Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: December 5, 2006
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/712400.cms
Sitaram Yechury, who cut his political teeth
in JNU three decades ago raising slogans such as "Tata Birla ki yeh sarkar,
nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi" (this government that belongs to the Tatas
and the Birlas will not be allowed to function) was on Monday the chief defender
of the Tatas' investment in the Left Front-ruled West Bengal.
Mr Yechury, the leader of the obstructionists
at the UPA's policy high-table, also tried to don the garb of the real reformer.
The CPM Polit bureau member, a regular at the labour conferences of the Leftists
that routinely complain against high-handedness of the state machinery, also
justified police action against protesters at Singur.
Addressing a press conference to defend the
stand of the CPM-led government in the state, Mr Yechury relied on the conspiracy
theory that the Left normally uses while dealing with political opponents
and inconvenient voices: The protesters came armed with bombs and a premeditated
plan to unleash violence in Singur.
He went to the extent of sensing a corporate
angle to the protest when he hinted that rival business houses could be behind
the agitation.
The CPM leader's next step was to project
his party's government in West Bengal as the most reform-oriented. He charged
all those opposing the Singur investment with attempting to derail the reform
process.
When asked why the party was opposing Manmohan
Singh's policy agenda, came the non-chalant reply: "The party is opposed
to all decisions that go against public interest." Implicit in this was
an arrogant assumption that the Left alone has the moral right to define what
constitutes public interest.
But the CPM found fingers pointed at it in
the Rajya Sabha for being 'anti-farmer', a term the Left frequently uses against
the Congress and the BJP. After facing the music in the Upper House, Mr Yechury
sang paeans to the Bengal government and portrayed Singur as the ideal model
for development.
"We are giving the people affected compensation
and skills... There has been no forcible eviction. People are standing in
queues and taking the cheques. People are happy," he said.
Incidentally, the CPM mocks at similar arguments
when it comes from Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Rajasthan's
Vasundhara Raje. For Mr Yechury, the chief ministers of states ruled by other
parties are 'land grabbers', while the West Bengal chief minister was the
genuine protector of farmers' interests.
Then, there was also the usual charge of double-speak
against political rivals. "The Congress double-speak has become obvious.
The Congress has been saying the CPM is blocking the reform process. Where
reform is taking place, they are opposing it," he said.
