Patil, not pension

The run-up to presidential elections, as these columns have observed, has been lacking in grace. Its sheer opaqueness, for one, makes voyeurs of us all in a process that should have been frankly deliberative and openly engaging of citizens. As political parties bargain behind closed doors, and as the venue for these tough negotiations shifts from backrooms to dinner tables, the search for the man who would be the first citizen has taken on a furtive partisan-political pallor that is unhealthy in a democracy such as ours. Amid all the manoeuvres, however, the Left8217;s resigned handwringing stands out. Why is it that Left parties, so loud and assertive on other issues, seem only to be able to voice their weak 8220;reservations8221; regarding the Congress8217;s most favoured candidate? As Sonia Gandhi8217;s party moves towards putting the official imprimatur on the candidature of Shivraj Patil for reasons that may not stand the test of public reason or meet the highest constitutional standards, why are Left parties unable to impress upon the Congress the need to think such a vital decision through?

There is a larger story here, about the relationship between the Left parties and the Congress-led government. Over the three years of the UPA, it has been obvious that the Left has exercised an influence that is grossly disproportionate to its numbers. While that is by itself an unhappy trend in a democracy, the nature of that influence makes it worse. More often than not, the Left has used its importance in the numbers game only to play spoiler. More often than not, this has had consequences that serve neither the Left8217;s own perceived constituency nor the nation at large. Take the bill on pension reform. Left intransigence has blocked a policy that is supported by almost all the states other than those ruled by the Left and that gathers support from across the political spectrum. A valuable consensus has been rendered impotent by a political minority.

If only this power to stall and withhold was matched by an ability to persuade and bring together. On the eve of the formal announcement of the presidential candidates, with the entire process rolling unchecked towards an outcome marked by a lack of patience and principle, the progressive role the Left has consistently refused to play is in focus once again.