Editorial: Straws in the wind

There is something about members of the CPI(M) and the CPI that serves to remind us all of the adage about the pot calling the kettle black. Thus, it was entirely consistent that while reacting to the Congress defeat in the Karnataka assembly elections, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI (M) should have uttered the following words: "It's time for the UPA to read the signals properly. The Congress is left with one year and it has to prepare its agenda based on the national common minimum programme. If it fails it will contribute to the growth of the BJP". Much of what he says is true and that is not the problem: the problem is that he should say it as if his own party has been a paragon of political rectitude and winning strategies. The facts, alas, are otherwise, including when it comes to stoking the ever-smouldering fires of communalism. For who can forget that it was his government in West Bengal that gave in to the demands of Muslim fundamentalists who demanded "" and obtained "" the expulsion of Taslima Nasreen, first from West Bengal and then from India itself? So, yes, the BJP has indeed taken communal positions but it is not for the CPI(M) to criticise it, especially in view of the fact that the win in Karnataka was not based on the communal appeal at all. Mr Yechury also needs to be reminded of what the Sachar committee had to say about the conditions of Muslims in West Bengal. That also would have had something to do with the way the voting went in a place like Nandigram or even Malda.

Mr Yechury might also like to review the performance of his party in the recent zilla parishad elections in West Bengal. True, the results do not indicate that the CPI(M) has lost its grip on rural Bengal, where it rules almost wholly, often by force and terror. However, the defeats do focus attention on something that the CPI(M) would like to overlook, namely, the people have begun to rebel against the party because they see that it no longer represents their best interest. What we have seen through the zilla parishad elections are the first straws in the wind that, when they gather force, will create severe problems for the party. Little wonder that the nonagenarian leader, Jyoti Basu, has begun talking about mistakes not being repeated. This, certainly, is a change because when was the last time you heard the CPI(M) admit that it was fallible? The mistake in question is the persistent use of terror. Mr Basu is now saying that it no longer helps win elections. It will be interesting to see how this translates into action on the ground. It would be very surprising if the leopard changed its spots because after 31 years in power, and the encouragement of local CPI(M) mafias of the type on show in Nandigram last year, the party workers have grown accustomed to having their way. The arrogance that uninterrupted power breeds has seeped upwards to the members of the Politburo as well, who see no irony in preaching what they do not practise.