Nuke deal has nuked the reds

In September of 2006 when the Left had succeeded in blocking the government from pursuing the Nuclear deal, the realization of being powerful and influential at national level, was at its peak in the Left camp. Prakash Karat's success in stalling the deal that put India in a strategic alliance with the USA, had catapulted him to the top of the most powerful politburo members in the Left front. Even veteran comrades like Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee were asked to shun their pro-nuclear-deal opinions. Media almost labeled Karat as the new ‘most powerful politician’ in the country.

In June 2008, when the UPA’s willingness for N-Deal surfaced again, a ‘Red’ alert was issued as expected. Same tough stand from the Reds – of holding government ransom to their withdrawal threat, anticipating similar success. But this time their calculations went terribly wrong. Congress and UPA not only dumped the Left but also managed to pull Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party from UNPA's camp into its own. Left’s dream of a non-BJP, non-Congress third front was shattered. An already troubled Mulayam Singh, who was trying to find an ally to put up against his nemesis - Mayawati, quickly chose Congress’ carrot over Karat. Left was left dumb-founded.

Left's objection was based on a rusted ideology which supports an alignment with China rather than the US. This is in reality a wish of very few intellectuals in the Left camp for whom serving Chinese interests under the hood of communism stands above national interest. It’s unfair to force this outdated view even onto one's own party, let alone the entire nation that favors strategic alignment with the USA. Hurt by being discarded by UPA, Left withdrew its support and announced that it has 'dumped' the UPA. The reality is that the reds were the ones who mercilessly dumped. Left claimed that the deal was anti-Muslim. What kind of ridiculous assessment is that? If catering to the energy security of the country is anti-Muslim then so is the billions of dollars of trade that India does with the US. Its sheer commerce. What has religion to do with it? This nonsense claim was quickly refuted by 'Maulana' Mulayam and even by various Muslim bodies across the country.

Following this unexpected blow, the moral in the Left Camp has diminished. Prakash Karat’s outdated ideology has left the comrades red-faced and embarrassed. While Manmohan Singh, Sonia, Mulayam, Amar – all displayed their political acumen and harmless opportunism (as of pre-trust vote), comrades like Prakash Karat, AB Bardhan, D Raja, Sitaram Yechuri – all have shown that they seriously lack the political brains needed for the less-than-perfect but realistic modus operandi of politics in a country as complex as India. 2004 elections gave them a never-before kind of opportunity to have a strong presence (59 MPs) at national level. If they claim that their ideology brings social equality, then why did not they actually share the responsibility of governance? Instead they stuck to their irresponsible behavior by staying out of the government and continuously embracing negativism, opposing development, reforms, privatization, foreign investments and all those policies that talked about progress. Left has so many learned leaders, but they just don’t seem to learn that India is embracing globalization and capitalism at a tantalizing speed and if they don’t adapt themselves to this new India, they will soon become history. Well, nation would love to see Left becoming history. The exodus of comrades from the government has turned to be a blessing and actually pushed the sensex up a little. With elections still 8-9 months away, UPA plans to complete several of the reforms that it couldn’t complete without Left’s consent. The Reds just got nuked.

Prakash Karat has made the nation proud by orchestrating Left’s political demise. CNN-IBN’s National affairs editor labeled the rigid Left as the ‘new untouchables’ in politics. While Congress and UPA kept their cool, Left has been made to look like a fool. The communists' authority in their ruling states should also take a beating the way Karat's authority has. Left has lost its face. Prakash Karat, who was basking in the glory of being called ‘the most powerful politician’ - something he never deserved, has now become an object of ridicule - something he aptly deserves. The expulsion of a veteran politician and a right-of-left thinker, Somnath Chatterjee has added to his list of sins. This step has weakened the party even more. This is surely going to create a rift in CPM. Karat is the one who should be expelled from the party for forcing his Stalinist-style, cold-war era kind of control over a party that is itching for a change of face. Somnath Chatterjee was offered heart-felt support from across the breadth and width of political spectrum after his unfair expulsion from CPM. Nobody would care a damn for Karat's expulsion. It’s time to send such ideological hardliners to permanent political exile.