Kolkata conundrum

The airport agitation may get grounded or take off. At this point it8217;s not certain. What is fairly certain is that if it gets ugly, Kolkata will remain what it was on the strike8217;s first day: ground zero. Sadly, there8217;s no surprise in this. Even more unfortunate is that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had to say sorry for what unions had attempted at the Kolkata airport. It8217;s been like this for some time now: Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and a section of CPI-M trying to keep some critical wheels moving, as was done with the IT sector during last September8217;s strike, and with the airport fire service on the first day of the AAI union8217;s stir. For Bhattacharya8217;s party colleagues who do not agree with him, this should raise a question: how does this image of Kolkata affect the Left8217;s political chances outside its few strongholds?

The issue here is not the right and wrong of specific policies. Since the Left holds the critical numerical balance at the Centre, it is doing what it reckons it must, to push its line. But do parliamentary and policy conclave the UPA coordination committee pressure tactics necessarily need agitational ornamentation? Because to the extent that such programmes mostly leave India unaffected, the usual short-term purpose 8212; power projection 8212; is not served. But to the extent that only Left boroughs like Bengal 8220;respond8221; to strike and bandh calls, it surely doesn8217;t make for good national advertising? If the Left wants to extend its political influence 8212; as it should want to 8212; it doesn8217;t do it a lot of good to be generally known as the political formation that brings a major Indian metro to a halt.

Of course, agitationist politics, particularly in a rambunctious democracy like India8217;s, has its uses. But as the BJP, if it were frank about its recent political dilemmas, would have told the Left, agitation also has its limitations. Almost everywhere, a rally for totemic Hindutva causes risks producing a yawn. There8217;s another similarity between the Left and the BJP in this context. Just as the Sangh Parivar hardliners had no stake in party politics and governance and therefore wanted the BJP-in-power to be the radical Hindutva trident, trade unions and Marxist politicians strongly linked to them want the Left to use power or proximity to power to become an agitationist hammer. They don8217;t do the Left much good. But it is the Left that will have to perceive this.