Polls Again Finally its poll time again for a new parliament CPI(M) on Fresh Polls CPI(M) Polit Bureau statement on fresh polls scenario

Political Correspondent

After the drama over the last nine days, the country is now faced with a phenomenon which it had tried consciously to avoid at this juncture. The elections are on the country but the scenario is as confusing as ever. The last few days saw a see-saw battle as had not been witnessed for a long time in our form of parliamentary democracy with politicians behaving like chess players and every move calculated to bring down the next, immediate opposition. In the event, however, it the people of India which has won; after all, now they _ and only they _ have rightfully been given the chance to select a government of its choice. The elections, though at a time when the nation can ill afford another in so short a time span, are thus welcome. If for nothing else, then for its ability to let the people decide for themselves what is right for them. Therein, lies the significance of the victory of democracy this time.

It would be worthwhile, however, for the records as it were, to go over the drama once again that kept the nation on tenterhooks and finally exposed the machinations of a few politicians for whom state-level considerations were paramount even in face of national interests. To begin with, a tottering Vajpayee government was voted out by a single poll in the confidence vote in Parliament, unprecedented in the history of parliamentary democracy in India. The CPI(M), leader of the Left movement, had wanted the government out at any cost saying that the first priority of the nation would be see the BJP out of power, ruining as it was the nation's economy as well as the avowed secular fabric character of the nation. The AIADMK, led by Ms Jayalalitha, had been sparring for quite a long time against her then ally, the BJP, but finally decided to pull out of the coalition enforcing the confidence vote. Immediately, she started making noises about being ``overjoyed'' at the prospects of West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu becoming the next Prime Minister and this was seized upon by the Third Front led by the Left and other parties like the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal. However, matters were to unfold quickly taking almost parties both by surprise and their eventual consequence. The Congress seemed confident of leading a government and Ms Sonia Gandhi even went ahead to say that she had the support of 272 MPs, which was to come down, over the next few hours, to a pathetic 239 after Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav refused to support any coaltion or minority government led by the Congress. Party managers were working overtime, statements and rebuttals were being issued by the minute and the President had no choice but to allow matters to take a steady turn when he could take a decision to the satisfaction of all.

In the meantime, the CPI(M) held an emergency Politburo meeting in Delhi on Sunday and said that it did not have the numbers to run any ``arrangement'' and that it was up to the Congress to take the ``initiative.'' This was the second time that the politburo had shot down any possible participation in government by the CPI(M) after 1996. Ms Gandhi went and met the President and told newsmen that she tried her best but had failed to garner the numbers required to form a government. But, she made it clear _ and which eventually forced the President's hand in calling for mid-term elections _that her party would not support any other ``third front or fourth front.'' Clearly, Ms Gandhi was trying to get at Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav who had put the spokes in her efforts to form the government by refusing to support the Congress at any level and opting for Mr Basu as leader of a possible Third Front government. Again, the RSP and Forward Bloc, two partners of significance in the Left, also rejected the question of supporting the Congress. The stage thus was set for nothing else but elections and the die has now been cast for the nation to again plunge itself into the activity of casting votes to elect its new rulers.

In the meantime, what is bothering the masses is the fact that the run-up to the elections, given the six-month time frame within which the elections are to be held, would give time to the BJP caretaker government to systematically manipulate matters to its advantage. The President's role in this thus becomes supreme; he must ensure that the role of the caretaker government in holding fresh elections is marked out to the satisfaction of all the parties. The BJP must not be allowed to hold elections in which other parties and, by logic, the people, are denied their legitimitate right to indulge in the process.

Obviously, the country has entered the era of coalition politics. The trends and the events over the last few months have clearly proved this. The Left has now assumed the role of a major player in the national scenario as has been proved by the prospect of Mr Basu leading the country's government. All the Left leaders have time and again talked of the ``increased responsibility'' of the movement in the changed circumstances in which single -party rule seems to be a relic of history. The BJP will try hard and hold on its advantage of being the leader of the caretaker government. It is now for the Left, and the CPI(M) to counter that and improve upon the national image that the recent happenings have bestowed on the movement. Ahead of the elections, it is now consolidation that should be of paramount importance to the Left. With that slogan, the elections should be taken as yet another step forward march of the movement and its influence in the nation.