In politics it is always the immediate past that matters. At least it would appear so if one were to look at who’s talking and recall what these very same characters did in the not so distant past. Amnesia, selective or otherwise, seems to be a national affliction and perhaps is also the sole reason why politicians are what they are.
A few politicians and their recent utterings need special mention in this context. The Bengal tigress of the firebrand variety whose hype all but went up in smoke after the local body polls in the State now preaches to the nation on what to do with adamant allies. But it was just the other day, or rather days, when the same Mamata virtually held out an ultimatum for withdrawal of support and very nearly implemented her threat.
It was this very same ally who thwarted the BJP’s plans on the Deputy Speaker election. Her precarious relationship with the local BJP and her permanent war of attrition with it was one of the prime reasons for the CPI(M) romping home. And the reason why Mamata is still in the BJP front is because the Congress finds her an embarrassment especially in the light of its new found love to and from the Leftists.
Really, the life line from Bengal has all along been a very uncertain one and the lady’s pendulum like swings from the secular to the communal have been a cause of great concern for the BJP. In fact, even today this very stable lady has announced her displeasure over Hegde meeting her bete noir, Jyothi Basu, and she even claims that the BJP had promised that none of its ministers would ever call on the Bengal CM.
Mamata would surely top the suspects list if the BJP has prepared one, owing to its lingering doubts over her links with Congress. And if the situation arose the BJP would only be too happy to dispense with her, a suggestion she has made regarding an-other ally. Strange, therefore, that Mamata should be crying wolf.
Again, there is our very rational CM whose memory would rank as the best in political history. That is, when found expedient. But when confronted with embarrassing situations, his memory would conveniently fail him. He now talks like a paragon of political morality and says that if things go as they are moving, there is bound to be a mid-term poll, which he hastens to add is not in the nation’s interest.
We should now ask our very responsible CM what necessitated the last elections. Was it not his and his nephew’s undiluted love for power and office and their stern refusal to stay out of the government even for a minute that precipitated the crisis? Of course one can argue that the Congress was a bit too intransigent, but whatever happened to the DMK’s present wisdom about the ills of frequent polls? We should not ask, but we do know the answers.
After all it is not often that a rump party manages to amble to power both at the centre and the state and it would be asking for too much from the DMK to step out in national interest. Had it done so, an expensive election might have been avoided, the ‘communal’ forces could have been kept at bay, the UF might have survived for a few more years and India would have been a land flowing with milk and honey … and one can go on and on.
Alas, it was not to be. Reason? The DMK and its chief thought their interests were paramount vis-a-vis nation. But then why is this sudden enlightenment about the perils of a mid-term poll? Because, in the eventuality of an AIADMK pull-out, the DMK could most certainly step in..yes, yes, only after the party fora had okayed it.
And if we were to think that DMK and MK are synonymous, we have been woefully misled by the fact that the Sun TV HQ and Arivalayam are one and the same. And rest assured, the DMK has only been ‘forced’ to do it for the sake of the country, to relieve it from the turmoil of yet another election and not for its own survival. Responsible, indeed.
There is also yet another leader who has taken exception to the politics of blackmail. Only that Moopanar’s memory also needs to be brushed up. A short walk down memory lane to the April of 1997 would help. That was when an old man in a hurry pulled the rug from under a humble farmer who was at the helm.
There was delay of almost three weeks before a change of guard could be effected and a further delay of more than a week for governance to resume because the TMC feigned hurt. Was it for upholding any national interest or on any issue of concern to the people? On the contrary the TMC decided to up its self-respect antennae in a fit of wild rage just because its leader was deprived of Prime Ministership.
And based on this profound slight to its leader’s personal ego, the party decided to stay out of the government and had to be literally cajoled into joining the cabinet. Of course, everyone knew that they would eventually join, yet the TMC had its revenge at the cost of the nation. In fact, the TMC ministers were sworn in separately. One can easily recall quite a few occasions during the chequered UF rule when the DMK or TMC created tensions in the UF just based on imagined insults.
It is therefore ironic that these politicians should now attempt to sound very moralistic, conveniently glossing over their own indiscretions in the past. To be sure, it is futile to talk of high moral grounds for they do not exist in today’s politics, having been levelled long back and what exists now are just immoral pits into which all politicians, have jointly and severally, plunged the nation.
e-mail the writer at
[email protected]