People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

Left Agenda Is People’s Agenda 

THE venomous outpourings against the Left in general, and the CPI(M) in particular, by the BJP leaders, notably Mr. Advani, during the Maharashtra Assembly elections campaign is not surprising.  There are two reasons why the communal forces are so full of seething anger and frustration regarding the Left. 

First, without the support of the Left parties, the UPA government would not have come into existence.  All the hopes of RSS/BJP & Co. to try and exploit the differences between the Left and the UPA in order to destabilise the government are coming to a naught with the Left clearly declaring that it shall not provide any quarter for the communal forces to stage a come back.

Secondly, not only is the Left shoring up the UPA government but it is also, through its support from outside, providing content and character for the government’s policies. The Common Minimum Programme that evolved after intense discussions and is broadly endorsed by the Left parties contains many proposals which, if implemented, will endear the government more closer to the people. This would only strengthen both the credibility and the stability of the government  much to the dismay of the communal forces.

Further, during the course of the last four months or so, the nature and character of national discourse has drastically changed.  During the period when the communal forces ruled the roost through their control of State power, the national discourse was dominated by rabid communal issues which had very little to do with the day-to-day existence problems of the people ––  cricket  pitches were dug up to prevent Pakistan from playing in India;  Ghulam Ali was prevented from singing his ghazals; M F Hussain from displaying his paintings; Deepa Mehta from shooting her film etc.  All on grounds that sought to inflame communal passions.  Brutal atrocities against the Christian minorities were followed up not by booking the culprits but by a call by Atal Behari Vajpayee for a national debate on religious conversions!

Such a national discourse has now changed for the better.  Discussions portrayed by the sections of the media, who, for the same reasons as the RSS/BJP are conducting a systematic campaign against the Left, as irreconcilable differences between the UPA government and the Left parties have nevertheless brought to centrestage issues like employment guarantee, food for work, mid-day meals, universal education, rural health and infrastructure etc. These are issues that are central to the very existence of our people and the country. Issues concerning economic reforms, for instance, like how much foreign direct investment in which sector is beneficial to our country are now actually being discussed in the country.  Gone, mercifully, are the days when the people were forced to engage themselves in a display of communal passions while the government went about taking anti-people decisions without any public engagement or scrutiny.  In the interests of both the country and its people, all major decisions must be subject to a discussion both inside the Parliament and outside.  This is the only way to restore the  vibrancy that distinguishes our democratic society.

The RSS/BJP’s disquiet is, thus, increasing by the day.  On matters of substance such as these, they have very little to either suggest or offer.  It is the Left’s principled position of supporting this government from outside on the basis of the CMP while reserving the right to express its differences and opposition to certain policies which it considers not to be in the interests of the people or the country that is putting paid to BJP’s efforts to stage a come back and increasing the frustration of its leaders. 

Notwithstanding the blind faith that the BJP displayed during its tenure in declaring astrology as the science, the astrological predictions on the fall of the  Manmohan Singh government, which brought cheer no  end to the BJP camp, have proved false. Two “such days” so far have gone by when this government was supposed to have fallen.  Mr. Vajpayee, Advani & Co. are now waiting for the third.  Their efforts to stage a come back, therefore, have little to do with alternate policies for strengthening the country or improving the lot of our people.  They are welcome to live in their illusory world.   This, after all, is their democratic right!

In the meanwhile, however, the Left will continue to champion the interests of the country and the requirements of the people.  It shall insistently seek the UPA government’s intervention in implementing the many pro-people measures proposed in the CMP. It shall insist on purging the administration and the systems of all influences and personnel that sought to undermine the secular democratic character of the Indian Republic as enshrined in our Constitution.  It is such an agenda that the Left will continuously seek to set in the interests of India and its people.