the people. To have electoral
alliances not based on any programme, but only to get seats, is gross opportunism
which Communist parties have practised vis-a-vis Janata Dal and some other
non-Left parties. It has cost them heavily in Bihar and Utter Pradesh. The CPI
tried it with the Congress too, with the same results.
In view of the sharp differences between the Left and the Congress over economic
policies, is a common minimum programme acceptable to both possible? The
differences between the JD and the Left are just as big. One may recall the Left
criticism of budgets presented by the VP Singh Government. The Janata Dal
Government of Karnataka headed by, H D Deve Gowda was the first to abolish land
ceilings as part of the policy of globalisation and liberalisation. If the Left
can have a minimum Agreement with the Dal, it should be easier with the Congress.
No country can have a closed national economy. Tile Left too realises the need of
liberalisation in certain fields. However, the type of globalisation and
liberalisation sought to be imposed by the Rao Government would prove disastrous
for the country. Much rethinking is going on in the non-campradore bourgeoisie as
well as in the Congress, and an agreement on economic policies may not therefore
prove impossible.
My inhibitions on having a coalition with the Congress comes from its culture.
The Congress today is no longer the Congress of Gandhi and Nehru. Its culture now
is based on corruption and criminalisation of politics. The Janata Dal after
ruling for a much shorter period than the Congress, will be worse than the latter
in these respects.
Is there no way-out? I think, there is. The minimum programme must contain
clauses for making the CBI an autonomous agency answerable only to the Supreme
Court and also clauses committing all partners not to try to influence police
investigations. Effective lokpals must also be there.
It is necessary to point out that coalitions of the above type even with agreed
minimum programmes arrived at before seeking a mandate are essentially electoral
alliances. They may be indispensable for some time to come.
Communist unity is a precondition for the Left to grow stronger. When Communist
parties keep trying to gain at the cost of each other, it makes the people believe
that Communists are incorrigible and cannot even unite amongst themselves.
Besides other things, human failings of many leaders of both the parties also
stand in the way of the CPI and the CPI(M) merging into one party clearing the
road for the unification of the entire Communist movement.
As regards corruption, there is a qualitative difference between Communist and
non-Left parties. But corruption is there in the Left parties too. Unless
effective step ape taken to root it out, it may overtake them too. Control
commissions of Communist parties should be like Supreme Court in the political
system.
Communist movements all over the world received a setback with the collapse of the
Soviet Union. Already, it has been proved that capitalism cannot solve the
problems facing humanity. Struggle for a just and genuinely democratic and
socialist society has to go on. The fight now must be to ensure that a Left,
democratic and secular front comes to power to bring about far-reaching democratic
reforms in India's economic and social life, which will pave the way for
socialism. Let all progressive forces work for such a front.
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