In 1995, within a span of seven months, CPI(M) General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet and then CPI General Secretary Indrajit Gupta were forced to change the political stance they advocated in the respective party congresses of both parties. While Surjeet had to toe the line of the CPI(M) delegates in Chandigarh, Gupta was coerced into doing the same at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi.

What both had said was simple: that the Left parties may well have to alter their concept of `twin enemies' in reference to the Congress and the BJP. Surjeet and Gupta felt this was the need of the hour and hinted at the rise of the BJP as the prinicipal foe. Soon they were challenged by the delegates, in both parties, from West Bengal and Kerala which still form the bulk of the Left's strength.

Now, with the party congresses due next year in both parties, the debate has arisen once again. But with one essential difference. Today, the Congress is in a position to dictate the form and longevity of the United Front (UF) Government at the Centre which stands on a firm anti-BJP policy. Clearly, Surjeet and Gupta had better foresight of things to come than the delegates who have veto power in a party congress, held every three years by the CPI(M) and the CPI.

So where does the Left go from here? The very nature of Indian politics has changed vastly over the past several months and indeed, the Left in particular is in the grip of a massive churning in its ranks on what line to take. The Congress, which is fast fading from the political scenario of the country, is still the centre of the debate in the face of the Left's inability to grow in States other than its known bases.

Wherever the Congress is losing out, the Left is in no position to take advantage. And therein lies the cruellest cut for the Left. Without electoral bases in many parts of the country, how does it change its line and cede to the main adversary in the States where it rules? The Left, despite its inclination for debating anything under the sun at length, has been unable to resolve this tangle. It has been in no position to offer an alternative theory in the past nine years, after the fall of the V.P. Singh government.

Flushed with the success of L.K. Advani's rath yatra, the BJP then pulled the rug from under Singh's feet. Singh unleashed his Mandal weapon and altered the face of politics in the country to a large extent. That made the BJP as big an enemy as the Congress in the eyes of the Left. The BJP had won its first major victory in the battle against the Left: it was being taken as seriously as the Congress and this indicated the rise of the party from a mere appendage in the Lok Sabha to a position where it was seen as a major threat.

By the time the 1996 election results were announced, the Congress was down but not out. The BJP was on the rise but not yet in a position of pre-eminence. The Left, which then took control at the Centre, was more or less in a similar state to what it was in 1991, notwithstanding the loss of a few seats. It was then that Surjeet came to the forefront in a manner destined to make more than one enemy. It is to the man's credit that despite several hiccups, he has ensured that the amoeba-like UF has managed to stick together.

Without the Left, the UF has practically no meaning and has shown enough indication of coming apart at the slightest instance. And today, Janata Dal President Laloo Prasad Yadav has at last landed in the soup he was desperately avoiding. The Left had, as far back as February, targeted Laloo Yadav on the fodder scam, taking an agitational path against the Janata Dal chief which few dared to do.

Though Laloo then dismissed the Left as `rats', the desperation was obvious. The beleaguered Laloo then hit out against former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, but only after Deve Gowda was out of power and favour. That Laloo Yadav gained no friends by showing the courage of a coward only made matters worse.

Thus we come to the current dilemma of the Left. On one hand is an ailing Congress with whom the Left may have to become more friendly and on the other is the suspect Janata Dal and fellow UF constituents, most of whom have niether the moral nor the electoral authority to convince voters en masse. The way things are going, much more may happen by the time the CPI(M) and the CPI hold their next party congress. But the essence of the problem is not likely to change drastically.

Of all the parties, or formations, in the country at the moment it is only the Left which has what is called `moral authority'. The Congress, BJP, JD, BSP, Samajwadi Party, TDP or even the TMC and DMK sadly lack this quality. So, Surjeet is deftly using the only potent weapon he has. At one level it is amazing that the Left Front has been able to pull off so much in the past few months, as BJP leaders grudgingly admit in private. Events have practically tumbled over each other and the placid pace of the '70s and '80s has been replaced by a haste rarely seen in New Delhi. And yet, the Left chugs on.

But over the next few months, the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc (who comprise the Left Front) may well have to define things a little more clearly. As they have shown many times, the Left leaders are adept at walking the tightrope in the political circus of the country. Also, and no mean fact at that, the Left Front is the only cohesive functioning coalition in the nation.

The time has come, however, to choose between the known evils. There is little to hope from most parties the Left currently deals with on a daily basis. The problems spawned by corruption and communalism are likely to linger for many years. Sitaram Kesri, Laloo Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav, G.K. Moopanar or even N. Chandrababu Naidu the options for the Left are few.

As some leaders argue, the Left is anyway dealing with the Congress, in the guise of the UF. Perhaps it is time to lend a hand to the Congress which still calls itself by the same name. That will be the basis of the anticipated debate next April and October, when the CPI(M) and CPI will gather yet again.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.