Karate Kattas

Shafi Rahman
INDIA TODAY July 17, 2008

Last week when Prakash Karat drove his mud-splashed white Ambassador car to meet with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati in a surprise political move, it seemed like a new journey for the CPI(M) general secretary-from the walled garden of AKG Bhavan into the wilds of heartland politics proper.
Karat's move came at a time when he was being increasingly isolated, with even leaders from his own flock raising objections to his decision to vote alongside the BJP against the UPA Government.
By aligning with Mayawati, once the Left's bete noire, it seems Karat is trying to mold himself into a street smart politician to ensure the Congress does not end up winning the numbers game.
Emerging out of the meeting, Karat declared: "Mayawati reiterated her opposition to the deal. It was decided that there should be cooperation to stop the deal, and in the struggle against the UPA Government."
Karat is matching the brave words with some brave actions. He expects to fracture the Samajwadi Party (SP), a "natural ally" which ditched him midway, with the help of BSP.
With the Left breaking away from the SP for the first time since 1989 and joining hands with Mayawati, the BSP will be able to scrape off some of the "anti-minority" patina earned with its association with the BJP.
Though it will not mean much electorally for the Left, the move would embolden the Mayawati camp planning to woo fence-sitters prior to the crucial trust vote on July 22. The flowering political romance with Mayawati is only part of the picture.
Karat's gameplan also includes wooing smaller parties which could swing the confidence vote away from the Congress. Parties like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Janata Dal (S), Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and National Conference (NC), with a total of 13 MPs, are also being wooed with equal fervour.
While TDP leaders Chandrababu Naidu and Yerran Naidu have been entrusted with the task of wooing JD(S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda and TRS leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Karat himself is trying his persuasion skills with the NC.
Karat's plunge into street politics comes with a price. It has made him retract on contentious ideological issues. The CPI(M) had once termed Kanshi Ram a CIA agent and the BSP founder had returned the compliment by describing the Left as "green snake in the green grass".
Even the draft of the political resolution circulated in the recent 19th party congress of the CPI(M) had said that "the victory of the BSP in Uttar Pradesh highlights the challenges posed by the growing political mobilisation based on caste identities".
The reference to the BSP was diluted later when the political resolution was adopted at the party congress which, however, said that "a serious challenge is today posed by the growing political mobilisation based on caste identities".
Yet, so desperate is Karat to prevent the nuclear deal with the US from going through that such ideological compromises are now acceptable. That also comes with a price.
As the dust settles on Karat's decision to withdraw support to the UPA, his party is barely holding together. Karat is having to battle growing uneasiness among some party leaders over the decision to vote alongside the BJP.
West Bengal Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty said that voting with the BJP would be against the party's policies "that will take years to explain the blunder".
With his political opponents also taking up Chakraborty's arguments, Karat says that the Congress has no right to blame the Left as it had voted with the BJP to bring down the V.P. Singh government in 1990 and later "conspired" to remove the governments of H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997 and I.K. Gujral in 1998.
"We have never said that we are voting with the BJP. We have talked to other parties, not to the BJP. If other parties want to talk to us, we cannot push them out. We are voting against the UPA because of its policies. If the BJP wants to vote against (UPA), they have a right to do so," says Karat.
The air of desperation will grow more evident if Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee decides to light another fire. He rebuffed Karat for not consulting him before adding his name to the list submitted to President Pratibha Patil by making public his plans to continue in the office.
He also shot off a stinker to Karat, which said that voting with the BJP triggered his decision to hold on to the Speaker's post. Chatterjee's decision, unusual in the party known for cadre discipline, has also diverted Karat's focus from his high-stake fight against the UPA.
Karat, on a fire-fighting mode, faxed Chatterjee's letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who rushed to Chatterjee's mentor Jyoti Basu asking him to intervene on the behalf of the party.
The issue of voting against the Government alongside the BJP is expected to come up for discussion in the Central Committee meet scheduled on the weekend.
That doesn't mean the long knives are out for him, and Karat is expected to ram his decision through the CPI(M)'s most powerful body, when the party congress is not in session.
Known for wariness to engage in political manoeuvres, Karat has transformed himself into a street fighter in a matter of a few days. Whether that new avatar makes him a better politician will be revealed on Tuesday.

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