Politicians have a tendency to think they are always right and everyone else is wrong. Manmohan Singh’s coming of age as a politician happened only last week when he showed the kind of chicanery hitherto not associated with him and against all odds, won the confidence vote despite parliamentary arithmetic showing that parties ( as against individual MPs) arraigned against his government carried more votes than those that supported the UPA. In his speech in the Lok Sabha, he taunted the Left MPs, reminding them of the “ company ( BJP) they are forced to keep because of the miscalculations of their General Secretary”. The Prime Minister was both right and wrong. He was right to the extent that when the Left and the Right got together, they both got it wrong and could not pull the government down. But he was wrong in his assessment of CPI( M) supremo Karat’s calculations which were bang on; he kept his MPs intact and delivered the Left votes en bloc. The miscalculations were that of the BJP leadership. Sh
amefully for a cadre based party, it couldn’t ensure that its flock stayed together. I will come to that later. Personally I have no sympathy for the Left. Yet, I can’t but admire the fact that in today’s murky politics, Left leaders, at least a majority of them, are above board. And none more so than Karat who doesn’t look around for endorsement from outside the party to carry on with what he believes is right. That most of his predecessors were mostly on the right side of the Congress may have something to do with the fact that the Grand Old Party was led by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi whose politics were slightly Left of Centre. Karat’s ascension came at a crucial period in Indian politics and I have reason to believe that, even when the CPI( M) decided to back the Congressled government in 2004, Karat had identified it as the Enemy Number One. Its numerical strength gave the BJP the status of main Opposition party but it was the Left that occupied the Opposition space with its rigid postures that brought the government to its knees on a host of issues. As a Congress minister told me, it was “ support from outside but sabotage from within”. It was, if anything, a fantastic display of Karat’s tactical skill. With the CPI( M) having to duel with the Congress in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where all its MPs come from, Karat began his search for non- Congress, non- BJP allies in other states long ago. Chandra Babu Naidu, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav were all in the bag. Now, far from losing sleep over Mulayam Singh’s departure, he may actually be saying good riddance, since he has got a bigger catch in Mayawati who will help add to the Left base consisting of the labour classes, the landless, peasants and minorities. There is no way the CPI( M) will win the 59 seats it has in the 14th Lok Sabha from its three strongholds but I have no doubt that, thanks to Karat’s shrewd planning, the numbers will still add up from new territories. Don’t write him off. In a few months’ time, he may still be the King or Queen makerPoliticians have a tendency to think they are always right and everyone else is wrong. Manmohan Singh’s coming of age as a politician happened only last week when he showed the kind of chicanery hitherto not associated with him and against all odds, won the confidence vote despite parliamentary arithmetic showing that parties ( as against individual MPs) arraigned against his government carried more votes than those that supported the UPA. In his speech in the Lok Sabha, he taunted the Left MPs, reminding them of the “ company ( BJP) they are forced to keep because of the miscalculations of their General Secretary”. The Prime Minister was both right and wrong. He was right to the extent that when the Left and the Right got together, they both got it wrong and could not pull the government down. But he was wrong in his assessment of CPI( M) supremo Karat’s calculations which were bang on; he kept his MPs intact and delivered the Left votes en bloc. The miscalculations were that of the BJP leadership. Shamefully for a cadre based party, it couldn’t ensure that its flock stayed together. I will come to that later. Personally I have no sympathy for the Left. Yet, I can’t but admire the fact that in today’s murky politics, Left leaders, at least a majority of them, are above board. And none more so than Karat who doesn’t look around for endorsement from outside the party to carry on with what he believes is right. That most of his predecessors were mostly on the right side of the Congress may have something to do with the fact that the Grand Old Party was led by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi whose politics were slightly Left of Centre. Karat’s ascension came at a crucial period in Indian politics and I have reason to believe that, even when the CPI( M) decided to back the Congressled government in 2004, Karat had identified it as the Enemy Number One. Its numerical strength gave the BJP the status of main Opposition party but it was the Left that occupied the Opposition space with its rigid postures that brought the government to its knees on a host of issues. As a Congress minister told me, it was “ support from outside but sabotage from within”. It was, if anything, a fantastic display of Karat’s tactical skill. With the CPI( M) having to duel with the Congress in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where all its MPs come from, Karat began his search for non- Congress, non- BJP allies in other states long ago. Chandra Babu Naidu, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav were all in the bag. Now, far from losing sleep over Mulayam Singh’s departure, he may actually be saying good riddance, since he has got a bigger catch in Mayawati who will help add to the Left base consisting of the labour classes, the landless, peasants and minorities. There is no way the CPI( M) will win the 59 seats it has in the 14th Lok Sabha from its three strongholds but I have no doubt that, thanks to Karat’s shrewd planning, the numbers will still add up from new territories. Don’t write him off. In a few months’ time, he may still be the King or Queen maker.
amefully for a cadre based party, it couldn’t ensure that its flock stayed together. I will come to that later. Personally I have no sympathy for the Left. Yet, I can’t but admire the fact that in today’s murky politics, Left leaders, at least a majority of them, are above board. And none more so than Karat who doesn’t look around for endorsement from outside the party to carry on with what he believes is right. That most of his predecessors were mostly on the right side of the Congress may have something to do with the fact that the Grand Old Party was led by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi whose politics were slightly Left of Centre. Karat’s ascension came at a crucial period in Indian politics and I have reason to believe that, even when the CPI( M) decided to back the Congressled government in 2004, Karat had identified it as the Enemy Number One. Its numerical strength gave the BJP the status of main Opposition party but it was the Left that occupied the Opposition space with its rigid postures that brought the government to its knees on a host of issues. As a Congress minister told me, it was “ support from outside but sabotage from within”. It was, if anything, a fantastic display of Karat’s tactical skill. With the CPI( M) having to duel with the Congress in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where all its MPs come from, Karat began his search for non- Congress, non- BJP allies in other states long ago. Chandra Babu Naidu, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav were all in the bag. Now, far from losing sleep over Mulayam Singh’s departure, he may actually be saying good riddance, since he has got a bigger catch in Mayawati who will help add to the Left base consisting of the labour classes, the landless, peasants and minorities. There is no way the CPI( M) will win the 59 seats it has in the 14th Lok Sabha from its three strongholds but I have no doubt that, thanks to Karat’s shrewd planning, the numbers will still add up from new territories. Don’t write him off. In a few months’ time, he may still be the King or Queen makerPoliticians have a tendency to think they are always right and everyone else is wrong. Manmohan Singh’s coming of age as a politician happened only last week when he showed the kind of chicanery hitherto not associated with him and against all odds, won the confidence vote despite parliamentary arithmetic showing that parties ( as against individual MPs) arraigned against his government carried more votes than those that supported the UPA. In his speech in the Lok Sabha, he taunted the Left MPs, reminding them of the “ company ( BJP) they are forced to keep because of the miscalculations of their General Secretary”. The Prime Minister was both right and wrong. He was right to the extent that when the Left and the Right got together, they both got it wrong and could not pull the government down. But he was wrong in his assessment of CPI( M) supremo Karat’s calculations which were bang on; he kept his MPs intact and delivered the Left votes en bloc. The miscalculations were that of the BJP leadership. Shamefully for a cadre based party, it couldn’t ensure that its flock stayed together. I will come to that later. Personally I have no sympathy for the Left. Yet, I can’t but admire the fact that in today’s murky politics, Left leaders, at least a majority of them, are above board. And none more so than Karat who doesn’t look around for endorsement from outside the party to carry on with what he believes is right. That most of his predecessors were mostly on the right side of the Congress may have something to do with the fact that the Grand Old Party was led by the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi whose politics were slightly Left of Centre. Karat’s ascension came at a crucial period in Indian politics and I have reason to believe that, even when the CPI( M) decided to back the Congressled government in 2004, Karat had identified it as the Enemy Number One. Its numerical strength gave the BJP the status of main Opposition party but it was the Left that occupied the Opposition space with its rigid postures that brought the government to its knees on a host of issues. As a Congress minister told me, it was “ support from outside but sabotage from within”. It was, if anything, a fantastic display of Karat’s tactical skill. With the CPI( M) having to duel with the Congress in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where all its MPs come from, Karat began his search for non- Congress, non- BJP allies in other states long ago. Chandra Babu Naidu, Deve Gowda and Mulayam Singh Yadav were all in the bag. Now, far from losing sleep over Mulayam Singh’s departure, he may actually be saying good riddance, since he has got a bigger catch in Mayawati who will help add to the Left base consisting of the labour classes, the landless, peasants and minorities. There is no way the CPI( M) will win the 59 seats it has in the 14th Lok Sabha from its three strongholds but I have no doubt that, thanks to Karat’s shrewd planning, the numbers will still add up from new territories. Don’t write him off. In a few months’ time, he may still be the King or Queen maker.
No comments:
Post a Comment