Dated thoughts, rigging and a ration card scam. Is it the beginning of the end for the leftists? Arindam Chaudhuri

                                                                                         

Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri
Hony. Dean, Centre For Economic Research and Advanced Studies, IIPM


Unlike being the liberal intellectual with a ‘political vision’ that many expected him to possess (till one saw less of him), over the last few months (as one saw ‘too much’ of him), Prakash Karat seemed hell bent on proving his detractors right – by constantly being on the left (wrong) side of public opinion. Not that intellectuals are known to be on the right side of public opinion. But in Karat’s case, he was on the wrong side of intellectual opinion too. His constant dogmatic opposition to all liberalised things and his completely dated criticism of privatisation (he speaks the language of 90s at best, rarely quoting an example that is presently relevant) had the entire nation yawning and bored, including large sections of his own party. The intellectual image around the leftists – created with a lot of effort over the years by the debating skills of Yechury, by the soft-spoken, yet intelligent & balanced approach of Jyoti Basu, and of late, by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya’s liberal attitude – is fast being forgotten; thanks to Prakash Karat hogging all the limelight with his most ignorable “trade unions should be formed in the IT sector” comments. Here is a country which is seeing progress like never before; and in the midst is a man who just hasn’t been sounding ‘today’; and it’s not that the anti-right wing ideology can’t sound contemporary (readers of our magazine would vouch for this fact after having read Noam Chomsky’s and Noami Klein’s columns, issue after issue). The entire leftist drama is increasingly being seen by the public as an effort to constantly show their arm-twisting power, with no constructive political commitment for any kind of logical ideology.


As if people had not had enough of leftist opposition to everything logical, in came the Brinda Karat episode. In all probability, going by her intellectual and clean past record, she wouldn’t have cooked up anything in her allegations; but her way of taking it on directly and her complete underestimation of Swami Ramdev’s well deserved mass popularity (even in West Bengal and Kerala) in an attempt to make the cow-belt embrace the Left, resulted in the worst ever countrywide humiliation for the leftists, with people coming out from everywhere and leaving their hate messages live on air. But worst news is perhaps still in store for the leftists. K. J. Rao, the man behind the least rigged polls in Bihar in many years – which resulted in Laloo’s fall – is now overseeing election preparations in West Bengal. The state – where, by popular estimates, about 90% of the leftist leaders are elected through rigging – might end up having a relatively fair poll this time; unless of course the leftists arm twist the Centre and stop Rao mid-way. As Rao goes ahead with his efforts ruthlessly, details are emerging of how CPI(M) party workers, over the years, used fear techniques and disallowed anti-left voters from going to polling booths, to ensure that CPI(M) workers could cast fake votes in peace. However, the biggest scam that Rao is unearthing is the ration card scam; with 1.9 million fake ration cards already discovered in the first few days (as I write this note) – and anywhere between another 1 million to 3 million expected to be discovered in the next few weeks of planned operations. Rao has made two things clear: Firstly, unlike in the past, ration cards would not be accepted as identity proofs at polling booths this time; only election I-cards would be allowed. Second, presiding officers in every polling booth would be from other states. Both of these, if implemented properly, spell disaster for CPI(M). It remains to be seen now if “THE BENGAL BETRAYAL” by the leftists, over the years, sees its end in the forthcoming polls.

by Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri

About the author:
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri as a management consultant, he specializes in the areas of Strategic Vision, Leadership, Social Sector Consulting, Comparative Management Techniques and Global Opportunities & Threat Analysis.

Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri has also been conducting workshops, seminars and lecture tours on Comparative Management Techniques worldwide. His talks have always had a spell binding effect internationally.

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