Red whine

There is a fairly simple word for the tactics of the Left parties in relation to the government ? not quite yet ?blackmail? but brinkmanship?.

There is a fairly simple word for the tactics of the Left parties in relation to the government — not quite yet ‘blackmail’ but brinkmanship’. You could, if you want, see the current fulminations of the Left, especially the CPI(M), as a means of differentiating the party from its rival Congress in the coming state assembly elections. But there is a certain harshness of words and tone that bodes ill for the health of the UPA coalition. True, the Left has declared that it will not support a no-confidence motion against the government, but has raised the spectre of a possible Third Front, and declared that it will make common cause with the Samajwadi Party on Iran.

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It is almost certain that for some time to come, general elections are likely to yield coalition governments. This is what makes the matter of coalition dharma so important. But across the country adharma seems to be ruling. Look at the behaviour of the Janata Dal (S) in Karnataka and the CPI(M). It may be obvious that the UPA cannot remain in power without the support of the Left. But it is equally true that the Left has no say in any Union government minus the Congress. The Third Front is a daydream that is not likely to recur, especially with the memories of the Deve Gowda and Gujral-led United Front of the late Nineties still fresh in our minds.

There is a certain strangeness in the Left’s approach. It has complained about not having a say in ‘executive’ matters. But then, why should it? At the time of the formation of the UPA, it chose to stay out and even took the peculiar position that it would help draft the common minimum programme but not sign on it. Had the Left been formally in the alliance and government, it would have been as much the gainer as the UPA. While the latter could have yoked a factious ally into the discipline of government, the former could have pushed its allegedly ‘pro-poor’ social policies from within, or blocked what it considered unacceptable economic measures. But as of now, all that the Left is doing is not having its cake and not eating it too.