The values of the proletarian parivar are supposed to be culturallydifferent from the other political families of India. At least that is thepretence. Power, the communist pretence goes, is secondary to principle. Sothe unifying force of the Left, as the pretence goes, is not the aura ofoffice but the well-being of the Indian masses, who, it seems, are not thesame as the Indian people. They happen to be in power in two states, and itcertainly is a great achievement in mass politics. Well, you miss the peopleof India and win the masses of Kerala and West Bengal.The one who defines victory and power in the family is Big Daddy, theCPI(M). Big Daddy dictates, the little ones follow. The dictatorship of BigDaddy has created a little storm in West Bengal. The CPI, always thesecondary party of communism, has renounced power. It is an honourable act,a protest against the dishonourable methods of the Big One. If it can't geta seat in the Rajya Sabha, it also doesn't want the Kremlin of Kolkata. There should be a limit to the harassment of the weaker section ofsocialism. It is better to sulk from the outside than to suffer in office.The CPI is a veteran in the field of suffering. Permanently harassed,humiliated, tortured, the CPI has become so servile that it has almoststopped reacting. There is a certain mood of fatalism among the lessercomrades. It is there in Kerala and West Bengal. In the southern Soviet,they are even shedding blood. They are constantly reminded of theirsecondary status and their indebtedness to Big Daddy. More importantly, theyare reminded of their past crimes, especially their role in the Emergency.Power, rather disproportionate power, always fascinated the CPI, and forpower the party was not averse to sucking up to the really powerful. Theydid it during the Indira era. They even accepted ministerial positions inthe Deve Gowda government. They have been condemned to the Siberia of guilt,by the always-right CPI(M). The CPI continues to repent in retrospect. Goingby Big Daddy's attitude, power has corrupted the CPI.Power and Indian communism. It is a big joke. The CPI(M), despite all thatnonsensical rhetoric about the purity of principle, despite its pretence ofbeing superior to the CPI in defining power, is a provincial party with aprovincial mind that aspires to be national. It is national only in itsmastery of manipulation in the national capital, especially in the time ofgovernment formation. True, Comrade Harkishen Singh Surjeet is a nationalmonument to Marxist manouevrings, the Frontman who is so good in thebackroom of coalition confusion. It is all for a sense of power, powerwithout being in power, also without responsibility. And in places wherethey are in power, they are a study in brutal misgovernance.Kerala is particularly bad because the ruler is capable of laughing away anyact of state-sponsored vandalism. Also, both Kerala and West Bengal areshowpieces of how to lead a state to backwardness. The Indian communists,let down by India, have nothing but slogans also a passion for power. Thatis why, whatever be the motivation, the CPI's renunciation in West Bengal isan exemplary decision. The next step: all of them, led by the CPI(M), shouldresign from politics, and take their reserved place in the junkyard.
