Congress has Betrayed the People: Jyoti Basu

KOLKATA,16th March: In a rally of the Left Front activists in Yuvabharati Krirangan (Salt Lake stadium) on 16th March in Kolkata, veteran communist leader Comrade Jyoti Basu accused the Congress of betraying the people. He could not be physically present at the meeting because of his health condition, but his address was telecast on video screens in the stadium.

Jyoti Basu said, “the forthcoming Lok Sabha election is an important political struggle for the Left. The outcome of this struggle will determine who will form the next government at the Centre. The Left Front wants to stop the BJP from forming the next government. The Congress has not kept its commitments made in the Common Minimum Program. They are aligning our country with the United States. Neither do they learn from their mistakes nor do they adhere to principles. In this context we want an alternative government at the Centre, which will work in the interests of the people, adhere to secularism and pursue an independent foreign policy. The Left Front in West Bengal should be made victorious in order to form of such a government at the Centre”.

Addressing the Left Front activists, Jyoti Basu said: “You know that I am ill because of which I am not being able to attend today’s meeting. It would have been nice had I been able to be there in person. However, I am confident that you will ably discharge the responsibility that has come upon you. I also believe that the people of the state will defeat the unprincipled alliance of the opposition and ensure the victory of the Left Front”.

“In order to stop the communal forces and prevent the BJP from coming to power, we had supported the UPA Government for some time. This was unthinkable earlier. We had supported the Congress party, which we had fought all along and continue to fight today, just to ensure that the BJP does not come to power. We had supported the Congress on the basis of the Common Minimum Program. But the Congress has betrayed the people”.

“This state has a rich tradition of struggles. We have built the Left Front through years of struggle. All of you have contributed to the strengthening of the Left Front Government over the years. Due to illness I retired from the Chief Minster’s post six months before the Assembly Elections in 2001. Our Central Committee had decided that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya should first become the Deputy Chief Minister and subsequently the Chief Minister of the state. Accordingly, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is now the Chief Minister of the Left Front Government. The Left Front Government has consistently worked for the betterment of the people. That is why our state has emerged as a front ranking in several areas. For instance, we have redistributed 13 lakh acres of land to the peasants. This has not happened anywhere else in the country. We have ensured the rights and dignity of the people. We have established the rights of the peasants, workers, middle class and the poor people. We have done a lot. At the same time a lot remains to be done.

Jyoti Basu said "Agriculture has to be developed further. Maintaining our front ranking position among the states in agriculture, we have to involve our agriculture universities and scientists to further increase agricultural production. We have to use industrialization to ensure employment opportunities for the young men and women who are studying in schools and colleges. Many industrialists are coming to the state to set up industries. We have to use this opportunity. It should be remembered that the land that we are acquiring for industries is being done after paying adequate compensation. The compensation paid to the farmers in our state has no parallel in the country. We are laying emphasis on the upliftment of the disadvantaged sections like the minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But the opposition wants to mislead the people against our programmes. They have no policies or principles. They want to hold back the development of West Bengal. For this they are striking unprincipled alliances”.

Jyoti Basu expressed his confidence that the people of West Bengal will ensure the victory of the Left Front defeating the unprincipled alliance of the opposition.

Vote for more responsible government at centre: Jyoti Basu

Kolkata,7th February,2009: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, former West Bengal chief minister and Marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu on Saturday said politicians and people should work together for a "better and more responsible government" at the centre.

"It's high time politicians and the public worked together to form a better and more responsible government (at the centre). Hence I request all people through the media to cast their votes as well as make sure that their neighbours exercise this democratic right too this election," Basu told the media at his Salt Lake residence here.

The nonagenarian, who is a veteran of the Communist Party of India-Marxist - CPI(M) that has been in power in West Bengal since 1977, called upon people to exercise their democratic right in the Lok Sabha polls in April-May.

The CPI(M), along with three other left parties, had provided crucial outside support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that came to power at the centre in the 2004 elections, but withdrew last year to oppose the India-US civil nuclear deal.

Coming down heavily on the state's opposition parties, primarily the Trinamool Congress, Basu said they only wanted to make West Bengal a backward state.

"The parties who are opposing the CPI(M)-backed Left Front in the coming Lok Sabha elections don't want any development - be it social, economic or political - to take place in the state. And they are thrusting their opinion on people using firearms," Basu said.

"These parties have neither a definite political agenda, nor any principle. All they are concerned about is making West Bengal a backward state. They want to harm the state and its people."

"In the absence of morality and political knowledge, all these parties understand is to make people obey them by threatening them with firearms," Basu said.

WALK THE TALK WITH JYOTI BASU

A Congress-led

coalition is what

we are hoping,

working for:

Jyoti Basu

With exit polls predicting a hung House, CPM leader Jyoti Basu is back in the thick of things. He spoke to Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, on the ‘historic blunder’ that still rankles him and why Cong, led by Sonia, may be ready to run a successful coalition govt. Excerpts from the interview telecast on NDTV 24X7's Walk the Talk( Posted online: Monday, May 03, 2004 at 1040 hours IST,Updated: Tuesday, May 04, 2004 at 0252 hours IST at http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=30989 ) :

Shekhar Gupta: My guest today is the last of the long marchers in our politics, in fact, perhaps the last of the great Communists or comrades anywhere in the world. But even at the age of 90, his journey is far from over. In fact, he perhaps thinks that his journey has come to a very interesting turning point right now in these elections. Welcome to Walk The Talk, Mr Jyoti Basu. Very nice of you to agree to speak with us. I know you are very busy campaigning in the elections.

Jyoti Basu: Yes, unfortunately even at this age and with my health...I have to. I never thought that this elections I would face because I thought it would happen five or six months later...And two rounds of elections have been there. And from the reports which I gather from newspapers and from my friends, I feel that BJP will go down. Their numbers will go down. Congress will come up.

But nobody can get a majority it seems. Because they are dependent, now the coalition partners are there with the Congress, with the BJP. It seems eight or nine parties have deserted the BJP. Who they are, I do not know. How many MPs they have, I do not know. But in any case, looks like a hung Parliament may come off. And then, parties have to sit together, non-communal parties on the one side, communal parties on the other side and then decide on the minimum programme, on which we lay a lot of stress, it has to be there. (It) cannot be any party’s programme but minimum common programme as we have in West Bengal, and then we have to choose the prime minister also.

So that is what we are telling the people during election meetings that that will be decided later. It has happened before in India, so this is nothing new. When the 12-party government was formed, we couldn’t find a prime minister, so they offered me. But anyway, my party didn’t agree but we supported that government from outside and we were...

Shekhar Gupta: We’ll come to the question of your party not agreeing but tell me, nobody knows Indian politics better than you. You’ve been in public life for 64 years now?

Jyoti Basu: 64 years.

Shekhar Gupta: So today, forget exit polls, forget opinion polls, do you see a Congress-led coalition in power, three weeks from now?

Jyoti Basu: That is what we are hoping for, we are working for. But it doesn’t depend on us only, but the smaller parties, but other smaller parties, but mainly on the Congress. But one good thing has happened. We’ve been telling the Congress that you can’t have a single party majority, ever. At least in the near future, we don’t see any possibility. So you must think about a coalition, which they refused last time when the BJP lost by one vote. And so nothing happened. And now it seems they’ve changed. In their Shimla meeting they said that coalition is the way out.

Shekhar Gupta: So now Indian politics is finding a direction. This is a BJP-led coalition versus a Cong-led coalition?

Jyoti Basu: That’s right, correct.

Shekhar Gupta: And that will be the direction for some time now?

Jyoti Basu: Some time now. That’s right.

Shekhar Gupta: If these projections are right, do you think the BJP made a mistake by announcing an early poll.

Jyoti Basu: I think so. You see that didn’t work. I don’t see any effect of that anywhere. So now in their programme, I find that the Ram temple issue has been raised. So whoever their partners are at the moment, eight or nine have left them. I do not know all of them. So they have also to think if they are non-communal, if they are secular. But BJP very soon found out after spending crores of government money on ads...

Shekhar Gupta: India Shining...

Jyoti Basu: Feel good, India Shining and all the rest of it, that didn’t work. So they brought into the forefront the RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal and all their programmes. Other, Hindutva or what they call Hindutva.

Shekhar Gupta: Hindutva, I think, and also Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, which is now emerging...

Jyoti Basu: That also I will come (to)...but that I don’t think is having much effect. I don’t know in the northern part of India but here, it doesn’t have any effect. But there are some people even in the Congress who talk about this foreign origin.

Shekhar Gupta: Who feel uneasy?

Jyoti Basu: But we can’t stop her. Because if she wants to become the prime minister, (she is) the largest party leader. Because under the Constitution, she is an Indian citizen. She has all the rights which Indian citizens have.

Shekhar Gupta: But the NDA has said they will bring in a law to bar people of foreign origin from holding high offices.

Jyoti Basu: Yes, yes, if they come to government, they have made it clear they will bring such a law. It exists in some countries but we shall oppose it. We don’t like it at all.

Shekhar Gupta: For what reasons?

Jyoti Basu: Well, she has married an Indian, she’s got Indian citizenship. A person like that, how can you prevent them from participating in politics? Or her children?

Shekhar Gupta: But tomorrow, there can be a situation that the NDA falls short and there is a prospect of a non-NDA, or what you call a secular, alliance coming to power. Suppose two parties in that alliance say we will support the alliance but no Sonia. They bring in the foreigner issue.

Jyoti Basu: I told you that it is only after the results are out, elections are over, that that will be decided by the parties who want to get together to form a secular government to decide on the prime minister as well as the common minimum programme.

Shekhar Gupta: But if the Congress then chooses, Congress is the government and partner, they choose Sonia Gandhi ?

Jyoti Basu: I don’t think we should have any objection. I, at least, will not have any.

Shekhar Gupta: The Left will not have an objection?

Jyoti Basu: She’s working for the Congress, her party.

Shekhar Gupta: But you had objections in the past.

Jyoti Basu: I never had any objection. When I was asked when she first joined politics, I said I had known her from earlier times when Rajiv was there. I had dinner, lunch and all that with them and she was a housewife. But housewives also (laughs) have the right to come into politics. I am very happy about it.

Shekhar Gupta: So you see her as a housewife...

Jyoti Basu: She has been working very hard, it seems. Her only problem was Hindi. So I asked her. She said no, my children of course speak Hindi very well, but I have also picked up.

Shekhar Gupta: When did you ask her about her Hindi?

Jyoti Basu: I asked her...

Shekhar Gupta: No, when?

Jyoti Basu: That was about three, three or four months back. When I was ill, I went to hospital for four-and-a-half days. I went for my Central Committee meeting. I came back home, then she came and saw me.

Shekhar Gupta: And, you questioned her on her Hindi?

Jyoti Basu: Then, I said, of course we spoke in English, but (laughs) I said that (her picking up Hindi) is very good because that is what you need, particularly in northern India where you are standing for the elections.

Shekhar Gupta: What other advice did you give her? That’s fascinating...

Jyoti Basu: No, we told her from the party that you must talk about a coalition. In India today, unfortunately after 56 years of Independence, we don’t have the two-party system. Two-party system will not work. So one has to have allies and you must seek allies even before the election. We shall support you, your candidates wherever we are not there. Kerala, Tripura...

Shekhar Gupta: What other personal advice did you give her besides saying learn Hindi and talk about coalitions?

Jyoti Basu: We told her that you must mix with the people that you know very well. You’ve been to meetings during Rajiv’s time also. You didn’t speak there but you went with him, you saw the reaction of the crowd.

Shekhar Gupta: So you think, after all this education, Sonia Gandhi has changed for the better? Is she a good learner?

Jyoti Basu: I think so. She has (learnt). I wish her certainly good luck. Because again, I say it is the biggest non-communal party in the Opposition. And they’ve committed mistakes. I hope they’ve understood some of that. I don’t know. But from their programme, I’m not very satisfied. So, if they can, Congress party can form a government along with allies...

Shekhar Gupta: But do you see some atonement, some prayashchit or some introspection, in the Congress party for what mistakes you think they’ve made?

Jyoti Basu: In the economic sphere, they made a lot of mistakes. And it is Dr Manmohan Singh who was the Finance Minister. He started this, blindly accepting World Bank policies and IMF policies...We didn’t like that. And, of course, I asked him once. He said but in my time not a single public sector undertaking was sold. Now they’ve modified it a bit. I see in the programme, their programme. But it will be a common minimum programme (for a coalition), it cannot be their programme.

Shekhar Gupta: But that is the other issue. The issue of economic reforms. Now just the exit polls have seen the markets dropping and stock markets falling. There is a lot of anxiety about economic reform and the direction of India’s economy. Would you say that this is an undue concern?

Jyoti Basu: No, no, this is very much...people are concerned with the economy. And learning from the past mistakes, the mistakes of the BJP government and all that, we should work out a programme where we can stand on our own feet but also get technology, finance and other things from outside, but we must be selective. Not blindly accept whatever these people are saying.

It is they who are responsible—the World Bank and IMF—for the downfall of the South-East Asian economy, which is gathering strength now. But that went down. Indonesia went down. And there’s a book written by the chief economic advisor to the World Bank...

Shekhar Gupta: (Joseph) Stiglitz?

Jyoti Basu: Stiglitz. I read that, it’s wonderful...from his experience...

Shekhar Gupta: Globalisation and its Discontents...

Jyoti Basu: Yes. He says it’s not working, particularly...

Shekhar Gupta: But even he’s not anti-reform, anti-globalisation or anti-reform.

Jyoti Basu: No, no, he’s for globalisation. That is there but the alternative he’s not said. He’s for globalisation, but he says mistakes have been committed so he resigned, and he’s written that book. We should also read that book, understand it. And then he says that is why Indonesia went down, South-East Asia went down, Latin America, some went down...

Shekhar Gupta: But India did not go down...

Jyoti Basu: India, that way, did not go down but did not advance...

Shekhar Gupta: As much as it could have...

Jyoti Basu: Our unemployment situation is very, very serious. Because, particularly the educated unemployed we find, because the programme which was there for the unemployed youth, all that is not there. Nothing has been done by the BJP government. The BJP-led government always talked about giving one crore jobs a year...

Shekhar Gupta: But it hasn’t happened...

Jyoti Basu: It hasn’t happened.

Shekhar Gupta: What you are saying is that reform or globalisation or free markets may by themselves not be bad but you have to be sensible in the way you implement those policies...
Jyoti Basu: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Shekhar Gupta: And to that extent, are you happy with the way your successor is doing?

Jyoti Basu: He has also invited foreigners here. When I was the chief minister, I went abroad four or five times to address industrialists there and talk about our economic situation. And some result was there...Philips, the Siemens and some others came. Then petrochemical...

Shekhar Gupta: So, you don’t see MNCs by themselves as a bad thing?

Jyoti Basu: No, this is capitalist globalisation, you see. It helps only a few. I find he writes, Stiglitz, that even in America, the poorer sections, the numbers of poor people have grown.

Shekhar Gupta: But when your government here or your successor’s invites MNCs, or gets Japanese investment, Mitsubishi...or gets the DFID money to close down loss-making companies, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Jyoti Basu: No, no, Mitsubishi was already there. During my time, they came. When Haldia Petrochemical (came up), I had to wait 13 years to get permission from the Central Government. Rajiv was there, he went along with me and then laid the foundation stone. So this is just one example. In Salt Lake, where you are questioning me, Bidhan Nagar we call it, there is the electronic sector where 17,000 boys and girls are working everyday. And Indira Gandhi, having promised to help me, did not help me. We helped ourselves.

Shekhar Gupta: But the kind of reform that your successor is now doing, you see that as good reform?

Jyoti Basu: Of course. That is within our policy. In 1994, I placed on the floor of the Assembly our industrial policy as asked by the...

Shekhar Gupta: Would you say that the argument in Indian politics today is not whether there should be reform or not but what kind or direction of reform should take place?

Jyoti Basu: Reform has to be there, there is no doubt about that. But the point is you must not forget 70 per cent of the people in the villages.

Shekhar Gupta: So, Mr Basu, if a new coalition government is put together under the leadership of the Congress, as you think is inevitable now, if that change happens, you would say there is no threat to economic reform?

Jyoti Basu: There has to be reform. But what I said was, earlier also, that we must not blindly follow the World Bank prescription and the IMF prescription. We should think on our own and then we should try to stand on our own feet. Now they’ve got a minister who is selling industries which during Indira’s time or Jawaharlal’s time were built up. That is why I said even the sick industries which are with the government, they should try to revive some of them. If they can’t, very well, close them, but they’re doing nothing of the kind. All sending it to BIFR, and so many are closing in various states.

Shekhar Gupta: Your own CM in the state is selling a lot of public sector industries. In fact, he is selling a lot of public sector industries with the DFID money.

Jyoti Basu: Yes, that’s right. With British aid. They have earlier also helped us in education.

Shekhar Gupta: So you approve of that?

Jyoti Basu: I have no objection. No conditionality should be there. And they come every year to see what is happening, on the ground.

Shekhar Gupta: So you don’t mind investment...

Jyoti Basu: If there are mutual interests, I don’t mind.

Shekhar Gupta:...or deregulation?

Jyoti Basu: No, but this policy which the Congress government had about industries, that policy, of course, they had to give up because of outside pressure and our pressure also. Our industrialists, when they used to go to Delhi, they used to be told if you are investing in Bengal, then there is no hope. If you go anywhere else, we sign. Now that system is no longer there. That has helped us.

Shekhar Gupta: But when you start building this coalition, if it comes to that, then there are partners, Mulayam Singh Yadav for example, who are very opposed to the idea of somebody from foreign origin becoming PM. You think that problem is now solvable?

Jyoti Basu: I think it will be solved. It will be solved. If they are the biggest party, the strongest party with a lot of MPs, then how can one object? If they elect Sonia as their president or leader of the party in Parliament? But anyway, we have to discuss.

Shekhar Gupta: And if they are the biggest party you cannot also tell them what to do and what not to do.

Jyoti Basu: What, how can they dictate to them? Only thing is we want a common minimum programme, I say again and again. It is very, very important for us, which we had during the 12-party coalition government which we supported from outside...

Shekhar Gupta: But that did not happen when the UF government was there. Too many conditions were put, the Congress will not come in, the Cong will come in, there will not be a steering committee...

Jyoti Basu: No, Congress itself agreed that it will support from outside. So we accepted it. Only in my party, there was division (laughs). Anyway, we worked for that coalition.

Shekhar Gupta: In fact, that’s the question that I know you expect to be asked everytime somebody speaks with you. The division in your party and what you described as the ‘historic blunder’.

Jyoti Basu: Yes, I still think it was a historic blunder. Why historic? Because such an opportunity does not come. History does not give such opportunity. Knowing who I am—a Marxist, a Communist, in the party here, for so many years I’ve been in politics, they invited me because they had no other prime minister in view. So we thought that even if we last for one year in that coalition with myself as the prime minister and our party joining it, then people would understand backward sections of the people. In many places, they don’t even know us. What we are all about.

Shekhar Gupta: Why do you say the opportunity is lost? It could happen again in this election?

Jyoti Basu: It could but at that time, I said I don’t see any possibility. Even today, you see, if in the coalition the Congress wins, for instance, the largest non-communal party, they have to agree to a minimum programme. Otherwise...

Shekhar Gupta: And then, for a coalition to last, it will have to have the Congress in it and in front...

Jyoti Basu: That’s right. And they have no experience of running a coalition and that is our difficulty. But I am sure that they will learn. People will teach them.

Shekhar Gupta: Tell me, one last word. The other senior politician in our system besides you is Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. You’ve known him for a long time. What is your view on him?

Jyoti Basu: I know all of them. Advani, I know. V P Singh sent me to him before the break-up of the government (saying) please prevent him from this rath yatra. I went to his house, I sat there, argued with him. He would not agree. And again, he’s started this rath yatra. And thousands were killed at that time.

Shekhar Gupta: But you’ve said uncomplimentary things about him. I think you’ve called the BJP barbarians and you said you will never speak with Mr Advani again.

Jyoti Basu: Yes, yes. But he asked me. After a meeting here four years back, he called me to Raj Bhawan (and said) that ‘I told the crowd that I’ll ask you why you call us barbarians and uncivilised’. I said I am naming nobody but three of your ministers were there when Babri Masjid was being brought down. And I’m talking about what you’ve done. That time, the Christian killings had not started. Later on, that happened.

Shekhar Gupta: Would you still call them barbarians?

Jyoti Basu: What they’re doing is certainly barbarian. What happened where Gandhiji was born, what happened there, is it imaginable? After 56 years of Independence?

Shekhar Gupta: But would you still say you will never speak to Mr Advani again?

Jyoti Basu: But Gujarat, you know. Prime Minister went, I think, after three days. He said how can I show my face. But Modi is a ‘good person’. This is a mask. I don’t like it.

Shekhar Gupta: But would you still say you will never speak with Mr Advani again?

Jyoti Basu: Who knows? Politicians must speak. Enemies or friends, that is a different matter, you see. I didn’t like his rath yatra the second time.

Shekhar Gupta: And you call Mr Vajpayee a mask in the context of Gujarat. But overall, what’s your view on him, as a person, politician, statesman?

Jyoti Basu: As a person, he’s quite a gentleman. An educated person, all that I knew for a long time. And when he was, I think, foreign minister, that time also he behaved. But he himself says he’s RSS. He depends on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal. But that mask has now fallen, fortunately, before the elections. I am happy about that.

Shekhar Gupta: Well, Mr Basu, I know you are beaming. I think you are looking at very interesting politics in the weeks to come. Thank you very much for finding time for us. And I know no opportunity is ever lost forever. I know you are around. And you never know what may happen.

Jyoti Basu: Well, we are optimistic (laughs).

Full text published in INDIAN EXPRESS on
Monday, May 03, 2004.

JYOTI BASU TO HARKISHAN SINGH SURJEET

Beloved Comrade Surjeet,

I am deeply grieved to hear about your continued illness. I was just now reminiscing how for long years we have been working together particularly after the split of the party. I can never forget the role you played in organising and giving leadership to the Party.

I particularly remember the day when due my illness I wanted to leave the responsibility given to me by the Party, as Chief Minister of West Bengal. You came and met me in my house. Then you seemed to be nervous, thought that this may adversely affect the Party. After discussion then we worked out a formula that we would create a new post of Deputy Chief Minister, who will later on be the Chief Minister and I shall not stand for election. That formula worked very well. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was very well accepted both by the Party and the people of West Bengal. So, at the end of my tenure, I resigned and Buddhadeb took over the Chief Ministership. I also remember with pride how you helped the Party to flourish in different provinces.

I also remember how you did agree with me that the unity of the Left parties in West Bengal is essential and I feel proud that the Left Front government carried on thirtyone years with the support and love of the people of the state.

I remember you also played host to my family when we went to Punjab. Though I am older than you and now almost bedridden, I am confident that our Party will go forward from success to success in many parts of India. Despite many crests and ebbs people will finally emerge victorious and go in for a classless society free from exploitation of any form.

At the end, I want to remember with pride the role you played in the new political situation in country to keep the communal BJP at bay. We extended our outside support to Congress, incumbent upon the basis of the Common Minimum Programme and the interests of the people and the country.

Jyoti Basu
Kolkata,
May 21, 2008

From India News Network (INN)
Kolkata, May 21, 2008

Excerpts from " JYOTI BASU: An Authorised Biography" , by Surabhi Banerjee, Viking, 1997

'In politics there are moments when you have to rise to the occasion and you've got to cater to the need of the hour and the pleas of the people.'

In May,1996, Jyoti Basu, West Bengal's former chief minister and one of the most respected politicians in this country, was on the verge of becoming India's first Communist prime minister. The United Front wanted him as its leader, but his party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) -- decided not to join goverment at the centre.

In this extract from Basu's authorised biography,

Surabhi Banerjee reveals what really happened.

It was the night of May 15, 1996. Indira Bhavan was steeped in silence. At eleven the remote-controlled gates slid opened to let in Basu's convoy. Five minutes later, Basu was in his bedroom, finally alone. He was too drained to even contemplate the storm that had wracked his feeling for the past few days. He sighed deeply and sank into his bed. He had a hammering headache and looked for his balm.

The race to form the government began on May 9 but for a while it seemed that no party would be able to sink its differences for long enough to achieve a precarious majority. Jyoti Basu was in Delhi on May 10 for a meeting of the Politburo to discuss the situation. The BJP had the maximum number of seats and though it seemed to have only a slim chance of surviving in the face of the determination of the Congress and the Third Front to keep it out of power, the BJP nonetheless acted as though it had already won the battle.

But it seemed hard for the two major non-BJP entities to get together, there were so many differences between them. The Third Front hoped that a group of Congressmen might decided to leave the Congress and join 'a non-Narasimha Rao, non-BJP government'. P V Narasimha Rao was trying to garner support so that his depleted Congress could stake its claim. The Left parties bickered and dithered among themselves and smaller parties like the Tamil Manila Congress and the Asom Gana Parishad were prepared to be wooed without committing themselves to anyone.
As the days passed, and the deadline approached for the new government to be sworn in, the politicking increased. The BJP appeared confident of securing the elusive majority, but the Third Front seemed assured as well, though in its case it was unable to decide on a leader of the non-BJP coalition it was trying to put together. Both Basu and V P Singh wouldn't say yes and the impasse continued.

While Basu was still in Calcutta and preparing to leave for Delhi, he received a call from V P Singh. 'He told me that he had negotiated with the Janata Dal and the other allies and that they had all unanimously wanted me as their leader and prime minister.

'It was nice to hear such good tidings,' says Basu, after a brief pause. 'But I couldn't commit anything at that moment. I told him that I was coming to Delhi and that we would meet and talk across the table.'

The flight to Delhi was late and it was nearly half past ten at night when Basu entered his suite on the fourth floor of Banga Bhavan. After a brief rest he ordered his chief cook Mahendra to serve dinner. He could not eat in peace. There was a spate of calls, which did not cease until well after midnight. Basu finished his frugal meal hastily, got up and cancelled his usual after-dinner fifteen-minute stroll in the bedroom of Banga Bhavan because the telephone kept ringing. All this callers, who included Congressmen, business tycoons, and members of the Third Front parties, were hoping he would agree to become the prime minister of India.

Basu was not euphoric about the prospect though the idea had been mooted to him ever since he had became one of the country's most important leaders in the past few years. 'I thought perhaps the hour of the final decision had arrive now,' he says. 'But in this case, my personal decisions were not going to work. It was for the Politburo and the Central Committee to decide. How could I say yes without weighing the real strength and opinion of my party with my feet on the ground?'

He expressed his doubts to the excited Harkishen Singh Surjeet who had a brief talk with him. 'We were not strong enough to wield control over the coalition. How could I have managed this diverse group? Besides, the Congress, going by its record, might have suddenly withdrawn its support, who knows.'

Basu spent a restless night. He felt thoroughly tired and restless after the flight and the disturbing flurry of activities since he had stepped into Banga Bhavan. He had a clear vision of the unstable future of the Third Front, but at the same time he realised the necessity of holding the BJP at bay. If a non-BJP coalition came to power it would need a strong leader who could steer it out of trouble and keep it functioning.

'It was a thoroughly impossible situation,' says Basu, 'and I decided to leave the matter to the party.' But he was not sitting on the fence any longer. 'Yes, if it is for the credibility of the Third Front,' he said at the time. 'I'm ready to offer myself as the consensus candidate if there's no other alternative, even though my health is not good. However, the decision lies with the Central Committee.'

The Politburo met the next morning. Basu repeated his doubts about the extreme difficulty of running a coalition with such a meagre strength of the party. However, he was ready to join the government because he thought it would be politically correct under the 'circumstances'. The majority of the Politburo felt otherwise. They were against being part of government.

Basu was disappointed and saddened by the way the meeting was going. 'Why then did we fight corruption and communalism and take the lead in calling for a Third Front? Had we already anticipated that we would never be a part of this government?'

he says. 'My mind was assailed by a thousand such questions. Mulayam (Singh Yadav) came to see me on the morning of May 11 and pressed me to accept the leadership,' says Basu. 'I asked him why he was not nominating VP. In my opinion, he was the fittest person to be the prime minister of India, even though his health was bad and he was undergoing treatment. But Mulayam did not concur. Mulayam even made an official statement in a television interview in the evening that he and his party and his front wanted Jyoti Basu as their leader.'

He adds, 'I was constantly being coaxed into accepting the key post. I was simply waiting for the party's stand now. I was inclined to accept the onerous but unanimous offer for the credibility of the Third Front and secondly for solving the stalemate. I had categorically ruled out the idea of being the prime minister before, but in politics there are moments when you have to rise to the occasion and you've got to cater to the need of the hour and the pleas of the people, our infallible judge. I was doing just that, in the interest of keeping the BJP at bay at any expense and also to keep the flag of the Third Front flying,' he concludes.

The meeting continued until May 12. Basu did not betray his inner turmoil and proposed that as the Politburo was undecided, the issue be placed before the Central Committee. The proposals framed for the Central Committee, which was scheduled to meet on May 13, were whether there should be a non-Congress government at the Centre supported by the Congress from the outside (but only unconditionally!) and whether the CPI-M was going to participate in government. He told this writer later, 'I waited for the stand of the Central Committee though I could feel their pulse after the Politburo meeting. I rang Mulayam to say that they must look for a new leader. I can't deny that I felt we were making a mistake in the new situation.'

PART2

A member of the BJP later admitted that if Jyoti Basu had emerged as the Front leader they would have faced a serious crisis.

After the Politburo meeting concluded on May 12, an exhausted Basu returned to Banga Bhavan. He took a few calls from well-wishers and politicians in his bedroom, had his cup of tea. 'But it was not time to call it a day a yet.' A few minutes later, one of his cabinet colleagues, a member of the Central Committee, arrived. Their discussion veered to their stand in the emergency Central Committee meeting that was to be convened the next morning. . He seemed to share Basu's views on joining the coalition. 'You can't carry on endless discussions. At one point you simply have to stop and take the decision, which, whatever be the magnitude of the issue, can only be a brave yes or a dry no,' remarks Basu.

The Central Committee met on the morning of May 13. Basu presided over the meeting. Harkishen Singh Surjeet presented a note on the discussions in the Politburo and the majority and the minority views. The issue sparked off a heated debate which went on for several hours -- but the majority decision was not to join the United Front government.

Basu displayed a calm exterior during the meeting but a fierce storm was brewing within. 'At one point, I thought that we've been patient enough, enough is enough, and it is time put the issue to the vote - a rare occurrence in the history of the Central Committee.' The majority voted against joining the government. Thirty-five votes were cast by the majority against twenty for the minority view with four remaining undecided.

Meanwhile, as the Central Committee deliberated, the main partners in the central coalition met at Bihar Bhavan and unanimously decided on Jyoti Basu as their candidate for prime minister as V P Singh had declared that he would not be available for the position.

The Third Front leaders came to know the decision of the Central Committee of the CPI-M at about four o'clock in the evening. Most leaders criticised the decision. Basu and Surjeet reached Bihar Bhavan at about seven thirty , with a copy of the decision of the Central Committee. The meeting room was brimming with important political leaders, among them Indrajit Gupta, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Laloo Prasad Yadav, I K Gujral, Surendra Mohan, Ram Vilas Paswan and Wasim Ahmed. V P Singh was not there. He had just returned from Udhampur in Jammu and had driven home straight from the airport because he was feeling out of sorts.

The decision of the CPI-M came to the Front as a bolt from the blue. Basu explained the resolution of the Central Committee to its members. Mulayam was visibly disappointed. In fact, all of them were at a loss. A crisis loomed large. If they could not choose their leader, the BJP was going to form the government.

Nobody noticed that Wasim Ahmed, a close associate of V P Singh, had quietly slipped out of the room while the discussions were on. He rushed to V P's house and briefed him on the latest developments. The leaders requested the CPI-M to reconsider its decision in view of the threat of communalist forces hijacking the government. Surjeet promised to ask the Central Committee to review its decision.

There was quite a crowd waiting for Basu upon his return to Banga Bhavan, journalists, supporters, politicians, all wanting him to appraise them of the latest developments. Basu refused to oblige them and went straight to his suite where his son Chandan had been waiting for some time. Chandan told him that Narasimha Rao had called to enquire whether his father would take over.

The BJP felt threatened. A member of the BJP later admitted that if Jyoti Basu had emerged as the Front leader they would have faced a serious crisis. Basu took important calls, had dinner with his son Chandan and some other friends and relations. Chandan was vehemently opposed to his father becoming the prime minister as the family would be under great pressure and in danger from political and extremist groups. Basu told him it was a political issue and his opinion did not count.


PART3

'I don't blame the President at all. He was compelled by the force of circumstances'

The members of the Central Committee were immediately informed about the special session next morning to review their earlier decision in the light of the appeal by the United Front leaders. 'Nine members had left already,' says Basu. 'Nevertheless, we reconvened the meeting and we decided to take the views of the absentee members into account on record.'

The special meeting on May 14 stuck to its earlier stand. Discussions ensued until Basu called for votes, but the majority still opposed the proposal to join the government and make Basu the prime minister.

Later, Basu met with leaders of the United Front and alternative names for the prime ministership were discussed. In the absence of Basu and V P Singh as candidates, G K Moopanar of the Tamil Maanila Congress and H D Deve Gowda were mooted as alternatives. Basu proposed Deve Gowda for the prime ministership and this was accepted. There was, however, one further appeal to Basu, from Deve Gowda himself in a letter on May 14.

He wrote:
At the outset, let me express my heartfelt thanks to you for suggesting my name to lead the Third Front government at the Centre. It shows your humility and fairness of mind. But in all fairness I should make it clear that you are the senior-most leader in the country who has led a coalition government in West Bengal successfully for the last eighteen years. This rich experience and the stature that you have attained as an unquestioned leader of the party in the country, made me come to this conclusion that you are the best and the right person to lead the nation under these very fluid and critical conditions.

I am sure that all non-BJP, non-Congress parties, with a secular bent of mind, will accept your leadership without any hesitation whatsoever. It was precisely because of this reason that we anonymously made a request to Central Committee of the Community Party to revise their decision so that it would facilitate your taking over as the prime minister of the country.
I assure you of mine and my party's support to run the government effectively under all circumstances. Once again I assure you that I would stand by you in all times of stress and strain and offer whenever necessary any little advice that I could in successfully tackling the difficult problems of this vast country.

Finally, I hope and trust that at this juncture, keeping in mind the paramount interest of the nation and the sentimental feelings of all secular parties of the country, the Central Committee of your party would revise the earlier decision and facilitate you to take over the government as prime minister to run it for the good of the country. To ensure this, I reiterate my full co-operation and my party's support....

Basu then called on President Shankar Dayal Sharma and briefed him on the position of the United Front. 'I told him,' said Basu, 'we do not have a clear majority but as the Congress is giving us two letters of support, we would request you to call us as soon as the letters reach you.' The President agreed. 'We came out at about 1:30 pm but there was an inordinate delay on the part of the Congress in sending us the letter assuring support to the UF government. It only reached the President as late as 3:55 pm. Given the delay the President called the BJP to form the government.'

'It was highly dramatic,' remarks Basu, 'but I don't blame the President at all. He was compelled by the force of circumstances.' In the event the BJP formed the government and then its Prime Minister Vajpayee had to suffer the indignity of being evicted from office in a fortnight, the shortest term any prime minister has served. The United Front took charge with H D Deve Gowda as prime minister.

PART 4

'The view the majority held was wrong. It was a historical blunder'

Basu himself is quite articulate on this 'gross political mistake' as he would prefer to call it. 'Why did the party take such a stubborn stand against your becoming prime minister and the party joining the government?' this writer asked him.

'Apparently it was the lack of proper political understanding, I would say, which stood in their way of reacting positively to the situation. The view the majority held was wrong,' Basu replied. 'It was a historical blunder.' The episode lingers painfully in his mind. That the party could not realise the worth of his stand on the vital decision is an affront to his reading of the situation.
'The people would always blame us as they had blamed us for not supporting Morarji Desai's government,' Basu says. 'I was in Bucharest on a holiday. I was on the beach when I had a phone call from Prime Minister Morarji Desai. He said that I was immediately wanted in India for his government was in crisis. I hate being dragged into home affairs, unless it is imperative, when I am abroad. But I decided that our support should not withdrawn, because since Morarji did not have the majority, in any case his government would have to fall. There was no necessity of withdrawing our support. But before I had returned to India, the party had already taken the decision of not supporting him and had made the blunder. But I was in a minority... '
'Even Indira,' says Basu, 'who had no scruples when it came to politics, gave the government support, and our party was blamed for the fall of the Morarji government and later it facilitated Indira's comeback. It was a mistake, but perhaps not as great as the one in mid-May 1996,' he says sadly.

The decision to abstain from government and prevent Jyoti Basu from becoming prime minister was obviously not wholly an ideological one. A Central Committee member said, 'The Washington Post had headlines calling Jyoti Basu the future prime minister of India and so did The New York Times. Why was the American press playing it up? Wasn't this all international? It's a matter of grave concern.'

Another member said. 'He's old enough to look after the state and here we have a number of competent administrators who help him in his work. He is not going to get the same sort of support at the Centre. The people in our state who supported his proposed prime ministership have, of course, their own views.' Basu dismisses their logic and their arguments, theoretical or ideological, as 'absurd'.

He has an unequalled record of running a Communist government for two decades now, heading a coalition which often pulls in different directions. No wonder he aroused the curiosity of the media and the question inevitably arose as to what would be his stand if he were offered the post of prime minister. This writer's impression in the course of interacting with him has always been that he would be genuinely reluctant to accept it. He has never been an aspirant for premiership. But his agreeing to have his name put forward for prime minister had little to do with personal ambition.

When The Guardian of London interviewed him immediately before the election, he said an unequivocal no to the possibility. The reporter from The Guardian later said to this writer, 'Everybody usually says no to such questions, but I think you're right, I also feel that he really meant it. He was absolutely honest.' Basu never tires of saying why he decided to accept if his name were proposed: it would be for the good of the nation.

Many people felt that his vast experience in leading coalition governments to power, in running a government and in party politics would have benefited the party and the country. As one political analyst said: 'This was going to be a watershed date in the history of the CPI-M. It was also described as a sign of the party's growing up, coming of age, because if Basu became the prime minister, the CPI-M would grow from a regional party to a party of national calibre, in the real sense of the word. Its policy would be dictated by what it perceived to be in the interest of India, not of West Bengal and Kerala alone.'

PART 5

Many of the Central Committee members had come to the meetings determined not to let Basu become prime minister because of personal rivalry and ideological differences.

In May last year, Jyoti Basu, West Bengal's chief minister and one of the most respected politicians in this country, was on the verge of becoming India's first Communist prime minister. The United Front wanted him as its leader, but Basu's own party -- the Communist Party of India-Marxist -- would not allow him to be sworn in as prime minister.

V P Singh said publicly, 'Jyoti Basu is a towering figure in India's public life, a man who has proved his skill at consensus-building by leading a state-level coalition five times into power.'
The general feeling following the Central Committee's decision -- and this was borne out by conversations this writer had with several party members and other political analysts -- was that it was the age-old internal divisions within the party, and not the national interest that decided the issue. Many of the Central Committee members had come to the meetings determined not to let Basu become prime minister because of personal rivalry and ideological differences.

The morning after his return to Calcutta, Basu had a brief meeting with the chief secretary on the swearing-in ceremony of the state government that would take place on May 20. He glanced through the list of state invitees. Congratulations poured in all day from home and abroad on his returning to power in West Bengal, but there were also expressions of disappointment at his not being chosen the prime minister. He was unemotional in his response to both kinds of messages.
He visited the party office in the evening, met his comrades, and behaved normally, though it was obvious that he was not in good spirits. He analysed with his colleagues the results of the elections and worked on the agenda of the state committee meeting scheduled to be held on May 17. The next morning, he attended the meeting of the secretariat and discussed the appointments and portfolios of ministers in the new government.

The effect of his time in Delhi continued to subdue his mood; he was now starting to tire of providing explanations. Referring to the enquires he says, 'They don't understand one simple thing, I can't take a personal decision even if I wish to join the government. The majority in the party decided not to join. I had to accept the verdict.'

By the time the swearing-in of the West Bengal ministry took place on May 20, he was much happier. It was obvious that the Delhi debacle was receding from his mind. And then, on May 21, he received a message from the United Front in Delhi saying his presence was required in Delhi for the formation of a steering committee to advise the new government. Delhi detained him for a few days but he was back in Calcutta on the 24th, and presided over his first cabinet meeting on May 28.

In the following weeks, he was asked to be in Delhi frequently as the central cabinet tried to settle down, until he asked them to be a bit more practical. ''How can I commute between Delhi and West Bengal so frequently?'' he asked and requested the Front to keep him out of as many of the committees as they could.

The press continued to comment on the CPI-M's decision not to participate in the coalition at the Centre. The Front leaders and the other members of the Front expected that the CPI-M would reverse its decision and relent especially as the CPI had decided to join the coalition in the first week of June. The chief minister of Bihar, Laloo Prasad Yadav, said in Patna, 'They (the CPI-M) are taking a decision and will join the government within a month.'

Even V P Singh was confident that the CPI-M would soon join the Deve Gowda government. Welcoming the move of the CPI, he hoped that the CPI-M would follow suit. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, similarly urged them to join the government. 'The CPI-M leaders have worked hard to bring secular parties on a common platform and should reconsider their decision. The TDP also favours joining the government,' he said in Hyderabad.
Newspaper editorials suggested the same, feeling that the CPI move offered the CPI-M a fresh opportunity to make up for its earlier bungling and call the shots in national politics.

At this time it became clear that a view was being put out by a section of the CPI-M that Basu had been a willing party to the decision by the Central Committee and the Politburo to refrain from joining the United Front government. Basu did not react to the opinion being bandied about.

PART 6

'If this government emulates the Congress, it will not be possible to keep it in office for long'
In 1996, Basu completed fifty years in electoral politics, and had become chief minister of West Bengal for a record fifth time. He would have become Indian's oldest prime minister if his own party hadn't raised objections. What did he see as his priorities at this time?

According to him there were two things he intended to focus on. The first was attempting to look for ways to revitalise his own party which had lost a bit of ground to other parties. The more pressing problem was to support the United Front at the Centre; in addition, the CPI-M would have to oppose the government whenever it was headed in the wrong direction, though the criticism would need to be constructive at all times.

Says Basu: ''The United Front will have difficulty as they have no experience of running a multi-party government as we have. That is why we are trying to convince them that in spite of all difficulties, they must work together. Unanimity in all matters may not be possible, but it is possible to agree on many matters and work together. Our policy is how to oppose this government in some matters and support it in others. But we do want this government to continue. If this government emulates the Congress, it will not be possible to keep it in office for long. We may have many differences of opinion in economic and social fields, but our main task now is to prevent the BJP from coming to power.'' Basu told his state committee as well as the CPI-M leadership that the party would have to ensure that the UF implemented its common minimum programme.

''Unlike the Left Front governments in India,'' Basu says, ''whether committees exist to help in the implementation of programmes placed before the people, the constituents of the UF government and their supporters had no such common programme. After the general election the UF came into existence with a common minimum programme and a steering committee was formed to guide the government. For the CPI--M the task is not only difficult but complicated as well because while it is pledged to help the government it also reserves the right to criticise it and organise movements whenever necessary. It is a new experiment unlike that during the Janata government when there were no commonly worked out programmes nor a steering committee. Only time and experience will show the effect of this stand and policy.'' He adds, ''In any event the unity of the left parties has to be separately maintained despite the visions among them in regard to joining the UF government.''

Excerpted from ''Jyoti Basu: An Authorised Biography'' , by Surabhi Banerjee, Viking, 1997, Rs 400, with the publisher's permission.

SOURCE: http://www.rediff.com/