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Left and Akalis
in Punjab
Mansukh Kaur
 This is a development that almost went unnoticed in
India, and was not
even mentioned by the media in Punjab. The CPI(M) Central Committee
meeting in
Kochi reviewed the size and scope of the left party's
alliances and has strange plans for north
India. It will be
almost absent.
In
Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and
Gujarat, the CPM
apparently intends to contest only one seat. That is an admission of
very acute reality. Right now, this grand national party image can
go for a toss and the CPI(M) can be seen as a party of two regions
of Kerala and
West Bengal.
It is unrepresented in all the states mentioned above.
Forget the post-Independence strength of the communists in
the industrial towns of north
India. The new
reality is that in Punjab of Harkishen Singh Surjeet, the CPI(M)
cannot get 500 people together unless it adopts the same method of
ferrying workers in trucks and buses as the Akalis do.
Rarely do beat journalists know the Punjab CPI(M) state
secretary. The earlier one was recently expelled from the party
after charges of moral turpitude. The communists' claims about their
own standing now stand challenged and one thing is clear: Left is no
more a player at the national level.Much of it is because the Left
has allowed itself to revel in the same mud that permeates
India's politics
largly.
Ideological parties divorced from ideology are caricatures of
non-ideological parties. In this respect, the Left and the Akali Dal
almost share the same predicament. Ideological purities saved them
from sleaze for years. Now, they can wallow in power. If sleaze is
what you are after, you are sure to get it and stink with power,
money and acceptability.
28 January 2009
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