Jyoti Basu was never the one to give up easily. Look at the octogenarian leader's political longevity, his record as Chief Minister beyond challenge through decades of destabilised regimes. He has now given fresh proof of his tenacity by reviving his bid for the country's top post, quite a while after the claim was presumed to have been rejected by his own party.His famous statement about the "historical blunder" of the CPM and the Left in not joining the United Front government, it was thought, was now itself history along with the rubbishing of the theory by the majority in the party's Politburo. His promise now not to shirk prime ministerial responsibility if the offer is extended again and endorsed by the ideologues and apparatchiks, however, should come as no surprise.
It was clear even then that the issue was not "a closed chapter" as Basu unconvincingly insists, that the idea had the not-so-tacit support of other Marxist gerontocrats, including general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, besidesthe West Bengal party unit, and that they were all only lying low and biding their time. Lesser partymen might be expected not to cross the line once it has been laid down, but not the Marxist showpiece and symbol of the CPM's main base and bastion that supplies the largest segment of the Left in the Lok Sabha.He is already rewriting history in this respect.
Surjeet is publicly talking of the plan to reopen the "closed chapter", and with the concurrence of Sitaram Yechury, who reportedly led the inner-party Basu-bashing the last time round. The proviso is not being added that the party programme will have to be rewritten to make possible the envisaged participation as a junior partner in a Central government, and there is no further word about a special party congress for this purpose.
Marxist sophistry can, of course, be counted upon to explain away inconvenient contradictions and deny any deviations. While ideological arch-priests can rework the mantra of "people's democracy" to enable a non-hegemonicrole in the nation's rule, the political line of anti-Congressism may appear to pose a more serious problem. Both Surjeet and Basu have ruled out reliance on Congress support.
The appearance, however, is deceptive. The CPI has participated in the UF government, and the CPM in the ruling front, with the crucial and unconcealed outside support of the Congress. If Basu's dream comes true, he will indeed run a close second to Chandra Shekhar as the choice for the highest elected post from a mere parliamentary rump which the Marxist Left will remain despite its political leverage in the present situation.
Basu is not the UF's prime ministerial candidate and, even if he were, can hardly match his counterparts in mass appeal, regardless of the respect he may command. The unstated assumption behind the case for his prime ministership is his capacity, perceived as proven, to keep a coalition together and provide a stable government.
But, success in a state does not promise the same at the Centre, as Deve Gowdademonstrated. Experience in running an all-Left Front is not exactly the right qualification for the job of managing a Janata Dal-led, multi-headed monster. And, above all, the road ahead is considerably rougher for the man at the wheel than for the back-seat driver that the CPM has thus far remained.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
