Looking Leftwards

How8217;s that for a wholly new kind of unity ticket? Manmohan Singh and Amar Singh professing their mutual regard, even as Sonia Gandhi politely looks the other way and the Left tries to hide its insecurities. Amar Singh, whose Samajwadi Party has consummately gamed the coalition system and which once scuttled any possibility of Gandhi becoming PM, is now basking in the glow of the Congress8217;s attention. So, by now trying to repair an important relationship, the Congress is merely displaying good sense and recognition of the imperatives of a multipolar politics, while signalling to the temperamental Left that its options are as varied as the Marxists8217;.

India has more or less settled on a two-coalition system at the Centre, as either the Congress or the BJP wield power in tandem with smaller allies. The Left might periodically voice wistful dreams of a Third Front, but that sounds more like the tactical gripes of a long-term relationship than a real impending abandonment. And now, with this nascent bonding between the SP and the Congress, that possibility looks even more unlikely. It8217;s a moment for the Left to reflect on. The Left parties have both allowed themselves to be gulled by regional parties into believing in a possible Third Front, as well as used the spectre themselves to gain leverage within the UPA.

But for now, our politics will remain a patchwork quilt, and smaller parties will remain powerful for their ability to tip balances and entrench coalitions, rather than banding together on the basis of being neither the Congress nor the BJP. The big two, meanwhile, have to be adept at minimising their manipulability even as they accommodate their partners. India is possibly unique in the range of political permutations that are permissible, and the relative lack of lasting ideological rifts. While they may look like cynical compromises, perhaps these shape-shifting political formations allow a fuller representativeness in power-sharing.