CPM doesn’t mind being BJP’s ‘co-passenger’

“The moot question here is to protect the country from the consequences of this India-US nuclear deal, which imply protecting India’s sovereignty, independent foreign policy and independence in dealing with our security concerns. This requires that this Government be defeated in this trust vote,” the CPI(M) said in an editorial in the forthcoming issue of its mouthpiece People’s Democracy.

“As a passenger in a train, one cannot determine or choose who the other co-passengers are. However, because of the co-passengers, one cannot abandon the objective of reaching one’s destination,” it said.

The article comes as a reply to all those party leaders — including Jyoti Basu — who have questioned the wisdom of voting alongside the BJP in the July 22 trust vote. West Bengal Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty had even said that voting with the BJP would be a historic blunder.

The article said the Government needs to be defeated in order to ensure it does not get the political and moral legitimacy to push the nuclear deal.

In an attempt to allay apprehensions among its Muslim votebank, the article said: “The CPI(M) and the Left, while relentlessly combating communalism, will work towards ensuring that India is not reduced to the status of a subordinate ally of US imperialism.”

Claiming that the BJP may well be opposing the trust motion for enforcing early elections, it said the process of strengthening strategic ties with US was started by the former NDA Government and that the party’s main grouse may well be that such a nuclear deal should have been concluded under the patronage of its Government and not by Manmohan Singh.

“This is obvious from the fact that during the entire tenure of the 14th Lok Sabha, the BJP, as the principal Opposition party, did not even move the customary no-confidence motion. The fact that it chose not to do so clearly shows that it does not wish to displease the US Bush administration,” it said.

“None of this, however, can constitute any reason for the Left to reconsider its decision and, thus, permit and facilitate India’s strategic relationship with US imperialism as the latter’s subordinate ally,” it said.

Countering the Congress’ allegations that the Left was letting communal forces return, the CPI(M) accused the ruling party of being primarily responsible for giving an opportunity to the NDA Government to return to power.