On emerging political alternatives

Enormous response

Recently a UNPA rally generated an enormous response across the nation, and it got a shot in the arm with support from the leadership of its traditional allies on the Left, which joined the rally to address the farmers’ problems in one voice. This has a significant impact in terms of attempts to establish a non-Congress and non-BJP secular and socialist alternative to strengthen the crumbling edifice of democracy and governance under the regime headed by the Congress.

Similarly, on the foreign policy front the UPA-led government seems to pursue lopsided objectives with its growing submission to the unjust pressures of the Bush regime. It has severely damaged the national consensus on foreign policy by its blind obsession with the India-U.S. nuclear deal. The opposition parties are being kept in the dark about the implications of the deal for national security and the level of autonomy of India’s foreign policy. What is more ironical is that the Congress is issuing statements repeatedly that the nuclear deal will be approved by the UPA government, notwithstanding the fact that the UPA government does not represent the majority view on this issue in both Houses of Parliament. Is the government planning to disregard Parliament and get the deal approved by subverting the will of the majority?

The present hobnobbing with the United States has not only blatantly damaged the national consensus on foreign policy but has given rise to legitimate fears about the unilateralism of the U.S. in dictating terms to the Indian state. In the bargain, we also seem to have lost interest in managing good relations with our neighbours and traditional friends. Our response to the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is ambiguous. India has maintained a stoic silence on the U.S. imperial games in Iraq, notwithstanding the fact that India has an important role to play in the present world order.

In this context, the rise of the UNPA is complemented by a variety of factors. Its credibility comes from the quest of its leaders who represent various States across the political landscape to have a common platform to promote a secular and pro-farmer socio-political order. They have unanimity in terms of the empowerment of the marginalised sections and farmers, and a quest to have an autonomous foreign policy — which are being relegated by the Congress government by the lopsided models of economic development.

(The writer is a Member of Parliament and the spokesperson for the Samajwadi Party and the United National Progressive Alliance.)

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