bjp-l-digest Friday, August 1 1997 Volume 01 : Number 348
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News, Opinion, Analysis and Publications Digest
Today's Topics
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CPM's hypocrisy
There is bigger farce in Delhi than in Patna
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Title: Playing both ends against the middle
Author: Dina Nath Mishra
Publication: The Observer
Date: July 31, 1997
The fact that the CPM is an establishment party cannot be denied. It was
one of the two prime movers of the idea of United Front which rules today.
There were two components in the political engineering of the CPM. One was
to keep the principal party, the BJP, out of power, and the other was to
keep the second largest party Congress out. The CPM made it clear at the
very outset after the declaration of election results that under no
circumstances would it have any truck with the Congress in the formation of
the government. The second enemy of the CPM was the bogey of communalism.
The CPM and V P Singh were the chief architects of the establishment. And
yet we see that right from day one of the UF government, it is consistently
fighting for opposition space.
Towards that end, CPM decided to support the government from outside.
Outside support of the Congress was under compulsion, for Left would not
have agreed to its participation. CPM's outside support was by choice,
keeping an eye on the opposition space. The opposition slot rightfully
belongs to the BJP and its allies. UF and the Congress constitute the
treasury benches. The CPM's machination first forbade the ruling space for
BJP and then started pushing it into opposition space.
Although the CPM is not a partner in the government, nonetheless it enjoyed
power more than the active partners of the government. During Deve Gowda
period, CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet had his way all
through. In the matters relating appointment of ministers, high officials
and other important positions, his writ used to run. By and by, CPM in
general and Surjeet in particular had tremendous clout in the government
and elite. In the process, Surjeet emerged as the mightiest wheeler-dealer
and yet the party simultaneously strove hard to have a larger share in
opposition space.
In a competitive democratic system, political dividend automatically
accrues to the opposition. If rulers are as bad as those of the UF,
political gains for the opposition are quite high. Conversely, there
operates a system of political discount for establishment parties. If
rulers are like Gujral and his bunch, the discount gets multiplied. The CPM
has been conscious of this phenomenon right from the beginning. That is why
it kept out of the government so that the damage of being establishment
party was minimised. Simultaneously, it has been hankering for
antiestablishment dividend. This has distorted the political functioning of
our democracy, resulting in massive confusion.
Let me exemplify it. Today, it looks as if the CPM is crusading against
corruption of fodder seam and Laloo Prasad Yadav. But Bihar's loot at his
hands has been going on for years.
The very Leftist parties made him a messiah of social justice. Leaders like
Jyoti Basu, Harkishan Singh Surjeet, V P Singh and dozens of others stood
in a row on the rostrum at Gandhi Maidan of Patna in yearly gareeb rallies
or maha raila, singing their own variety of Laloo chalisa.
Even when the fodder seam came to light, they continued to have alliance
with Laloo's party. After dithering for a couple of years, they started
distancing themselves from Laloo Prasad. They organised Bihar bandh against
Laloo a few months back. The whole battle of fodder seam was fought by
Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party and Samata Party leaders inside and outside
the assembly as well as in High Court and Supreme Court. At the Central
level also, only the BJP and some of its allies fought against it. The
judiciary played a crucial role in unearthing it.
It is only after the CBI asked permission from the Governor of Bihar to
file chargesheet against Laloo Prasad and other leading lights of the
fodder scam, the CPM made a statement that Laloo Prasad must quit if he was
chargesheeted. The CPM was in a way forced to demand the resignation of
Laloo Prasad Yadav.
They had no problem with the corruption under Laloo Prasad. They were
worried only with the defamed Laloo Prasad. But CPM is not bothered about
Mulayam Singh. Only this week, Surjeet observed that Mulayam Singh would
have been a better Prime Minister.
For the last two decades, the CPM is ruling in West Bengal. In Kerala
also, CPM-led government has been there of and on. In both the states,
corruption is rampant. The sense of commitment to fight corruption has
evaporated to a great extent. The stand against Laloo taken by, the party
at the final stage has nothing to do with the commitment of fighting
corruption.
Fodder scam has a great potential to be an issue in the next general
elections. Compared to Bofors, fodder scam is a much bigger scam as the
former involved Rs 65 crore as against the latter's Rs 950 crore. Scamsters
of Bofors were so cunning that it continues to be a mystery even today. On
the contrary, fodder scam and its operations were exposed by the newspapers
which delivered shock waves to the whole country. As regards Rajiv
Gandhi's involvement in Bofors there is still a doubt, but in the case of
Laloo Prasad's involvement in this mega scam there is none. For all these
reasons, the vulnerability of the establishment parties is more than that
of the Congress led by late Rajiv Gandhi. It is this scenario which
compelled CPM to grab opposition space.
It was not out of commitment. As far as commitment is concerned, it is a
thing of the past with comrades. After the collapse of communism and
Soviet Union and transformation of Chinese communism to capitalism,
communists are devoid of ideological commitment. That is why they extend
red carpet welcome to multinationals and foreign investments in the
CPM-ruled states.
It so happened that Kerala Vyapari Vyavasay Ekopana Samithi, consisting of
14 lakh traders, decided to boycott the products of Hindustan Lever, a
sister corporation of US multinational called Unilever, for the corporation
did not give them enough commission. The CPM-led government decided to side
with the Hindustan Lever and gave it government-outlets of a thousand neeti
stores, besides large number of maveli stores, and cooperative societies.
Hindustan Lever has a yearly revenue of Rs 350 crore from Kerala alone.
This is the state of ideological commitment of communist parties.
The CPM's hankering for opposition space has nothing to do with any
ideological commitment.
It is an exercise in deceiving and confusing the masses by standing firmly
behind the UF government as and when the need arises in Lok Sabha. And also
opposing the United Front government on various issues for public
consumption to grab the opposition space in order to have a share in
political dividend and to escape from accountability of being the
establishment, party.
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Date: August 1, 1997
Source: Rediff on Net
Commentary/ T V R Shenoy
At least all of Rabri Devi's ministers come from
her own party...
I think I have finally understood why H D Deve
Gowda dislikes Laloo Prasad Yadav so bitterly.
It is jealousy pure and simple -- the
overpowering hatred that one feels for a rival
who has just pulled off a stupendous coup.
What, after all, was Sitaram Kesri's minimum
demand in April? He wanted a ministry headed by
anyone other than Deve Gowda. But did the poor
'humble farmer' ever think of anything half as
brilliant as making Chenamma Gowda the prime
minister?
What I don't understand is why the former prime
minister, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, and Mulayam
Singh Yadav are panting in outrage. After all,
satisfying the strict wording of the law while
breaking its spirit with impunity is a tactic
that they themselves perfected. If Rabri Devi
lacks any mandate to rule, does anyone believe
that Inder Kumar Gujral is really India's
choice?
Nor do I understand why sections of the United
Front are making such a song and dance about the
presence of three Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs in
the Gujral ministry. That isn't a unique
situation. There are as many as six Union
ministers whose partners are not in the UF.
Let me begin with Jayanthi Natrajan, minister of
state for civil aviation. She is one of the
women whom Gujral inducted as tit-for-tat for
his humiliation at Sharad Yadav's hands in the
Lok Sabha on the women's reservation issue.
That is fine, but couldn't Gujral find some who
one is not a Congress MP?
That's right, the same party whose president is
Sitaram Kesri includes Jayanthi Natrajan. Of
course, the lady herself insists she is a
founding member of the Tamil Maanila Congress.
But the records of the Rajya Sabha expose this
as a shabby lie.
Natrajan was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a
Congress MP from Tamil Nadu. If she possessed
the slightest sense of honour she should have
quit the Congress officially when she joined the
TMC. But that would have meant losing her
precious Rajya Sabha seat. Like a true UF
member, Natrajan prefers power to principles. So
a Congresswoman is now a UF minister.
(Natrajan isn't unique. TMC president Karuppiah
Moopanar is also listed as a Congress MP in the
Rajya Sabha records. Which means the Congress
has infiltrated not just the Gujral ministry,
but even the UF steering committee!)
If Natrajan is a minister with two parties,
there are two ministers who belong to no party
whatsoever -- Ola and Satpal Maharaj. Both men
were elected on the Congress (Tiwari) ticket,
two of the four MPs to enter the Lok Sabha under
that symbol.
But then Narasimha Rao quit the Congress
presidency and Kesri took over. So N D Tewari,
who had left the Congress after arguing with
Rao, merged his breakaway party into the parent
body.
But Ola and Maharaj continue to fly the
Congress-T flag. Who says UF MPs don't
understand the meaning of the word 'loyalty'?
Here are two hardy souls who are unwilling to
give up when even the party's founder himself
has quit!
Ah, but what is it that Messrs Ola and Maharaj
are unwilling to give up? Is it their attachment
to the Congress-T ticket on which they were
elected? Or is it the lucrative offices that
they might be asked to surrender if they become
Congressmen again?
And, finally, there is the RJD contingent. The
UF has repeatedly confirmed that they don't have
anything to do with the RJD. And Laloo Prasad
Yadav has repeatedly stated he isn't a beggar
asking for favours. Sheer decency seems to
indicate, then, that the three RJD ministers
should quit.
But they have done nothing of the sort. And our
hypocritical prime minister sees no need to
enforce the 'norms' that he is so fond of
talking about.
"But there aren't any charges against any of the
three," Gujral brays. Well, A K Antony and
Manmohan Singh are also clean men. Why aren't
they too in the Gujral ministry?
Ministers whose parties aren't in the UF (the
six referred to above). Ministers whose party
consist of one MP (such as Law Minister Ramakant
Khalap). Ministers whose parties don't have a
single MP in the Lok Sabha (the National
Conference's Saifuddin Soz). These are the
'norms' that Gujral adores.
Rabri Devi's jumbo ministry will undoubtedly be
criticised for the farce that it is. But at
least all her ministers come from her own party.
Let us not become so preoccupied with Patna that
we forget the greater farce in Delhi.
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End of bjp-l-digest V1 #348
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