Strata-game!

With the official withdrawal of support by the Left to the UPA Govt. at the Center the over all political topography of our national politics seems to have altered for the time being. I say 'time being' because of the "No Rupture is permanent" comment by the CPI's A.B Bardhan within a day of the Left pulling the plug on the Govt. To the average onlooker it might seem to be a daft remark betraying political opportunism for the future but to the seasoned follower of the The Great Indian Circus which goes by the name of 'national politics' in these parts this comment is a gem of a political profundity.


Not only does the comment hint at future alliances with the 'secular' Congress to thwart the coronation of 'communal' powers ( a stated Left policy) but it also is a sort of mischievous wink to the Congress High Command, hinting at the possibilities that might pose themselves post the 2009 General Elections. Moreover, my take (albeit at the risk of being dubbed a 'conspiracy theorist' of the vilest order) on the matter is that its another Left stratagem.


Let me explain first by enumerating the predicaments facing the Left before they decided to pull-out from the Govt.

1. Surging inflation, an impending oil crisis and increasing interest rates makes for a bad report-card after 4 years even if you are not in charge of the Govt. The Govt. runs on your borrowed support, dammit! Do something to show the people you are their 'Messiah in Reds'. Oppose every move. Stonewall every decision by the Govt. which poses short-term difficulties for the people but has long-term benefits. Public memory is short, remember ? In India its shortest.


2. Nuke Deal ? Yes, that sounds like the ideal issue for pulling the rug from beneath the Congress. Moreover, our GS doesn't like the Yankees much. Why couldn't they have penned something with the Chinese and called it the '一 - 二 - 三 Deal' rather than the 1-2-3 rubbish. It would have been much easier on our rigid ideological stance, you see.


3. Hello! Ain't we supposed to fight the Congress tooth and nail in every state where we have a foothold in the coming General Elections. 4 Years of sharing the bed is enough. Now is the time to abort the unwanted child. Its bad for business, you see, this getting seen honey-mooning for too long with your stated rivals. Its parting-time now!


4. But this won't be so simple. Pulling down the Govt would mean elections within 6 months and the party isn't even ready. The cadres aren't ready. Had a heavy drubbing in the last Panchayats in Bengal and now this. If this is any sign of things we will not fare too well in the next Lok Sabha. 59 might well come down to 30. Forget about the fanciful 'Third Alternative' we won't even be asked for outside-support. Gosh! No issue-based oppositions! No arm-twisting! No Co-ordination Committees! Nightmare! Nightmare!



Then there was LIGHT!

The Left decides to withdraw support and seek immediate trust-vote to prove the majority of the Govt on the floor of the House. I reckon this is why:

1. Withdrawing support makes us look like the only party left with any ideology. We will call ourselves 'pro-poor, pro-people, pro-farmer, pro-worker' again, the BPO segment notwithstanding of course. They are the 'New Bourgeoisie'. Gives us the moral upper-hand in a country where UP politicians are soon to rule the roost. Everyone knows what that means. The Congress will soon ( again) know what being SP-ied mean! They will come scurrying back to us in a post-election scenario. Even they know the expediency of choosing the 'Lesser Evil' out of two. Sounds fascinating!


2. Karat seems a tad too staunch for hard bargaining. Surjeet was more of a man-for-all-seasons. Doesn't understand the compulsions of electoral politics. No wonder Vir Sanghvi calls him 'the man who never won a Municipal Election'. Still, we will have to do with him. He's better than that Biman Bose.


3. Safe distance from the Congress now that we have withdrawn support. We can easily campaign against their 'anti-people' policies now. We were never a part of the decision-making apparatus. Were we ? However with the amount of time left for the present US Congress before the Presidential Elections ,the Nuke Deal will meet a dead-end soon. The UPA-Left Co-ordination Committee has served its purpose. What a great move was that! Was it Yechury's or Pranab's idea? This Committee? God! We should leave Jangipur to him again. He's a great man.


4. This is our common favourite. The Stratagem! Even Bimal Gurung's Gorkhaland number plates idea can't beat it. We are after all talking 'national' here. Here goes:

We ask for an immediate trust-vote motion. We vote against the Govt, against the 1-2-3 deal, but remember, not with the BJP. They just happen to be on our side, incidentally. We don't try too hard to rally too many parties, independents or splinter-groups in voting against the Govt. They remain blissfully absent or abstain on the day of the vote. The UPA Govt. proves its majority, continues at the Centre for the coming 6 months. No 'No-Confidence Motion' can be sought within that time-frame. So, we get time to dissociate from the Congress, protest in Delhi, stage dharnas and hartaals all in the interest of the common people while the Govt. continues. What's the use of crying 'anti-incumbency' when they are not at the helm. We will catch them in power these last 6 months. Sounds great!

Moreover, these 6 months our cadres can use to pile up whatever is necessary to win seats in the coming elections. Congress or no Congress, clout in the House is numbers at the end of the day. The rise and fall of Deve Gowda, I.K Gujral and the Third Front taught us that lesson all right.

Now, say all of you, isn't it a real good move ? This bringing down...errrr.........pretending to bring down the house....? eh ?


cartoon: courtesy: boloji.com

Left Lurching in the Dark .......................

As the coming week awaits a check of authenticity of the Left threat to rock the boat, the placating powers of the Congress top brass to keep the house in order and the longevity of our Prime Minister’s valor in the face of a political hot-spot the aam janta remains as confounded as ever.

Throughout the previous week I have been an avid witness to numerous articles and television debates as to how the hallowed 1-2-3 Agreement would mitigate our power problems, how it is absolutely safe for us to co-operate with the US and how our sovereignty remains fiercely guarded through the various clauses in the pact.

Simple logic thus demands to know of the Leftist headmasters in New Delhi as to what calamity they foresee in the wake of furthering the deal. What terrible blasphemy awaits the nation, its internal security and its independent foreign policy? The Left seems obsessed with Iran and the ultimate dark force that the US embodies. It’s even a child’s guess that India cannot afford to annoy Iran owing to its own power requirements (the Iran-Pakistan-India Oil pipeline) and hence it will always look to avoid direct confrontation on Iran’s nuclear issue. So a head-on collision with Iran goes out of the window right away. Next, the Left was well aware of the ramifications of the nuclear deal eons before its clauses were being formulated and finalized. Its timing of venting protest in such a circumstance is thus dubious and self-contradictory. It clearly indicates that hard-ball isn’t being played with the nation’s interests reigning supreme in the minds of the politburo mandarins. There is something else which is fuelling such a sudden fire of concern and issue-based opposition.

These are anybody’s guess.

The General Elections are imminent on the horizon. The Left needs to distance itself from a party at this juncture with whom it is to engage in fierce ballot-battles not so far away in the future. People must know how the Left has played a perfect regulatory organ in checking the excesses of the Govt. on every issue concerning national security, the nuclear deal being the prime target.

What better time to enjoy the obvious fruits of wielding control without sharing the burden of power. Idle criticism never hurt the critic. Remember?

For long the hardliners in the party have been sidelined or silenced owing to the emergence of a new breed of forward looking Left leaders (read Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee & Co.) more pragmatic and progressive. Now that old-school Karat is at the helm the draconian overlords are again raising their heads with a vengeance. Hence, a totally anti-Govt. stance. Forget issue based support. If the Govt. says yes, stall it. If it says no, install it.

The common thread of irresponsible maneuvering that runs throughout the Left history must see a prompt demise. Otherwise, if the Left pulls the rug off the Govt.’s feet and the country is pushed into another ill-timed election they will be held solely responsible for inviting instability at a time when the country is savoring its share of sunshine. It will be better that they continue their tirade against the Govt. on more pressing internal issues and not succumb to the lure of visibility in the political arena just for the sake of it. Their firm opposition on issues-close-home such as EPF rates and oil prices are welcome and will pre-empt detractors from labeling their continuous contentions as mere political posturing. A structured Left represents a sizeable political base and thus is to be taken seriously as a force to reckon with in the ‘Great Indian Political Spectrum’. But, giving in to hackneyed obduracy and clichéd confrontations with the Govt. will only sully its image.

Let logic reign supreme.