Somnath Pulls a Stunner!

When was the last time we heard of a “speaker” of our version of the “house of commons” (read Lok Sabha) on the front page headlines for almost a fortnight! ?

Mr. Somnath Chatterjee, sitting MP of the current Lok Sabha

He has remarkably been elected to the Lok Sabha in all successive elections right from his first ever in 1971! That talks a lot from the constituency he is elected from and the kind of trust his “subjects” endow on him.

He was of course elected to be the Speaker of the House unopposed after the UPA Govt was sworn in May 2004 and a staunch Leftist for 40 years on a trot!

What he has done for the past fortnight is quite out in the open. My introspection remains on the possible outcomes if I were to be allowed to speculate on the a few political events that might come along!

To start with, let’s admit that it is a brave act to defy the party line and perform an unpopular act. And at a time, which is the evening of an illustrious political career!

But this one was for the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
But was it really such a brave decision or a canny one?

...the Left comrades are a distant lot whose predominance has been in the West Bengal and Kerala. The party or the lets put it that the “Left Ideology” in itself has disgruntled voters over decades now.

I would be speculating immensely, but firmly believe that the current West Bengal Govt could be the last “ever” Leftist Govt for that state!!

Anti-incumbency was never a factor, since 3 decades is long for a singular rule! So lets that out.

While the emergence of Mamta Banerjee with the Trinamool Congress at some point very soon will challenge the Left in its backyard and of course the natural successor to the throne, it is incumbent Left at the Centre itself that spells doom for itself!

Left’s stint at the Centre has been characterized by perhaps being the single largest opposition to the Ruling Alliance itself.

Lack of political vision and strategies seemed the very obvious reasons for its opposition to most of the Govt’s initiatives.

Opposing FDI in retail, Disinvestment in PSUs, Isurance reforms, etc etc, and of course the most talked about N-Deal! Guys we need that nuclear fuel!!

If I were an illiterate Bengali voter, I would see the developed states with investments, opportunities, changing outlook, lifestyles!

I would see “my” Left comrades being laughed out at as the “real” opposition.

I would finally see that the Left despite being a member of the ruling coalition sitting right outside the Govt with not a single Portfolio, and that too demanded it so!

I see some Mr.Prakash Karat , who has never won an election and a non-Bengali become what is known to be the Left face!

I finally acknowledge that post the Trust Vote, the Left has been thrown out of the corridors of New Delhi, not because of political rivalry purely, but primarily because of political “behaviors”.

I reconsider my vote, the next time a Comrade comes to my little village for votes, because despite the entire “circus” nothing has really changed outside my courtyard.

I am finally fed up as even Jyoti Basu is talking about reforms, and the rest of the pack doesn’t even understand what Reforms mean.

Now back to the real me, I predict that the Left will lose the next election in the state and shall not form a Govt in Bengal for a long time, while at the Centre they would bag no more than 20 MP’s from the current 60 something they managed!

And THIS, I firmly believe was one of the many things running through Mr. Chatterjee’s mind!

Mr.Somnath’s Chatterjee could not have achieved anything beyond what he already has in his political career a fortnight ago.

Another fact. Unlike the Chinese comrades, the desi version has too much of an inertia getting out of its own mould. Communists in the Indian Democracy are done with and cannot be revived beyond any tiny stubborn factions. We need something happening afresh with Dark Spectacle framed, white starched Kurta clad Leftists.

Resigning from the post of Speaker would make him vulnerable from the diatribe of UPA and NDA alike. And indeed would have twisted the turn of events even more than it already had done. A Trust Vote without a Speaker! Maybe the Rajya Sabha Speaker would have been roped in, but some kind of “Political Stigme” he would have had to face after the UPA has won, would have blotted his long public life.

UPA win or loss, the Left was anyways out of the Ruling Coalition.

And perhaps though, their last EVER stint in the ruling coalitions for decades to come, unless of course some drastic change of events in the “mentality” of Leftist in this country.

Somnath Chatterjee has pulled off an absolutely amazing act, by staying on as the Speaker to convene the Trust Vote.

He maintained the sanctity of the post of the Speaker in its truest sense.

He has all of a sudden become politically “independent”

And most importantly not being included in the most “hated” lot for the time being. (Read THE LEFT)

His party might go to ditches back in West Bengal next elections, but he has won some political accolades in New Delhi. This in turn is his “own” political survival which was otherwise doomed just like his party’s.

A possible influence could be by being the Speaker of the Lok Sabha; the duty itself needs to be discharged quite impartially. Hence, some kind of moral ground being held by him personally against the Party Ideology. It indeed would have been one scene, if he would have to vote in case of a tie. My take, he would have voted for the UPA.

He now becomes an independent, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and truly demonstrated as being the rightful custodian of the Parliament. And at the moment has become everybody’s darling! I am sure the Left is kicking its own for having to “compulsorily” remove him from the party membership.

All this, I speculate he could be the contender for the next President of the India! Proposed by none another but both the BJP or the UPA, whichever is power next! And that time around though, there would be no "foreign hand"!