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Wednesday, Aug 25, 2004

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THE LEFT'S DILEMMA

ALTHOUGH THE COMMITMENT of the Left parties to the continuance of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government is not in doubt, differences over issues such as foreign investment, privatisation, and labour welfare are threatening to cut short the honeymoon period. Just days ahead of the August 25 coordination committee meeting of the Left parties and the constituents of the UPA, the Communist Party of India general secretary, A.B. Bardhan, has accused the Congress of not adhering to `coalition dharma' in the running of the Central Government. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member, Sitaram Yechury, while linking the survival of the new Government to the implementation of the Common Minimum Programme, has warned against any deviation from the agreed upon agenda. Evidently the Left parties face the difficult task of having their say on crucial issues — on which they have profound differences with the Congress — without appearing to weaken the credibility of the Manmohan Singh Government. Thus raising the cap on foreign direct investment in telecom, insurance and civil aviation; offloading a small stake in the National Thermal Power Corporation; lowering the administered interest rate on the Employees' Provident Fund will figure prominently in the coordination committee meeting.

The problem for the Left parties arises from the very nature of their relationship with the UPA. As political rivals of the Congress in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura, the CPI(M) and the CPI have to maintain a critical distance from the UPA. Even so, as the external guarantors of the UPA, the Left parties have high stakes in the performance of the new Government. Neither close identification nor alienated opposition will be of much help in this regard. Whether they like it or not, the performance of the Government will reflect on their public image. Non-participation in the Government will not serve as an excuse if the Left parties were to remain passive to the actions and policies that affect the interests of their vote base. At the same time, there are limits to the influence they can wield in a broad coalition that has the Congress at the head of several regional players. They can behave as a pressure group, nothing more. And the difficulties begin with their having to decide on the extent of pressure they can bring to bear upon the Government without inducing political instability. Too little pressure might not be effective and too much pressure might be counter-productive. This situation has resulted in the Left parties adopting an ambivalent attitude to the UPA.

All the Left parties barring the CPI stayed away from the August 18 meeting of the UPA, preferring instead to attach importance to the coordination committee meeting. As a separate bloc outside the UPA, the Left parties are apparently hoping to arrive at the optimum distance from the Government. While not considering themselves partners of the UPA, the Left parties want to be counted as allies who should be consulted on important issues. However, the Congress, aware of the Left dilemma, is bound to take advantage of it. The imperative of Left support to the Government, if only to keep out the Bharatiya Janata Party, allows the Congress sufficient play in pursuing through its own policies and programmes. The challenge for the CPI(M) and the CPI is to retain their separate identity — and rein in the Congress whose political proclivities and policies they have little faith in. No purpose will be served if the Left parties confined themselves to mere criticism without forcing a change of policies on issues that matter most to their core constituencies.

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