THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a botched balancing act in 2008 that caused a fallout between then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Left -- and redefined national politics.
When the NDA government was ousted from power after a gap of eight years in 2004, a Congress-led government assumed office with the help of allies. The Left parties, including CPM, CPI, RSP and Forward Block, decided to offer outside support. Things were looking up as the UPA- Left coordination committee was set up to further policy discussion.
It was during this time that many important pieces of legislation were enacted by the first UPA government, including MGNREGA, Right to Information Act and Forest Rights Act. The crucial role enjoyed by the Left in these efforts and the corruption-free image of the PM helped the UPA gain popularity. UPA-I took a left-of-centre position on many key issues, thanks in no small part to the backing of the Left parties.
However, friction came to the fore in 2005 when the government tried to disinvest Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL). A known hardliner, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and a section of leaders were critical of the plan. They ended up accusing Singh of being a crusader for globalisation and neo-liberal policies. The Left started boycotting the coordination committee. The parties, however, climbed down from their position on receiving assurances from Sonia and the PM.
The real challenge came when the Singh government decided to go ahead with the India-US civil nuclear deal in 2008. The Left were of the view that the deal is part of the game plan to make India a proxy of America. Finally, on July 8, 2008, they decided to withdraw support over the deal.
However, who is to blame is more a question for history to answer. “The CPM’s West Bengal unit and senior leader Sitaram Yechury were against withdrawing support,” a former central committee member told TNIE on condition of anonymity. “Intense deliberations were held in the politburo and central committee.
However, the Kerala unit led by Pinarayi Vijayan supported then general secretary Prakash Karat and leaders like S Ramachandran Pillai. There was also criticism in the party that the CPM was giving unconditional support to the UPA government’s misdeeds. Hence, we wanted to prove that the party had an independent stand,” he added.
In the Congress, too, leaders such as Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, were not happy with the way Singh handled the situation. After the Left withdrew its support, the second UPA government, which was in power from 2009 to 2014, was mired in several corruption charges. Many top bureaucrats who served the government at the time were of the view that the Left presence would have helped the government avoid such controversies.
“The Left support would have ensured a counter balance,” former principal secretary T K A Nair said in an interview that was run as part of the ‘Express Dialogues’ series. The corruption charges ultimately paved the way for NDA’s return to power. Singh was also viewed as a weak PM as coalition partners took matters into their own hands.
The Left also suffered as a result. The CPM lost the chance to remain a force to reckon with in national politics. It also marked the beginning of the Left decline in the country. Singh, on his part, faced the Left campaign politically. Addressing campaign meetings in Kottayam and Kollam in April 2011 he said, “Our Left friends are on the wrong side of history. They fail to recognise the very fundamental ways the world we live in has changed, and is changing.” He also alleged that the Left parties sought to “garb in ideology their political opportunism”.
