Calculating Leftists

The anti-Congressism of the Left parties has been proving hollower and hollower with each passing day. The CPI's identification of the BJP a...

The anti-Congressism of the Left parties has been proving hollower and hollower with each passing day. The CPI8217;s identification of the BJP as its main opponent in the coming elections and its unwillingness to rule out a post-election arrangement with the Congress prove that its anti-Congressism is just a cosmetic exercise. This has to be seen in the context of the blatant manner in which some CPIM leaders have defended the Congress against the BJP onslaught. The extent to which the Marxists went to suggest that the Congress continued to be the preeminent party was such that an amused BJP chief L.K. Advani wondered since when they had become spokesmen for the Congress. Since the Communists are known to weigh their words, it is easy to see a pattern in them. The Left parties seem to believe that they should be prepared to face the post-election situation in which no single party will be in a position to form a government. In such a situation, it will be easier for them to strike an understanding with the Congress so that either the latter is able to form a government with Left support or the Congress is able to support a United Front-Left government. This explains why the Left parties have been extremely careful about criticising the Congress while showing no such restraint in lambasting the BJP.

Yet, despite the soft corner for the Congress that the CPI and the CPIM harbour, they cannot express it in so many words because it would confuse their voters in the states where they matter. In Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura, which send the largest contingent of Left MPs, the challenge to their supremacy is from the Congress. Thus, electoral compulsions force them to keep their fondness for the Congress under wraps. Their hesitation to have a debate in Parliament on the Jain Commission report, which would have been an excellent opportunity to fix the Congress, was in order not to spoil the chances of a post-election tie-up with the Congress. To be fair to the Left parties, it is not any love for the Congress that guides them. They know that they can play a major role only in a hung Parliament. If the BJP is able to get an absolute majority in the 12th Lok Sabha it will deprive the Left parties of whatever clout they enjoy, a situation they want to avert even if it means going back on what they once said about the Congress.

That the Left is capable of playing a double game is beyond a shadow of doubt. The dubious role the CPI played during the Emergency is a case in point. Despite their avowed anti-BJPism, it did not prevent the Left parties from having a tacit understanding with the Hindutva party during the 1989 elections which enabled the BJP to win a large number of seats, not to mention the fact that the CPI had once shared power with the Jan Sangh in a Samyukta Vidhayak Dal Ministry. Seen against this backdrop, few will be taken in by the Left8217;s supposed anti-BJP stance. With such a track record, it will make little difference whether the Left parties will have a joint election manifesto as CPIM Politburo member Prakash Karat claims they will. In any case, what difference will their manifesto make when their representation will never exceed 10 per cent of the Lok Sabha8217;s strength?