New Delhi : Ordinarily, the Left should be treated as a decline force in politics – internationally as well as domestically. But it should be said to the credit of the Indian communists that even when the ideology was shrinking in the west, with pragmatic leaders like Harkishen Singh Surjeet they had the ability to not just remain relevant, but even enjoy the great fun of being in power without the responsibility that goes along with it.
The problems that arise in being dogmatic were underscored in 2008 when the then Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee was hounded out of the party by the then CPM general secretary Prakash Karat for not toeing the party line on the nuclear deal issue. Chatterjee’s contention that as the speaker he was not bound by party ideology did not find any takers.
There is a vast body of opinion within the CPM that the situation would not have turned ugly if Comrade Sitaram Yechury had been the man in command. Well, the wheels of fortune have turned and Yechury is the new man from the Left. It could be called Surjeet Model 2015, and his qualities as a political negotiator would be an asset considering that the fight against the BJP has to be a joint enterprise for the Congress, the Janata parivar and the Left at least in Parliament.
Predictably, Chatterjee now out of politics sees a breath of fresh air. He said: It is an important day for the CPM party which should now be breathing in some fresh air. There should be much enthusiasm and an open minded approach to deal with the problems that the CPM party is facing. Yechury is far more acceptable to all quarters than anyone else. He has the political acumen to deal with varied political outfits and personalities and has the political maturity to lead the party to greater heights.”
On his first day, Yechury talked of unity with the Communist Party of India without setting a time frame. A media-savvy person who also edited the party’s organ “People’s democracy” for several long years, he writes a column in a national daily.
