[lbo-talk] India's Hindu Party Reflects on Election Drubbing

Sujeet Bhatt sujeet.bhatt at gmail.com
Tue May 19 00:33:07 PDT 2009


I think you have hit the nail on the head. The Left, apart from being corrupt, has no credible alternative vision to offer.

The BJP was defeated because its communal agenda has lost whatever appeal it may have had. Ditto for the separatists and the casteists.

You are also right in saying that this was a pragmatic vote against fundamentalisms of all hues. This is of course a good thing. The only worrisome thing is the absence of a coherent Opposition - something we badly need, especially given Congress's history of authoritarian dynastic rule.

On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 3:54 AM, <dredmond at efn.org> wrote:


> I'm not an expert on things South Asian, but due to the, um, influence of
> influence, I can say one thing: the CPIM/Left Front government in West
> Bengal has been hopelessly corrupted by three decades in power and acts
> exactly like any other state government -- i.e. a glorified land-rent
> mafia up to its neck in shady deals (their role in the Nandigram massacre
> was outrageous and inexcusable). No better or worse than the Chicago Daley
> machine, but not even close to the sort of genuine Left alternative they
> claim to represent.
>
> Nor should we expect miracles from the social movements and independent
> activists of the Indian Left. The country is only 35% urbanized and is
> going through a very rapid, very violent process of industrialization.
> Near as I can tell, the vote for Congress was a diffuse, generalized
> rejection of market fundamentalism and its provincial cousin, theological
> fundamentalism -- which is a good thing, creating more space for
> progressive alternatives.
>
> One other important detail: most of the separatist or neo-nationalist
> candidates were defeated. The electorate is looking for pragmatic national
> solutions, instead of fantasies of renewed localities.
>
> -- DRR
>
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-- My humanity is in feeling we are all voices of the same poverty. - Jorge Louis Borges



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