HVK Archives: Interview of Jyoti Basu - 3 of 3 - A comment
Interview of Jyoti Basu - 3 of 3 - A comment - The Indian Express
Editorial
()
2 January 1997
Title : Basu on a 'blunder' - 3 of 3
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : January 2, 1997
It may be debatable whether the CPI(M)'s decision last year to stay out of
the United Front Government at the Centre and to stop Jyoti Basu from
becoming the Prime Minister was a "historic blunder", as described by the
most durable successful specimen of bhadralok Communism. Less widely doubted
will be the historic character of the West Bengal leader's observation
itself. It is hard to recall a single other occasion of a Marxist luminary
of similar standing speaking up in public against a party line of such large
import. What Basu has denounced in the course of a remarkably candid
newspaper interview is not just the relevant Central Committee resolution but
a basic policy and tenet of the party as well. Whether the unprecedented
outspokenness at such an unlikely level augurs a major attitudinal change in
the Marxist camp should be a subject of more than sectarian interest. This is
not, however, to say that the intrinsic merits of his argument are
immediately obvious. Decency may demand acceptance of his disclaimer of
personal interest in Prime Ministership, despite the fact that he was
confessedly among the minority in the Central Committee to ask for the
party's share in power. But the claim that the Marxists would have made all
the difference to the programmes and performance of the motley coalition is
far from convincing. The success of Basu and the CPI(M) in West Bengal cannot
be replicated at the Centre. And, his two-decade record in power is no
guarantee of his potential stability in New Delhi any more than Deve Gowda's
conquest of Karnataka indicated a comparably triumphant political course in
the national arena.
The basic policy that Basu has sought to question is the one that has
deprived the CPI(M) of a strong presence at the Centre. The party's slogan
of "peoples' democracy" has, in practice, boiled down to the position that it
accepts nothing less than a leading place in any ruling alliance. The
Marxists cannot stay true to their mantra and at the same time contemplate
entering a coalition headed by parties which they would prefer to harangue
from outside. Basu has hardly hidden his contempt for the ideological
affectations behind the stance by alluding to the "usual" arguments against
the power-sharing proposal such as the would-be partners being so very
"bourgeois". And, the majority in the Central Committee can only be further
miffed by his expression of support for the CPI on this score.
The 'bourgeoisation' of Basu on the economic front is, of course, well known.
He has only confirmed his critics on this point by asking, in the same
interview, why the Centre should be scared of profit-seeking multinational
corporations. Known, too, is the fact that he is not alone in the more
conservative camp of Indian Communism to convert to such unorthodoxy. The
political parallel to the process has now been given pointed expression as
well. Watched with interest will be the extent to which the newspeak becomes
the norm in the CPI(M).
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