Press Release
17th April, Ahmedabad
The “Radio-active Nuclear deal” takes toll of the Right and the Left
While the NSM welcomed the wisdom of the Indian Voters to keep out the NDA combination out of the central power, NSM was of the opinion that the Big business of India has now got an unbridled access to the corridors of power under the proposed Government headed by Manmonhan Singh minus the “left forces”.
The results of the 15th Lok Sabha General election quite obviously reflect the decimation of those forces which had opposed the nuclear deal. The unflinching opposition of the left parties to the deal, though correct from the point of view of foreign policy, had jeopardized a multi-trillion dollar commercial deal that would not only bail out the American economy but would also make the Indian counterparts super rich, had in fact sealed the fate of the left parties. The unclear opposition of the BJP to the nuclear deal had also sealed their fate! The parting of company between the UPA and the left brought the Trinumul Congress to the side of the congress and rest is history.
The regional parties supported by the regional money bags have also lost some ground and though the Congress has fared better, neither the total vote share nor the total seat share of the two national parties put together have gone up very drastically.In 2004, BJP and Congress had 283 (145 + 138) seats together whereas in 2009, they have got 321(116 + 205) seats. The extra 38 seats gained by the two parties account for only 7% of the total seats. The change is therefore insignificant and 200 seats or so has remained in the kitty of the regional forces, though with faces changing; like BJD, JD(U), Trinumul etc replacing CPM, RJD, LJP etc. The regional parties will continue to call the shots till the economic development of the regions improves.
Lastly, the Congress has totally failed to make any dent in the states where BJP holds the sway, like, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand etc. Rajasthan was essentially an exception as it was preceded by the state election very recently. It should be noticed that out of the 67 seats gained by Congress, only 29 seats can come from BJP that they lost this time; therefore the other 38 seats Congress has gained is from their own UPA allies and the left parties! So much for their anti-communal struggle!
Finally, the contest of Mallika Sarabhai in the Gandhinagar constituency with the help of left and democratic forces was marred to a large extent by the communal politics of BJP and the casteist policy of Congress which tried to garner the Patel votes. Money power ofcourse played the decisive role. Be that as it may, the struggle for an alternative politics will continue with renewed vigor.
Mukul Sinha
Chairman
