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Journalism of Courage
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s recent remarks to the CII are a reminder that most political parties in India, whether of the Left or the Right, are inevitably going to be Janus-faced. One face will look inwards towards the party’s core ideology, social base and its need to exercise veto power. Another face looks outward, towards pragmatic accommodation, an expansion of the social base and the building of alliances. Some parties like the Congress have the enviable capacity of looking in several different directions simultaneously. Ideological doublespeak is partly a consequence of the stark realities of Indian politics. Ideological purity can help create political parties, but is not a viable long-term electoral strategy. But in case of the CPM, the disjunction between the views between the central high command and its state units has its source in one simple fact. The state units now have experience of government. Hence they understand the complexity of the economy they manage and have understood that ideological sabre-rattling is not a substitute for good governance.
It is not an accident that Buddhadeb Dasgupta and his finance minister, Asim Dasgupta, have emerged as amongst the more thoughtful voices on economic reform in the country. West Bengal is actively wooing foreign investment, encouraging privatisation, and is trying to make the case that appearing pro-business and being pro-poor is not incompatible. West Bengal could have done considerably more in the social sector, but it has woken up to the stark fiscal realities government has to face. It is no wonder that West Bengal has taken a sensible lead in national discussions on an integrated VAT system, has sought the advice of whatever national or foreign experts it deemed relevant, and has consistently resisted any UPA commitments that come in the form of unfunded liabilities. Their colleagues in the central politburo on the other hand, seem to want to exercise veto power at every turn — their latest bugbear being the government’s “unilateral” decision to offload PSU shares — short circuit the process of wide consultation, and prevent the emergence of an open economy.
The great social theorist Alexis de Tocqueville had argued that ideological extremism is often a result of parties not having any administrative experience. It is only the experience of government that forces on all things a considered view of policy, and lifts parties out of their narrow obsessions. Perhaps the CPM ought to formally join the government at the Centre. Power may corrupt, but power can also make a party more responsible.
