Ahcumama, A Hero? My Foot!

So the Left has pulled back from the brink and Manmohan Singh can sigh in relief. But then, there is nothing new in the Left's decision to keep supporting the UPA government. Power is too sweet to let go!
My question is did we gain anything by all this tough talk, or did the Left gain anything? The Indo-US nuclear deal remains as it was.
From a personal viewpoint, though, I am happy the Left did not resort to its ancient tactic of calling strikes in Kerala and West Bengal against a central government that it supports. From Keralites and Bengalis: a huge "Thank You", Mr. Karat!
One reader tells me in his comment that I am full of Hindutva garbage. Wrong and right. Because I favor the Hindutva ideology, though it is not any of the particular flavors now afloat in India. My Hindutva leanings (though I don't think it would fit the connotations of that word) are a logical culmination of my thought that in a country with a 80 per cent Hindu population, you cannot avoid Hindu politics. Beyond that I don't think I am a Hindutva supporter.
The same reader tells me Pinarayi and Achumama are the true heroes of Kerala. I doubt if we can apply the word 'heroes' to either of the leaders, and I think definitely not to Achumama.
Achumama knows only wanton destruction, as I mentioned in an earlier post. And if his faction is being ousted (or cut down) from CPM committees in Kerala, he is just reaping what he sowed. I would like to repeat: this man single-handedly has sown the seeds of destruction in Kerala CPM and watched over those plants. He, along with cronies such as MM Lawerence, kicked out and ruined the political future of many earnest party workers. If he is getting paid back for some of those deeds, why cry about it now?
And in this new world I think it is Pinarayi's brand of Communism that will find more takers. Anyone who thinks Achu can be their savior is just living in a fool's paradise. The man is just living for fame, something that is never rightfully his, but which a media syndicate comprising of Veeran and others is trying to hand over to him.
But as I said, stay tuned for my post on Pinarayi and Achu. And, yes, more such stinging comments are welcome!

On Taslima And The Left

I am waiting to know how the Left Front government in West Bengal will react to the proclamation of an Imam from the state that he will reward anyone killing Bengladeshi woman writer Tasleema Nasrin. Well, I doubt the fundamentalist Imam will be jailed - the Left likes to cultivate the radical Islamists against Hindu vote politics. But how can you allow a weirdo to take the law of the land into his hands and issue death threats? As always, the Left would have two rules in this case too, I guess!

Mr Karat, Stop Biting The Hand That Feeds You!

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat's warning to the UPA government about the Indo-US nuclear deal is a step in the right direction. But I doubt if the CPM or the Left will go the whole way to stick to their stand, and let the government fall if they try to push through the deal in Parliament.
For long the Left has been acting like a toothless tiger, pushing the government on various issues and meekly giving way when the Congress pushed back. They did that in the name of not allowing the BJP to come to power. And then they resort to organizing strikes in Kerala and West Bengal against the central government that they support! The only ones who have suffered from this political joke have been the very people who elected the Left to power. The people in Delhi or elsewhere in the country have gone through their day's work without even knowing life had been brought to a standstill in Kerala and West Bengal. What a farce!
I hoped the Left will stop this game when Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu showed how to get what he wanted without any of the theatrics. I don't specifically remember the issue (it was about the trade unions in Neyveli Lignite Corporation, I think) but when the central government moved against his political interests Karunanidhi just sent word to the Prime Minister through one of his ministers that he is going to withdraw support. No noise, no nonsense. And no strikes in your state against a central government that depends on you for survival! It did the trick - the Center caved in! And the people of Tamil Nadu did not have to suffer any loss of business from a strike.
Newspapers across the country carried cartoons calling the Left's bluff the next day - comparing Karunanidhi with the Left. I really hoped the Left had learned its lesson then. I mean, when the central government is dependent on you for survival why put the very people who voted you to power through difficulties. The Tamil strongman showed what you can do if you did not know already that you could do it!
Still - this is the most unbelievable part of this tragedy - the Left has continued with the farce. They have continued their bluff, calling nationwide strikes against the Center that affect only Kerala and West Bengal. Plus regular statewide, disctrict-wide and even panchayat-level protests in the Kerala and West Bengal! If this isn't punishing the very people who gave you a voice at the national level, what is it?!
Okay, coming back to the point we started with, will the Left finally be able to show that it can bite and not just bark? I hope it will, but I don't think the old goats in the Politburo will go the whole hog. I strongly suspect it will be the same old story again. Power is too sweet to let go once you taste it, even if you are a Leftist! And it will be the unfortunate people in Kerala and West Bengal who will lose business - for the crime of voting for the Left. The Left's history shows it can bite only the hand that feeds it!