Author:
Publication: Niticentral.com
Date: March 7, 2015
URL:   http://www.niticentral.com/2015/03/07/is-the-indian-left-an-outdated-and-imported-ideology-305383.html

“In order to stand well in the eyes of the community, it is necessary to come up to a certain, somewhat indefinite, conventional standard of wealth.” said Thorstein Veblen an American economist and sociologist, and leader of the institutional economics movement. He is credited for several technical principles adopted by intuitionalist economists. Speaking in English it means “everyone in the society need to attain wealth”. He was one of the biggest Left critics of Karl Marx who published the “Communist Manifesto”.

The reason we are digging deeper into communist ideology is to understand the Indian Left. Although weak in terms of political numbers. It is still being relevant enough to play spoilsport. The latest being by Mr. Sitaram Yechury and another of his co-member passing a resolution as an amendment to the president’s address in Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Indian Parliament) to embarrass the Modi government.

The reason for this amendment as quoted is “There is no mention in the address about the failure of the government to curb high level corruption and to bring back black money”.

It can be termed as nothing but an irony and a cruel joke at the expense of the Indian people that the whole concept of “Black money” (which is wealth that has been wilfully hidden from the government to avoid taxation and has been outsourced through various illegals channel into tax havens mostly outside the country). In all fairness it was an innovation in Modi’s campaign in 2014 that brought the whole discussion of bringing back the black money into the public foray. There has been momentum in this regards and things are being negotiated with foreign stakeholders to get everything coming in a structured way. The budget of 2015 has upped the ante by increasing the criminal penalties for those hoarding black money through illegal means.

So if there hasn’t been progress to the extent that Mr. Yechury or his likes think, why not negotiate with the government? Why not broker a deal getting a guarantee from the government to see that steps of progress have been taken in pursuing black money to which the opposition including the left parties can lend concrete ideas. In return they could ensure no amendments are proposed to the president’s address. Ultimately the people of India would be the winners if any action in this regards is seen. Isn’t that the first duty of Mr. Yechury as a parliamentarian? To serve the people of India!

So we see that using the “brute force of numbers in Rajya Sabha” Mr. Yechury and a united opposition are just trying to “oppose for the sake of opposition!” and not to lend a voice on behalf of the people of India to keep the government in check through parliamentary democracy and work with the government in building the nation applying constructive opposition and co-operation where needed.

The credibility of the whole opposition to Modi’s government now needs to be seen only through the lens of “Political survivalism”. In every state, every district and every village they are afraid that the tone of development set as the theme of governance in this Modi era might ultimately end up gobbling them creating an existential threat to their entity. While even the BJP when in opposition did play such tactics but not to the extent we are seeing now. Mamata’s party and the Left seen as arch rivals have also cobbled up as a part of this strategy.

So let’s take a look at the Indian left (one of who has recently called in this round of the Indian political bout in their favour) and what their ideology is besides checking how true they have been to the values they believe in, along with their numbers and political strength.

To quote the Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi who called the Indian left an “imported ideology” in his motion of thanks to the president’s speech “

“The (ideological) ancestors of Sitaramji used to tell people that when a vehicle moves, it is not oil that gets burnt. It is your blood that burns… We have heard this dialogue for many years.”

The Communist Party of India (CPI) was formed on the 25th December 1925 at the first Kanpur Party Conference as per their claims. The CPI (M) (Marxist) emerged from a split from the Communist Party of India in 1964. The strength of CPI (M) is concentrated in the states of Tripura, West Bengal and Kerala. As of 2013, CPI (M) is leading the state government only in Tripura. It also leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in India. While it can be argued that before 1925 there was no scale of Communist Ideology in India, it was only after 1925 that it spurred up in India mostly out of imports from various other countries.

In this era of globalisation wherein every country is a part of the extended global village it is futile even to discuss an outdated ideology like the communists. The poorest of the poor in a country like India can only be uplifted by providing them with jobs and growth. While it is also important to make sure that the growth is inclusive, in what way do such acts of vendetta politics as seen from Mr. Yechury help the common man in Bengal, Tripura or in any part of the country?

Without discussing the merits and demerits of their ideology which is a futile exercise in itself let’s take a look at what has been achieved in states that were under their control. The writer himself has been a witness to the decay and decimation of infrastructure, growth and everything worthwhile in the great state of Bengal with an immensely talented people.

1. An auto rickshaw fellow in Assansol charges 400 Rs. for a fare of 50 Rs. around 11:00 AM in the night claiming the support of his brethren under a union affiliated to the Left just a few years ago. Isn’t this the exploitation of man by man as per Karl Marx? Is this the West Bengal that has been left after several years of Left rule? Even the Tata chairman Ratan Tata has acknowledged to the sorry state of affairs with regards to development, growth, industrialisation and infrastructure in West Bengal. Aren’t all these parameters used to measure the quality of a common man’s life to which the Indian left claims to hold the copyright?

2. How many leading luminaries both in the present and past including ex-chief ministers of West Bengal have their progeny based in the US? Do none of their children immigrate to the US for education or various other reasons? Isn’t this opposed to their ideology of coming out on the streets to protest any engagement of India with the so called capitalist America (to which the Indian left is vehemently opposed), fighting it tooth and nail?

3. Isn’t it true that Bangalore and Hyderabad have far outpaced Kolkata in terms of jobs in the IT Sector and other companies many of which are MNC’s based out of the US which the left hates and failed to engage with? Don’t these jobs help in lifting the standards of the common men and women of India both directly and indirectly?

4. What about the favourite topic of the Indian left? “Secularism” Isn’t it true that in Kerala the left has consistently played the game of tug of war in caste and religious politics with the Congress with which it associates conveniently at the centre. Why does it prop up candidates as per religious and caste segmentations in Kerala election after election?

5. Do any of the so called eminent lights of the Indian left like Mr. Yechury or Mr. Karat have any win ability if they face direct elections for Lok Sabha? Can they claim to win a Lok Sabha seat in a constituency of their choice in the current Indian scenario? Do what they say resonate with the Indian youth?

The Rajya Sabha is being used as a back door to push in such outdated baggage of ideologies which eventually ends up derailing the growth story of India.