Heckle 038; Jive

Imagine having to nod and agree one day and throw tantrums the next. Imagine empathising with a cornered government on petroleum prices one ...

Imagine having to nod and agree one day and throw tantrums the next. Imagine empathising with a cornered government on petroleum prices one evening and then lambasting it on the same issue, the next morning. Abani Roy of the Revolutionary Socialist Party is playing out that dual role with perfection.

He symbolises the dichotomy of the Left, a four-party bloc that supports the UPA government from outside, opposes it from the inside.

Roy8217;s situation is unique. He is the only one who represents both the party RSP and the trade union affiliated to it UTUC. He shuttles between compromise and non-compromise, between handshakes and cold stares.

The CPM8217;s Harkishen Singh Surjeet and Sitaram Yechuri can attend UPA meetings and enjoy a degree of camaraderie with the likes of Pranab Mukherjee and P. Chidambaram. They can leave the protesting to CITU8217;s M.K. Pandhe. The CPI8217;s A.B. Bardhan and D. Raja can play the good guys, with AITUC8217;s Gurudas Dasgupta responsible for the fiery outbursts.

Roy does both jobs.

On August 4, he left the first UPA-Left coordination committee meeting with a conciliatory smile. The next morning, his house on New Delhi8217;s Ferozshah Road was crowded with vociferous trade unionists. Roy himself was chairing a meeting that promised to embarrass the 8216;8216;government of the affluent8217;8217;.


	On August 25, Roy attended the UPA meeting where Chidambaram tried to clear the air on the FDI caps controversy in telecom. Roy didn8217;t appear displeased.
nbsp;	On September 2, he was sharing the dais with Prakash Karat and D. Raja, protesting the government8217;s 8216;8216;move to increase FDI caps in telecom8217;8217;. He looked cheated.

Just what is the RSP? It8217;s a decreasing force, the Kerala unit of which split a few years ago. The big Baby John walked out of the parent party to set up the RSP Bolshevik. The Bolshevik faction now finds itself in the Congress-led UDF coalition in Kerala; but that8217;s another story.

In Roy8217;s native Bengal, the RSP8217;s influence is restricted to three or four districts. The RSP is very much the CPIM8217;s junior sibling. it can only appear different on television show, not real politics.

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To be fair to Roy, he has a working knowledge of economic issues. He enjoys the limelight, with his not-too-incongruous Hindi and new found fetish for sound bites.

Meanwhile, the double role continues. On August 25, Roy attended the UPA meeting where Chidambaram tried to clear the air on the FDI caps controversy in telecom and insurance. Roy didn8217;t appear displeased.

On September 2, he was sharing the dais with Prakash Karat and D. Raja, adding to the weight of the protest against a 8216;8216;move by the government to increase FDI caps in telecom8217;8217;.

Roy looked as though he felt cheated. Very shortly, the trade unions will meet again. Roy will have to fume and froth. And then he will have to attend UPA-Left coordination meetings and be reasonable, prudent, almost wise.

What do you call this? Dialectical Royism?