Author: Manoj C G
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: May 22, 2009
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/third-front-a-cutpaste-job-cpm/463912/0
Having burnt its fingers chasing the Third
Front dream, the CPI(M) on Thursday admitted that the alternative it tried
to forge was essentially a "cut and paste" job done on the eve of
elections and indicated that it would not indulge in such poll-time misadventure
again.
For the first time, CPI(M) general secretary
Prakash Karat has admitted in an article in the party mouthpiece, People's
Democracy, that his party had tried to project the Left's tie-ups in three
southern states and Orissa as a "national level non-Congress, non-BJP
alternative", which proved to be neither credible nor viable. Faced with
criticism from fellow comrades for his enthusiasm for the Third Front, Karat,
adds that it was the central committee, in its meeting held in January, which
had worked out the electoral line and given the direction that the Left should
work together to make the alternative "realisable".
While the CPI(M) still believes that there
is potential for building a third alternative, especially since the non-Congress
combination has got 21 per cent of the votes, Karat made it clear that in
future such an alliance would be not merely electoral but built on a common
policy platform.
The CPI(M) top boss has, in effect, gone back
to the line adopted by the CPI(M)'s 19th Party Congress that the third alternative
should be built on the basis of programmes and policies distinct from that
of the Congress and the BJP.
"The CPI(M) and the CPI had an electoral
understanding with some of the non-Congress, non-BJP parties in Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and seat adjustments in Karnataka. On the basis
of these state-level understandings forged on the eve of the elections, we
attempted to project them as a national-level non-Congress, non-BJP alternative,"
Karat wrote. "It is evident that such a combination which had its relevance
in the states concerned was not a credible and viable alternative at the national
level. Further, the electoral combinations, which were forged state-wise,
precluded any national policy platform being projected," he noted.
At the same time, Politburo member Sitaram
Yechury was more forthright, noting, "Such an alternative cannot, obviously,
be a cut and paste arrangement on the eve of elections. This can only emerge
through sustained popular struggles. There are no shortcuts."
"Both the BSP, which declared pre-elections
that it would be with a non-Congress, non-BJP combination, and the JD(S),
which hosted the first public rally announcing the non-Congress, non-BJP combination
in Karnataka, have decided to support the UPA. Even before the results were
announced, the TRS which was part of a non-Congress, non-BJP front in Andhra
Pradesh, had joined the NDA," he said.
On the organisational front, Karat hinted
that there could be an overhaul in the offing in Kerala and West Bengal. "The
party will have to take the necessary political and organisational measures
to overcome the shortcomings and mistakes," he said.
