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Vijay Simha
NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Some shape and form to the new alignment of secular forces against the BJP-led bloc emerged in West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's Nehru Memorial Lecture here today, probably the trickiest speech Basu had to deliver in recent times.
For most of his speech, Basu blasted the BJP's policies, especially on communalism, directed a fair bit of criticism at the Congress, applauded the Left's efforts in Bengal, Kerala and Tripura and ended by hoping that utopia would come in the next century in the form of a socialist order. But the true significance lay in the gathering of Congress and CPM leaders at one place, the biggest in recent times and a pointer to the future.
At another level, the address was a mirror to the complex relationship between the Congress and the Left, the oldest two political formations in the country. Basu has rarely, if ever, spoken even on a CPI platform and this was a first of sorts for him: he was on a Congress platform after fighting the Congress for most of hislife.
The difficulty in straddling so many fences probably led to the curious flat tone of his address but Basu made his point. He listed the manner in which India's policies belied the promises made 50 years ago and made a pointed reference to Emergency. This led to an unusual retort from Karan Singh, vice-chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund.
In his vote of thanks, Singh ridiculed Basu for not talking of the Partition and the creation of Bangladesh. ``I don't want to take you on Basu babu on what you said. After all, if it were not for a `historic blunder,' you would have been Prime Minister now. But I find that you have not mentioned the greatest tragedy of the 20th Century, Partition, which affected your own state.
``You talked of Emergency but you haven't mentioned the most significant event: creation of Bangladesh right next to your state,'' Singh said. It added a bit of tension to the evening. However, Nehru and his contributions provided total camaraderie between Sonia Gandhi and Basuon one hand, and other CPM and Congress leaders on the other. Among others listening were CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet, party politburo member Sitaram Yechuri, former President R Venkataraman and CWC member Manmohan Singh.
This was reflected in what Basu said. ``We need to mobilise the broad Left, democratic and secular forces to expose the bankruptcy of the present regime in Delhi. With optimism, we also notice healthy political developments in this context. The fact that the organisers have invited me to deliver this address, knowing very well that my views may not be in line with theirs, is encouraging.''
That, in short, is what the political future could hold in India. Harsh words were reserved for the BJP. ``Creating smaller states is a political weapon the BJP is using to create constituencies for itself.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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