New Delhi, Living on the edge and preparing for a cliff hanger in the form of confidence vote on the issue of Indo-U.S nuclear deal is bringing out the best as well as the worst in the Indian politics to the surface. The ugly face is shown in terms of deals being made which include the criminals behind bars as well as those who are prepared to sell their vote for few zeroes which in modern times are worth few crores.

No party engaged in the current battle will emerge with their reputation for honesty, principles or ideology intact. The winner will be finally the Indian democracy as the loser will vacate the chair or stay on depending on the choice of the Lok Sabha members. The margin of defeat or victory will have no meaning except to become a matter of records.

In the battle no rules of engagement are being followed and one can not help but recall, how all rules were broken or violated as the battle of Mahabharta progressed in great Indian epic. The Left who were so far keen to keep the communal forces out are not only joining hands with them but are holding strategy sessions. They have now also forgotten their commitment to casteless society or need for honesty and transparency in politics by turning on their charms to win the affection of Mayawati.

The Left is not worried if their tactics are upsetting their old and distinguished leadership represented by old patriach Jyoti Basu or Speaker of the Lok Sabha , Mr. Som Nath Chatterjee.They are certainly not alone in feeling uncomfortable in the company of the Saffron brigade . The party General Secretary, Mr Prakash Karat who has polished his political skills in halls of JNU has no such compunctions as he believes that all those who are prepared to make common cause with them are welcome to join hands.

In such an atmosphere one wonders what made Dr Manmohan Singh risk the future of his Government by opting for the deal which can cut short the tenure of his Government. The cause of the deal is understood by very few in India and is not likely to win many votes when the elections are held. But Dr Singh is not a politician in true sense of the world as he has no vote bank or following among his own sect. His constituency is small group of intellectuals or thinkers who hold him in esteem as one person who turned around the Indian economy when it was close to bankruptcy and made it a vibrant one which has been growing at a rate which can be matched only by China.

For him the political deals have no meaning as he carried out economic reforms under the leadership of Mr. Narasimha Rao who paid the political price by failing to win the confidence of the country when he failed to win the mandate in the poll. At present there is a serious danger of history repeating itself when Ms Sonia Gandhi faces the electorate in early 2009 or middle of 2009.The only consolation will be that verdict will not be impacted by the voting on the deal in Lok Sabha. There are many who hope that some people will be influenced by the principled stand taken by Prime Minister. Many who earlier described the Dr. Manmohan Singh as the weakest Prime Minister in Indian history will have to grudgingly accept that he probably is among very few who have sacrificed his office and the Government for a principle instead of compromising. The Left will take a long time to recover from their current record of compromising with Saffron brigade. The next call on them may be to join hands with BJP to install a Government in Delhi as there is no prospect of Left even when combined with third front of getting a manadate to rule the Centre. With Congress no more in their reckoning they probably will have to move ahead with their chosen allies in this battle.

Both BJP and Left can not avoid a future tie up as is being witnessed on the issue of nuclear deal. There was time when the Left parties made compromise with British and American allies to fight Nazis and thus betrayed the freedom movement. While looking for allies and winning votes, both camps must realize that there are no free lunches and price of political opportunism is always high and in this case the day of reckoning may come sooner than expected.

If the UPA Government falls in the crucial test the Left will have to tone down their anti-communalism while BJP may have to put Americans in the category of number one enemy to retain friendship and support of Left parties. At the same time there will be a third voice seeking coronation of Mayawati as future Prime Minster of the country. This would certainly make the sculptors happy as she would be able to order large number of her own statues and those of her mentors to keep them busy for her full term.

Whatever be the outcome of the battle on nuclear front, there will be plenty to keep people amused as our politicians set new records of their ability to make new friends every day and dump them next day being true followers of the dictum that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics.

Source - NPA

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