The recent by-elections to Lok Sabha and assembly seats in West Bengal has given the lie to the ‘mahajot’ theory, according to CPIM central committee member and former MP Nilotpal Basu. Describing the so-called revival of the ‘mahajot’ idea as an “unprincipled and opportunistic coming together of opposition parties”, he says the results in fact show that the vote share of the Left had actually grown in the constituencies concerned, except Bongaon. The Left and allies won the Purulia and Katwa Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress retained the Malda Lok Sabha seat and the Trinamool Congress maintained its hold over the Malda assembly seat. Basu believes that the “severe electoral drubbing to all shades of opposition” in the West Bengal polls had caused the ‘mahajot’ to be “revived with vengeance”.

NAM-ing with faint praise

The CPIM’s praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for articulating “the relevance of the foundational principles of the NAM” was mixed with reservations about the issues that he did not take up. While calling upon NAM not to equivocate on terrorism, for instance, the front page editorial in People’s Democracy says no mention was made of the causes of terrorism. Individual terrorism cannot be fought while permitting state terrorism, the editorial says. There must be “strong opposition to US imperialism’s unilateralism in the name of its self-proclaimed doctrine of pre-emptive action”. If the pressures of the Indo-US nuclear deal and the strategic partnership with the US were to define its foreign policy, India would not be able to play a leading role in NAM. There was also criticism of the PM on the West Asia question. While the PM had called for the setting up of a high-level group for West Asia, “bemoaning and offering sympathy to the sufferings of the Palestinian people alone cannot resolve the crisis”. It was necessary to focus on Israel’s “illegal occupation” of Arab and Palestinian lands which, was the “source of the turmoil in the region”.

Where there’s will, there’s Bill

Manmohan Singh’s public assurance that the Women’s Reservation Bill would be brought before Parliament in the winter session is, CPIM politburo member and MP Brinda Karat writes, the result of continuous behind the scenes efforts by various leaders and parties to push the Bill forward. She says all parties in government — including the NCP, DMK, PMK, LJP, BSP and the Left — supported the Bill following discussions. The RJD, she says, had recently indicated “some agreement that, if firmed up, will see a breakthrough”. The TDP and the AIADMK had already supported the Bill. Karat, who has been an active participant in efforts to have the Bill introduced in the original form, writes in People’s Democracy that the problems at present essentially arose because of the BJP’s “utterly opportunistic” stand. She says that BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee had offered support to the Bill, not in the original form but only if the number of seats were increased by a third. According to her, the UPA and supporting parties would need to have a united approach on the issue. Required now is the political will to introduce the Bill.

— Compiled by, Ananda Majumdar