On the sidelines

Caution against recklessness has reportedly come to the CPM from unexpected quarters. Local party leaders in West Bengal, stung by yet more losses in civic elections this week, say they have conveyed to their bosses in Delhi that immediate parliamentary elections could set them back. These election results, and the predicament expressed by the CPM8217;s Bengal unit, come as yet another unintended consequence of the Left8217;s adventurism in New Delhi. This week, too, the Left is watching with concern as the UNPA, the vehicle for its dreams of a great third front revival, strains for a semblance of unity as different constituents pursue their best political options. Political fortunes of parties will of course change, but the Left must ask how much of the helplessness it currently experiences is of its own making.

For the first four years of the UPA government8217;s term, the Left parties obstructed policy and reform. They used a range of bully tactics to isolate the government, walking out of the coordination committee on the issue of disinvestment and keeping the Congress on notice with talk of a third front. All political actors use non-negotiation and ultimatums at some point, but for the past four years the Left has done this unmindful of the consequences. In fact, as the Congress returned feeble results in state elections 8212; losing the urban vote in the chase for the real, unshining, rural India 8212; it was made more acutely aware of its dependence on the Left. Ironically, when the Left8217;s bluff is finally called, it finds that parties like the SP, which were so estranged from the Congress that the Left played broker, are suddenly striking rapport with the government, and isolating the Left from its traditional political companions and instruments.

When this turbulence over the nuclear deal is past, and whether elections are advanced or not, the record of the Left8217;s obstructionism will remain. This is not the last time a government may get the outside support of a sometime electoral foe. Our politics needs to evolve a code of best practices for coalition allies and supporters.