The CPM leadership has sold a line to its cadre that it is supporting a non-Congress government. But a more correct characterisation of the Deve Gowda government is that it is a Congress-backed government. Numerically, Congress support is much larger (over four times) than that provided by the CPM. The Left not only failed to anticipate the post-election political scenario, but now also refuses to recognise reality.
Now when the government has to seek the support of the Congress, Comrade Indrajit Gupta asserts that the Congress was supporting the government without our seeking it and out of compulsion. He sees only one side of that compulsion. A positive way of looking at the post-election political development is that it is the result of mutuality of interests. It is in the interest of both the Congress and the United Front to keep the BJP out of power.
The last general election provided a historic opportunity for the Left to emerge as a hegemonic force in the secular space because the main secular force in the country, the Congress, is in historic decline. In fact, the spate of scandals involving its top leaders has destroyed the possibility of the Congress bouncing back in the near future.
The other secular force, the Janata Dal, is in disarray as its casteist `social justice' plank is now proving counter-productive. History has, thus, offered on a platter an opportunity to the Left. More so, as Communists do have an added advantage. While leaders of all other political parties are involved in one scandal or the other, the Left is still clean.
The Left could have captured the secular space easily because of persistent campaigning earlier by Jawaharlal Nehru and later by Indira Gandhi. Thanks to them, the Congress support-base is essentially left-of-the-Centre and very responsive to leftist ideas. So is the Janata Dal's base, as the bulk of it is constituted by former socialists. Indeed, that is why V P Singh has described the Left as a natural ally. When Jyoti Basu's name was floated for the prime ministership, there was instant welcome in large sections of the Congress and the Janata Dal.
But the Left lacks the vision, the will, and the passion to emerge as a national hegemonic force. So the CPM bosses turned down the offer. They didn't understand that though we have a cabinet system, the prime minister is virtually three-fourths as powerful as the President of the United States. Many previous prime ministers have shown this to be the case. If you have any doubt, ask Comrade Indrajit Gupta. Mr Deve Gowda has emerged so powerful in no time. Recall how V P Singh changed the national agenda and brought casteism to the forefront of Indian politics.
However, it is not for the first time that the Left has missed a historic opportunity. Its history is a history of missed opportunities. The tragedy of the communists has been that they were born with a sectarian spoon in their mouths and it remains stuck there till this day.
It is worth recalling the major debates which had plagued the communist party since it was born 1925. The first debate was whether the party should be named Indian Communist Party or Communist Party of India. The latter name was chosen because it was part of the world communist movement. But when it came to translating it in Hindi, there way no way but to name it `Bhartiya Communist Party'.
The second congress of the Comintern decided that Indian communists should collaborate with the Congress. But the implementation of the line in India was left to M N Roy, who didn't believe in that line. Lenin thought Gandhi was a revolutionary, Roy thought he was a reactionary. So Indian communists didn't follow Lenin's line. After the death of Lenin, the Cominterm itself changed its line and declared that the Congress had crossed over to imperialism. As part of the anti-fascist campaign, Indian communists were advised to co-operate with Gandhi. But this, too, ended following Hitler's attack on Russia. After Independence, communists didn't accept that India had become free