Politics of petty personal self-interests

CP Bhambri
Professor Emeritus, Centre for Political Studies, JNU

T HE greatest challenge faced by India is that the "essence" of parliamentary democracy has been "eroded" by political-ideological prison and political praxis of the present regime and the worrisome situation is that all institutional arrangements for governance as defined by the Republican Constitution have been completely subordinated to the "dicta" of the present Political Chief Executive of India. Are the opposition parties intellectually, ideologically and politically prepared to defend the "basic structure" of Constitutional Democracy which is under threat by the RSS-trained swayam sevak and pracharak, the present Prime Minister of India? 

It is only an alliance of like-minded democratic opposition parties which can challenge and replace the present political and ideological "authoritarian" regime. Unfortunately, the major regional and sub-regional parties are either intellectually or politically not convinced on the need to form an alliance to replace the present ruling party at the Centre which is expanding itself and ruling the whole country. 

Why RSS-backed BJP is expanding

The following facts substantiate the argument that the RSS-supported BJP is expanding because the major opposition parties are not willing to stand up in defence of the Republican Constitution of India which is under serious threat by the Hindu Sangh Parivar: 

1 First, the CPI (M) has a clear intellectual understanding of the RSS ideology and the actual role which its swayam sevaks are playing from within the Central and state governments, and if authoritarian Hindutva forces have to be opposed and deposed, the CPI (M) on its own cannot perform these political tasks. It needs to form an alliance with an all-India secular, democratic Congress party and other democratic regional parties. However, the political line of the party precludes it from forming an anti-BJP alliance with the Congress. The main ideological and political opponent of the CPI (M) is not the Congress of today, but the Hindu RSS and BJP. The latest election results of the Tripura Assembly prove that it is the BJP from "nowhere" that has effectively challenged the 25 years of rule by the CPI (M). 

An impression exists among the Left and anti-BJP democratic elements in the country that the present counter-productive anti-Congress political line of the CPI (M) is not the logical product of its intellectual and political understanding but is based on some kind of factionalism within the 'leadership' of the party. It is not only that the RSS-BJP is the main political opponent of the CPI (M), the RSS-BJP is also the greatest threat to Indian democracy. The Communists are expected to fight against "authoritarianism" of the Hindu rashtravadis. However, on their own and without alliances with democratic political formations, including the Congress, this task cannot be performed. Is the CPM leadership ready to think its internal differences and confront the Hindu rashtravadis? 

2 Second, Nitish Kumar of Bihar had raised great hopes when he led an anti-BJP alliance and defeated that party in the state Assembly election. It was expected that the Bihar Model of Mahgathbandhan will be replicated in every state and at the all-India level and the BJP will be defeated by the alliance of secular parties. The hero of the anti-BJP secular alliance abandoned the ship of secularists and joined a coalition government with the BJP against which it had fought the election. The only explanation for this kind of political opportunism is that leaders like Nitish Kumar are guided by narrow and petty selfish interests because such leaders joined politics not for any public good but for self-advancement. How can such self-centered opportunist leaders fight fundamental ideological battles which are taking place in India? 

3 Third, Ms Mayawati of UP has not drawn any lesson from her decisive defeat at the hands of the BJP in the Lok Sabha election of 2014 and the state Assembly election of 2017. Does she have any future in politics without forming an anti-BJP alliance which is the main opponent of Mayawati in UP? However, she has shown some vision by allying with the SP recently though her politics remain mainly limited to the Dalit social constituency. Leaders like her are just frogs in a well and a small-time opportunist player. They are happy to promote their own interests because politics for them is an instrument for self-advancement only. 

4 Fourth, Ms Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP has added fuel to fire by continuing a coalition government formed by her father with a Hindu communal party in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley. Mufti had the option to form an alliance with secular parties of J&K, but her greed to occupy the office of CM and receive "funds" from the BJP government at the Centre made her opt for such a coalition in the state. She has completely alienated the people of the Kashmir Valley and by this action she has complicated the process of finding any solution to the Kashmir problem. How can such petty-minded political leader fight for principled ideological battles in politics?

These illustrations can be multiplied to substantiate the argument that many parties and their leaders have joined politics only to maximise benefits for themselves. 

Does anyone doubt that the Chief Political Executive of the Central Government is not "authoritarian"? The latest evidence substantiating this fact is his treatment of Mallikarjun Kharge who was invited as a mere "special invitee" for the Lokpal selection meeting on March 1. Authoritarian leaders, unlike leaders in a democracy, show "contempt" for the opposition and the opposition parties in India have enough experience of this kind of behaviour from the Central Government beginning 2014. 

The upshot of the above narrative is that a divided opposition will be swallowed by the big fish and it is in the enlightened self-interest of all opposition parties to form an anti-BJP alliance not only to fight the Lok Sabha Election of 2019, but also to struggle for the defence of the Republican Constitution of India. However, the BJP-RSS-Supreme Political Executive of Central Government of India is winning election after election by exploiting the dis-unity among the opposition parties. 

5 Finally, Opposition parties must learn a lesson from the Nazi Germany when Adolf Hitler could capture absolute power by liquidating warring opposition parties. Hitler succeeded because opposition parties were divided and they could not challenge his march to authority. Will history repeat itself in India?