Left or Right, Stick Together for Powers Might

by Sharraryu Aroskar

Amazing isn’t it…

My apartment friends and me used to play this game called “Sakhli”. Sakhli in Marathi means a chain. With one person running around touching the members in play and one touch would mean the person being touched got added to the human chain. The person that was touched first owns the responsibility to form a chain in next run of the game. The players not in the chain yet try hard to remain un-touched by the chain till the end and take huge pride in being declared as winners. We used to play all kind of tactics to avoid being touched. That being a play ground may be 5000 to 6000 sq ft in area, everyone knew that sooner or later every player would be a part of that chain.

You will be amazed to read what reminded me of the outdoor sport we used to play as young school students. I was watching some news channel covering the formation of “Third front”. I have no clue why they call it the third front. With local parties blackmailing the national ones like fishes mocking at the fishermen in the boat, I think there are around hundred fronts that are going to play a role in these elections. Even a party with one MP elected in the whole nation can get into the “mandwali” business post elections. Leaving away the post election scenario and coming back to the third of the hundreds of existing, I think it’s a business of touch and go.

BJP in 2000 experimented with the pre-poll coalition or alliance strategy based on common ideologies on which other parties in the country stood. I think it was a strategic decision taken by proactive leadership. Small local parties are a reality in India. It was so in 2000 as well. BJP had sensed that no single party in the country can have more than 272 votes on its own. A coalition was imperative. BJP held hands with parties that could help the nation gain its lost momentum on issues that needed the most attention. Foreign policy, information technology, laws against terrorism are a few to name. Since these are issues concerning every Indian any sensible party who was willing to accept the leadership of Mr. Vajpayee and for whom secularism was not anti Hinduism, was a good choice. With Mr. Vajpayee as a catalyst, BJP went ahead to make trust worthy friends to form the NDA.

At that point in time, Congress had two options to go head with, a similar hand holding strategy or mock the BJP for one. Congress chose later. It was an obvious choice at that point in time. In my understanding, after leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel , Lal Bahadur Shashtri etc. Congress faced a dearth of ideology as it chose family hierarchy over genuine merit. Had the Congress held right hands then there would have been a deeper ideological existence in the party. With lack of an ideological understanding of its own, it was difficult for the congress to hold hands pre-election as a reaction to BJP strategy. What if they held wrong hands? What if the hands they held don’t perform in the elections? They will have to break the chain, fall on face and make new bonds. In short it would have been a little shameful in front of the nation. The Congress thus chose to mock BJP strategy of forming a coalition and tried to portray itself as a “ideological” party that can run the elections on its own might. Needless to say, the Congress in the 13th Lok Sabha elections fell on face. I think their words pre election stood against them to form a post poll alliance. Even as an opposition they opposed policies under the name of secularism. When there was nothing “non-secular” about POTA or removing unnecessary reservations in the country. In 2004 Congress held whatever hands it could the surprise was the LEFT and Samajwadi party. None had anything common to the Congress in type except for wanting power at the center.

With left hand in a wrong one, there was nothing that was going to go right as far as the policies were concerned. No new policies were formed. The government survived on dividends of the already existing policies and then the lack of proactive behavior and American fall out wiped of all the make up on the UPA government. Now with nowhere to go in the 2009 election on its own, the Left to me looks like a child wanting to play “Sakhli”. It’s going on touching every party known in each and every Indian state. If the touch turns gold, the party is entangled in the chain. The LEFT is known for its socialist ideology. None of the parties that have joined hands with the CPI and CPM so far look to me sharing it. I was shocked when Chandra Babu Naidu joined the third front. Either the nation is heading in a direction that nothing but right and I am not able to make sense of it or everybody is coming to the LEFT because no one has a direction to the RIGHT. I am sure the third front will capture a share of voters that would have voted for local parties that UPA or NDA have no Alliance with. With NDA and UPA fighting the elections I see a deem chance that the LEFT will win. But I also see a possibility of the “THIRD FRONT” breaking up when parties that once held the third front hand run hither thither to join the power at the center.

It’s however interesting to see parties like CPI and CPM that were so far known to have an ideological structure to its existence succumbing to “Congressionalisation” of Indian politics. Come what may votes is all what matters to them. Age old policies like reservation, minority favoritism, still have a place in Congress manifesto. Development and abolition of poverty are words only to be printed and spoken during election speeches. The rest is about being in power for 5 years and attempting to do so year after year.

I really don’t know if it’s the actions of some parties or lack of credible actions on the part of others that makes me think on who is the feasible option now. UPA to me is out of question. I don’t think the minority and reservation vote bank politics with lack of ideology is going to take my nation anywhere but back. I don’t support the LEFT ideology of share the wealth to all. Words fall short but unnecessary reservation to non deserving or dividing the nation based on minority politics impairs a group sharing wealth on no basis can impair the nation.

Jai Hind!

(The author is working with a well known Sales & Marketing strategic consulting firm in Pune. She has an under-grad in Computer Science from Mumbai University and Masters from Texas A&M University, USA)

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