by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Garm
Hava (Scorching
Winds), M. S. Sathyu’s 1973 film was about the dilemma of a Muslim
family over migrating to Pakistan post-Independence, ends with the
patriarch, played by Balraj Sahni, deciding to stay back in India. As
id this was not enough, he also decided to join the communist
movement against the ruling Congress, amidst the slogan yeh
azaadi jhooti hai (”this
freedom is a sham”). Since then, and even earlier, the Congress and
communists have remained at polar removes, representing not only two
different ideas of India but conflicting views on everything, from
property ownership to role of state and democracy. Over the decades,
and particularly due to the rise of Hindutva politics under the BJP,
their distance has got narrowed but the core difference persists, and
so the refusal of their leaders to share power. In 1996, the CPI(M)
central committee prevented its senior leader and West Bengal chief
minister Jyoti Basu from being sworn in as Prime Minister,
predominantly because of his top comrades’ objection to their party
becoming dependent on the Congress. The composition of the lower
House at that time was such that the Congress could pull the rug from
under the government’s feet any time it pleased.
However,
it is the recent assembly election in West Bengal, ending on May 5,
that has finally bridged the gulf between the ‘hand’ (symbol
of the Congress) and the red flag of communists. How the alliance
will fare is anybody’s guess, May 19 being the scheduled
poll counting day. Still, it is an unusual bonding tied by pressure
from the ranks, not imposed from above. Congress president Sonia
Gandhi was reportedly not much in favour of the idea of a
communist-dominated alliance in Bengal where her party had remained
number two for decades. But Rahul Gandhi, the party’s vice
president, who was not given to such niceties, readily addressed
rallies in Kolkata with former CPI(M) chief minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee by his side, and forests of clenched fists being raised
in front of him with the slogan, comrade Rahul lal salam.
It was first time after Independence that a Gandhi scion was hailed
as “comrade” by a predominantly communist rally.
Can
it be the harbinger of an enduring and electorally tenable
centre-left coalition in India? Why not? The Congress, despite its
corruption-tainted image for a long time now, has steadfastly held on
to its socialist policies, which got a marked boost in the 10 years
of UPA rule due to Sonia Gandhi’s hallmark programmes, like MGNREGA
and Food Security Act. But, despite its left-leaning core ideology,
the Congress remained without allies as caste-based politics had come
to rule the roost. In the Nineties, BJP, with its Hindutva politics,
added a new dimension to it. Since then Congress has been left with
no regional allies worth the name. The Congress-left alliance, if it
spreads across the nation, will have the potential of an anti-elite
and pro-poor coalition. It is like turning the clock of history back
to where it would have rightfully belonged, in a society divided by
class. And it doesn’t matter if it is divided by caste too.
It
is natural that BJP will not be pleased if the Congress-left alliance
puts up a stellar performance in Bengal. But even a fairly decent
tally of, say, around 100 seats (in a house of 294) will bring a new
momentum and push the envelope, particularly for the Uttar Pradesh
election next year. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury is working
hard to create a nation-wide non-BJP alliance wherever feasible.
Rahul Gandhi is extremely comfortable with Yechury and both agree
that road to Delhi goes via Lucknow. Neither Rahul nor the Left trust
Mulayam Singh Yadav anymore as he has ditched secular forces six
times in the past. It is learnt that poll strategist Prashant
Kishore, regarded as the architect of Modi’s election in 2014 as
well as that of Nitish Kumar in Bihar last year, is insisting on the
party rallying behind a “face”, be it of Rahul, or his sister
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The advice has a lot of substance as even the
elite classes, who supported Congress in the past and have now gone
mostly to BJP, can respond to their old links only if a member of the
party’s leading family agrees to launch his (or her) march to Delhi
from Lucknow.
But
the elites cannot win an election on their own. The local parties
with their caste identities do not trust Congress. Nor is the party
held in great trust by Muslims, who constitute 17 per cent of the
population of Uttar Pradesh. The left can be a powerful adhesive to
glue the regional parties and communities together to Congress. In
other words, the left can function as a catalyst in the
coalition-building process. It is win-win for regional parties too.
Take, for example, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who is working
hard to get a leadership slot in UP’s anti-Modi space but hasn’t
made much headway yet. A future coalition in the state spearheaded by
Congress, and guaranteed by the Left, can offer at least three
territorial players—Nitish’s JD(U), Lalu Prasad’s RJD and
Mayawati’s BSP --an opportunity to take part in the governance of
India’s largest state.
The
131-year-old Congress still has substantial brand value. But it has
no friends. Despite Sonia Gandhi’s pro-poor programmes, it failed
to forge lasting ties with the toiling masses. But the rally for
“comrade Rahul” in Kolkata’s Park Circus maidan on a sizzling
summer afternoon may pave the way for the party to unshackle itself
at last, and win back the poor man’s trust that it has forfeited.
