O J's Corner : Reflections

Left veto

The Left parties supporting the United Progressive Alliance Government led by Dr Manmohan Singh from outside feel that they have the veto power over whatever issues they want to project.

They want to draw a line to tell the government to go this much and nothing beyond. That is the prerogative they have drawn from the coalition government.

The Telugu Desam Party led by Chandrababu Naidu was supporting the NDA Government led by A B Vajpayee from outside. TDP used to extract a pound of flesh from the NDA Government on many counts. But it had not gone to this extent as the Left parties are doing with the UPA Government.

Manmohan Singh was quoted as saying immediately before the recent Assembly elections that the Left would clamour for the extreme. He thought they would go to this extent only till the elections were over.

Now he appears to be convinced that the Left parties are fleecing the UPA Government. It seems Singh would not go on pleasing the Left dispensation to the extent that they want. He would like to drive the point home to them that there should be give and take.

Any government has to take measures that would balance with the world affairs. In the global village no one can cocoon himself into a vault and solve the people’s problems.

If the Left parties are ruling the country by themselves, they would not be able to go the whole hog on issues like fuel price hike, import policies, co-operation with the US and the like.

The Left appears to see the red whenever the US comes into the picture. The world is not bipolar. It is unipolar, led by the US, which has acknowledged the special status of India in nuclear affairs.

Lately, it has not equated India with Pakistan. It is not dealing with India as it is dealing with countries like Iran and North Korea on this issue. That does not mean that India should kowtow to the US. But it has to co-operate with it as with other countries or more.

This assertion does not mean that the Left parties should not raise their voice. Let them voice their protest, but governance should proceed on standards based on a world footing. That is what China is doing and Russia is trying to do.

India has immense potential by way of human resources and hard-working personnel on many fronts.

In spite of having been riding piggyback on the erstwhile Soviet Union for geo-political reasons, and the Soviet Union having collapsed head-on, India has not collapsed. On the contrary, it has been gaining strength in myriad fields.

Definitely, India’s farmers need a better deal. They should not be left to fend for themselves in the vagaries of the monsoons. They should be put on a proper financial pedestal.

The Left parties, in fact, should channel their unlimited energy through the workforce to secure a better deal for the farmers. The working class is already organised. If they go on making demands endlessly, they may secure many plums at the expense of the unorganised farmers. The study classes and training should be arranged in such a way that they should help the farmers.

Actually the problems of the farmers and the working class should not be equated. Farmers have special problems as they have no regular income like the working class. Special problems need special attention for which the working class should also contribute.

Let the bogey of stirs be dovetailed reasonably to enable the government rule the country and help the farmers first.