People's Democracy

THE newly anointed BJP president Venkaiah Naidu's outburst at the campaign of Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal in the presidential contest betrays, in no uncertain terms, the powerful impact that the campaign has had all over the country. His unsolicited "pearls of wisdom" of reminding the Left parties that "ordinary citizens are not voters in the presidential elections" displays his anxiety. Further, in a situation where a party whip cannot be given, the BJP president issued a fiat to all its MPs and MLAs to vote for Abdul Kalam. This, clearly, betrays his uneasiness over the possible impact of the campaign, and the enthusiasm that generated all across the country, on the BJP's voters.

As we go to press, the polling for the election is over, but the results are awaited. Given the range of political alignment supporting Abdul Kalam, the result is a foregone conclusion. Kalam is going to be the country's next president.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Left and other supporting parties had, at the outset, declared that the objective was to put up a political contest highlighting major issues before the country and the people. On this score, the campaign was a resounding success. The ten state capitals visited by Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal saw a huge popular response. In most places, a wide range of eminent citizens and intellectuals came out to greet the candidate and participated in the meetings. Such was the enthusiasm in these meetings that in all places, the venues were overflowing. Eminent personalities from all walks of life issued appeals urging the electoral college to support Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal. In doing so, they unequivocally and unambiguously came out against the present Vajpayee government's all-round disastrous policies, particularly its fascistic communal agenda.

Secondly, the diabolic effort of the BJP/RSS to utilise the fact that since Kalam belongs to a minority community, and hence, seek to whitewash their state-sponsored communal genocide in Gujarat did not succeed. The campaign forced the BJP/NDA candidate to atleast take formal positions of upholding secularism and bemoaning the developments in Gujarat. Nothing of this would ever have come into the public domain and discourse but for this political contest.

Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal, herself, succinctly reacted when asked why she was fighting a loosing battle by stating that "when one enters the battlefield, it is only the cowards who raise such a question. The point is that the battle has to be fought, the collective consciousness of the country has to be roused against the violent inhuman communalism that is being practiced". And, the battle was, indeed, fought well. The patriotic Indian people salute Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal for, once again, joining the battlefield.

Another issue that was highlighted during the campaign was that of nationalistic jingoism being advanced by the BJP/NDA's candidate. In fact, the battle lines were drawn between the true Indian nationalism represented by Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal and the pseudo-nationalistic jingoism whipped up by the RSS/BJP/NDA. The question sharply posed was: Is nuclear weaponisation the answer to India's success, or, is it the welfare of its people and the development of the abysmally low human development indicators like education, health, poverty, unemployment etc?

Mainly, the campaign succeeded in nailing the lies and canards spread by the RSS/BJP against the communists and patriots on their role during the freedom struggle. The very fact that Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal, the legendary heroine of the INA, chose to join the CPI(M) to carry forward, during the last three decades, the completion of the unfulfilled tasks of the freedom struggle came as a slap on the face of the fascistic ideologues who thrive on spreading lies and slander.

During the campaign, when repeatedly asked about the role of the communists and their reactions to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal patiently explained the supremely anti-British positions and activities of the communists. These have been elaborated in these columns earlier. However, when some RSS journalists obdurately pursued with such slander, she shot back saying: "who are these people to give us certificates of patriotism? These are the assassins of Mahatma Gandhi. All through my days in INA, I cannot recall a single member of the RSS who participated in the freedom struggle. From Savarkar to Vajpayee, they meekly apologised and sought pardon from British."

Such facts of history naturally infuriated the RSS. It's student wing, the ABVP, staged a rather poor and unenthusiastic "protest" against Capt. Lakshmi Sahgal in Mumbai, only to be beaten up by the general public for their senseless display of fascistic intolerance to the truth. That the RSS had to take recourse to such actions is, in itself, an admission that this presidential contest nailed down many untruths of its fascistic disinformation.

The major aspect that emerged through the campaign was the fact that the Left parties and their secular allies were fighting a determined battle for safeguarding the secular, democratic character of India and for the amelioration of the problems faced by the vast majority of the Indian people. As Capt. Lakshmi, herself, said that the NDA and the Congress must know that they are not the only ones to decide the destiny of the country. In the final analysis, it is the people who will take such decision. And, the Left is with the people in this battle.

All in all, this two-week campaign spanning across the country evoking tremendous response and enthusiasm raised almost all important issues facing the country and the people, including the servile subservience of this Vajpayee government to US imperialism. In the process, the campaign brought together many Left and secular forces in many states. The message of the campaign was clear. This unity will have to be further enlarged and strengthened. The struggle has to be carried forward. This is the only way to save India as we know of it today in order to change India for the better.

(July 17, 2002)