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I By Satarupa Bhattacharjya with Prabhu Chawla he first tryst with power begins with a deception in He plans well and moves appearance. You realise it the moment you are deliberately, speaks softly initiated into the sanctum sanctorum of Prakash Karat, a bespectacled calmness, his greyness in per- and acts tough. He’s kept fect harmony with the walls, characteristically com- munistT in their dull monotony. By non-Marxist standards, the UPA Government and the room in AKG Bhavan, the CPI(M) headquarters in the the leadership Capital, is too small to be the office of ’s second most on a tight leash. Inside powerful politician—and the first in the House of Red. The dictator of the Indian proletariat may not require a bunker the mind of the Indian larger or more luxurious than this. As he settles down be- COMRADE TERMINATOR Left’s Big Brother. hind an uncluttered table, Lenin and the great dead of Indian communism, Sundarayya and EMS, stare down from their framed sepia grandeur in approval. His words are soft, and if you are looking for a soundbite, he won’t oblige. They have, however, the resonance of a politician with conviction, no matter that conviction is born out of an ideological funda- mentalism that continues to influence the trajectory of 21st- century India. Words that can kill a deal, control the freedom of the market and send intimations of political mortality to South Block and 10 Janpath. He plays the conscience keeper of the UPA Government without being a part of it. He doesn’t have to be officially in power to change the course of governance. He alone has the freedom to oppose and support at the same time. When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants to be the strategic friend of Washington, Karat becomes the most vociferous votary of national interest. A nuclear pact with America, he tells the Government that can’t survive without the Left’s support, is a Faustian deal. And he wants Marx to manage the malls. The Big Brother of the Indian Left has dominated the agenda of India 2007; the consistency of his dogma THE ARBITER: triumphed over the fragile conviction of the prime minister. Karat flanked by India is still swayed by the kinetic force of the Karat doctrine. Sonia and As The New York Times wrote, “Karat and his party have Manmohan lately emerged as a sharp and dangerous weapon against the coalition Government, making it plain that though the communists do not have the strength to rule India, they have the power to spoil the plans of those who do.” From Delhi to New York, the K word has cast its spell. It was the nuclear deal that brought out the terminator in the comrade, who speaks soft and acts tough. It was a deal through which the prime minister sought his place in his- tory. The deal defined two idealists who had never contested H

G an election, though one of them didn’t have the political N I S H

B courage to stand by his conviction. For Karat, the UPA A R U

A Government’s first betrayal was when it voted along with the S y b e

g US on the Iran nuclear issue. The Marxists were further a t n o

m provoked by the joint military exercises with the US at the o t o h

P Kalaikunda airbase in . And there was no men- d n a S

A tion of the strategic relations with the US in the common D A

R UPA P minimum programme. “The Government has not set out I S , T

H a strategic policy document. Nor is the foreign policy per- S I B

A spective clearly spelt out. What stands out is the step-by-step R D N E

R movement towards a strategic engagement with the US, in A N y b which the latter’s interests predominate and this shift is s h p a r

g camouflaged with evasive and high-sounding pronounce- o t o h

P ments. The Manmohan Singh Government has failed to give

DECEMBER 24, 2007 N INDIA TODAY 35 cover story NEWSMAKER 2007 SIPRA DAS any convincing explanation why India should jump on to the HOW ONE WISHES Bush bandwagon of democracy and fight against terrorism, his given the awful record of the US in Iraq and its unilateral freedom from the and aggressive efforts to destabilise popular governments around the world,” Karat wrote in a party publication. basic ills of Indian After two years of negotiations, Manmohan wanted the nuclear agreement, binding for 40 years, to be implemented polity was combined and thought he had called the Left’s bluff when he dared it with a contemporary, to withdraw support to the Government. At the peak of the Left-Congress public debate on the nuclear agreement, pragmatic approach. Manmohan had said that history would not forgive his Government if the deal was not sealed. Karat’s retort was: ABHISHEK SINGHVI,CONGRESS SPOKESMAN “History will not forgive us if we tie India’s destiny to that of the United States in perpetuity.” What underlines his opposition to the deal is not nuclear energy or national HEMANT CHAWLA sovereignty or an independent foreign policy. It is driven by HE USED TO BE a pathological sense of anti-Americanism. After all, when were the Marxists champions of nuclear freedom? Anti-imperialism rhymes with anti-capitalism. His fight consistent, but ever against the “neo-liberal offensive of the bourgeoisie” is a since he supported permanent struggle in the market where Marx is pitted against Adam Smith. Marxists may not be enamoured of the the UPA, he is willing stock market, but the feeling is mutual. On the day the Left to proclaim but Front announced its support to the UPA Government, the Sensex lost 800 points in two sessions. But while it later unwilling to strike. zoomed to over 20,000, little else in the policy domain sur- vived the . ARUN JAITLEY, BJP GENERAL SECRETARY CPI(M), which lives in a time warp, continues to believe that the State knows best. Neither empirical evidence nor experience to the contrary matters. And thanks to their SARANG SENA 60-plus strength in the , the comrades have effectively played spoilsport in critical reforms, the worst hit AT A PERSONAL LEVELhe being the financial sector. India’s lumbering bureaucracy costs a packet in terms of salary, but it will cost much more is very charming, in pension. Moving to a new pension system is imperative affectionate and both for the Government and the employees, who will earn barely 8 per cent this year even as the Sensex has risen over friendly. But he is 43 per cent. The ones to be denied the dividends of growth are the very sections that the Left professes to protect. not an open, Take banking sector reforms, which Manmohan prom- gregarious person. ised as early as September 2004, but hasn’t been able to de- SHANKAR VIVAN SUNDARAM, ARTIST HK RAJASHEKAR HE IS A PRINCIPLED general secretary. He does not court publicity. He reads and writes a lot and keeps to himself.

N. RAM, EDITOR, TONGUE TWIST: Karat addresses Keralites in English

36 INDIA TODAY N DECEMBER 24, 2007 cover story NEWSMAKER 2007

ON THE US “The US wants to make India a colonial state and the UPA Government is obliging very shamefully.”

ON THE NUCLEAR DEAL“We will not be there to help the Government conclude this agreement with the US.”

ON PRICES “If we look happy with the budget, it is because we believed it could have been worse.”

ON MANMOHAN SINGH“He thinks Bush is the greatest friend India has had among US presidents. He said so.”

SUMEET INDER SINGH liver. The Government needs to fork out almost Rs 40,000 prices. It should ideally form part of the Left manifesto, but crore to beef up the capital of public sector banks. It should they would have none of it. bring down its equity and make a public offering, thereby The hypocrisy is just as obvious in the case of Special bringing in capital while continuing to own majority shares. Economic Zones (SEZs). The communists chose to stay silent But the Left disagrees. The issue of privatisation, steeped in till the farmers in West Bengal began protesting against land barefaced duplicity, is worse. The Left parties practise eco- acquisition. Clearly, the state Government is desperate for nomics in Kolkata and politics in Delhi. They find nothing investments, which would create employment and gener- wrong in selling the landmark Great Eastern Hotel in ate revenue to pay for the ever-enlarging bureaucracy. Even Kolkata to a private chain, but stubbornly resist the sale of on the issue of land for industry, CPI(M) has double standards. the rotting Ashoka Hotel in the national Capital. Since May Outside Bengal, they don’t want anyone to talk concession, 2004, the Left has armtwisted the Government to fund sick yet thought nothing of promising land virtually free to PSUs to the extent of over Rs 10,000 crore through invest- Indonesia’s Salim Group. Even when they did get on to the ments and bailouts. Of the 48 Central PSUs, only nine posted anti-SEZ bandwagon thanks to dissent within UPA, CPI(M) profits while 27 are making losses and 12 have shut shop. restricted itself to land acquisition and kept silent on the More mysterious is the Left’s stand on big retail. It has contentious issue of tax exemption, which could cost the been proved the world over that retail chains provide Government over Rs 1,00,000 crore by 2009. Ditto with the opportunity for creation of logistics and supply chain net- issue of tax concessions to industry, ranging from exemp- works, which in turn enables perishables to be stocked and tion from long-term capital gains tax to dividend tax exemp- helps curb both wastage and inflationary tendencies. Every tion and tax holidays for big business that cost the year food produce worth Rs 59,000 crore is wasted and Government as much as Rs 2,88,000 crore. Exasperated, much of this loss is borne by farmers. It is also a fact that Manmohan once asked “if we were promoting crony retail chains create employment at various levels and capitalism”. The Left kept quiet. control migration from villages to cities. And of course, the No Chinese model of “social” capitalism for Karat. Then chains bring affordability to consumers by bringing down Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya wanted to do a

DECEMBER 24, 2007 N INDIA TODAY 37 cover story NEWSMAKER 2007 the legend of karat Hailing from a community hostile to the Reds, his academic grounding made him take a Left turn

eralites, who gave the world its first democratically until last year that she saw him for the first time. “When elected communist government, can be proud that he was in , I phoned him and ordered him to Kone of their own now heads the party that is virtu- come. He was surprised but came immediately.” The ally a parallel power centre in Delhi. Yet, that sense of family, however, has a grouse. No one has seen his wife. elation is tinged with irony. Born in Rangoon, Burma, “I told him to bring Brinda here and he said, she has her where his father worked with the British Railways, the own work to do,” says Sathyabhama, a cousin. Malayalee is quite uncomfortable in his mother tongue. As India’s youngest ever communist general The thousands that throng the maidans when the CPI(M) secretary and the first from the post-Independence general secretary makes an appearance get to see him, generation, Karat does not suffer from the many hang- but the words they hear are that of an interpreter. ups of the past. Born on February 7, 1948, Karat lost his Palakkad, ’s rice bowl, has long been a red father while still in school and moved to Madras with his bastion, thanks to its large community of famished agri- mother Radha and sister Kamala. Tragedy struck again cultural workers. But the upper caste landlords of as Kamala died barely into her teens. His mother took up MALAYALAM MANORAMA a job as an LIC agent to give him a good education. It was as an undergrad- uate student of Economics at the famed that his flirtation with the commu- nist movement began. The introvert slowly began to come out of his shell. At least one classmate recalls his bond with his Jawa motorcycle and his fond- ness for Hollywood movies. Karat is said not to have missed a single Michael Caine thriller. While in college, he won a trip to Japan in an essay competi- tion conducted by The Hindu. That was also the beginning of Karat’s enduring bond with the ROOTS OF THE RADICAL: Karat with his parents in Burma; in his youth paper’s editor N. Ram and Elappully, a village perched on the border with Tamil also with P. Chidambaram, who is now finance minister. Nadu, have traditionally remained hostile to the Reds. After graduating with a gold medal, “the most Even today, despite a Nair from Elappully heading CPI(M), outstanding student” won a scholarship to Britain’s it is almost impossible to find another comrade even Edinburgh University for a Masters’ degree in politics. It among Karat’s numerous relatives in the village. “None was here, under professors like Victor Kiernan, the of us are communists, but we are proud of Prakash,” says famed Marxist historian, that his politics became more Karat Sundareswara Menon, 77, his cousin and a resi- strident. His active participation in anti-apartheid dent of the village, adding that he knows precious little agitations led to his rustication from the university for a about the famous Marxist. “He was born and grew up year, which, however, was withdrawn on “good outside Kerala and has visited the village only three or behaviour”. By the time he returned to India, Karat was four times. But we always knew him to be a well-man- a dyed-in-the-wool communist. He wasted no time nered, disciplined and studious boy,” he says. formally enrolling in CPI(M) and became an aide to At 86, Omana Amma, the only surviving sister of A.K. Gopalan, the legendary communist leader from Karat’s mother, is his closest relative. She lives next to his Kerala. The rest, of course, is history. ancestral house, which is now unoccupied. But it wasn’t by M.G. Radhakrishnan

38 INDIA TODAY N DECEMBER 24, 2007 cover story NEWSMAKER 2007

SUBIR HALDER THREE IS A PARTY: Karat, Bhattacharya and media have caused some damage to our party’s image. But Deng in West Bengal. For a while, the Bengal Marxist al- we are confident that when the full truth about what has most echoed the moderniser of the People’s Republic: it’s happened there since January 2007 comes out, people glorious to be rich. Nandigram was supposed to be his outside West Bengal will also understand that there has Shenzhen. It turned out to be a sub-rural equivalent of been a political combination to convert the Nandigram issue Tiananmen Square, with students replaced by farmers. The into a struggle against the Left Front Government. blood in Nandigram brought out the Marxist horror of de- Eventually, people will understand that Nandigram was not humanisation. Initially, Bhattacharya’s intentions were a struggle about land.” (See interview). courageous, and they were a repudiation of the dogmatism At the time of the presidential elections in July, Karat, of Karat and other apparatchiks who have only arguments who did not know much about the Congress’s choice, to win, unlike the chief minister, who has a state to win. Pratibha Patil, went by the advice of CPI chief A.B. Bardhan, Bhattacharya’s mistake was not his mantra of industriali- who had known her during his political days in sation but his method, in which the market was subordi- Maharashtra. After Patil’s candidature was announced by nated to the state—and the party. He said sorry at last, Karat Congress President Sonia Gandhi, the Left came across re- didn’t. The party chief told INDIA TODAY: “The incidents in ports in the media about the allegations against her. Though Nandigram and the way they have been projected in the uncomfortable with the reports, they defended her in pub-

HT Library HT Library 1948 1970 Born in Rangoon, Joined CPI(M) and S

R Burma, where his father was sent to JNU to

A worked for the British launch the party’s E T Railways. After his student’s wing. Y father’s death, he Assisted veteran A E moved to Madras. A.K. Gopalan. H R T 1960s 1974 1985 A N Graduated in Economics Became president Elected to CPI(M) W K from Madras Christian of the Students’ Central Committee O College and went to Federation of and to the Politburo D the University of India before going in 1992. Became Edinburgh, Scotland, underground dur- 4th general secretary for post-graduation. ing . of CPI(M) in 2005. HT Library

42 INDIA TODAY N DECEMBER 24, 2007 cover story NEWSMAKER 2007 the less sociable socialist Behind the fiercely private Marxist is a crime fiction fan and a friend who never forgets e was Sudhir and she was Rita. Both were not so much for higher studies as to build the party’s stu- underground during the Emergency. On dent wing Student’s Federation of India in 1970. “So HNovember 7, 1975, they were married in a quiet many girls in the university had a crush on him. But I re- ceremony attended by Communist veterans. Later, they call only Brinda in his life,” says Tripathi. Karat’s trade- surfaced as Mr and Mrs Karat. It perhaps befits the 59- mark wardrobe of khaki trousers and half-sleeve shirts year-old CPI(M) General Secretary’s almost obsessive love is another throwback from his childhood. Few recall for privacy that he got married while living under a seeing him in a suit and tie. In winter, however, he adds pseudonym. “At a personal level, he is very charming, more colour to his clothes by way of sweaters. affectionate and friendly. But yes, he is not an open, Reticent since childhood, Karat spends most of his gregarious person like ,” says artist time reading not just books on world affairs and political Vivan Sundaram, who is such a AP economy, but also crime close friend that Prakash Karat thrillers. He has not been to a made a rare social appearance cinema hall in years. The last to inaugurate his exhibition in film he watched—a month December last year. It is not ago—was Pardesi, a that the taciturn Marxist likes Malayalam movie made by to enjoy art exhibitions on his party MLA from Kerala, own, quite the reverse. He is P.T. Kunju Mohammed. And never seen endorsing an au- this film is about Indians in the thor’s book launch—which is Gulf. Sundaram’s exhibition, quite a fad these days even with too, had a social angle. other prominent leaders of the His play is as politically cor- Left. But Karat is a genuine rect as his work. Karat’s holi- friend. When Sundaram days are usually spent with his wanted to give up art for politi- brother-in-law and sister-in- cal activism, it was he who law, Prannoy and Radhika Roy. persuaded him otherwise. “He The destinations vary from is very sensitive to a person’s Tuscany to Goa. Brinda, who needs. He could easily have studied at Dehradun’s Welham said, here is another person to MARRIED TO A CAUSE: There is a fine line Girls School, was so moved by join the party,” says the artist. between the Karats’ personal and public lives the Vietnam War that she joined His hotspots are humble canteens rather than glitter- the Marxist movement after a stint with Air-India. In ing cocktail evenings. His love for dosa and sambar, 2005, she was elected to the CPI(M) Politburo as its first which his mother used to cook for him as a child, still woman member. Although Mr and Mrs Karat work out drives him to the United Press of India’s canteen in Delhi. of the same office building in Delhi, there is a fine line be- The only party he knows is CPI(M). “He talked a lot about tween their personal and public lives. Karat’s hair is al- A.K. Gopalan, but if there was any role model in his life, most white and his wry sense of humour seems lost in it was P. Sundarayya, once party general secretary, who the dry details of the nuclear deal. Earlier, when asked shaped his life,” recalls D.P. Tripathi, NCP leader and a about the induction of more women members in the friend of Karat’s from his Jawaharlal Nehru University party, he had quipped, “This is not the Communist Party (JNU) days. It was Gopalan, however, who sent him to JNU, of India (Male).” by Priya Sahgal and Satarupa Bhattacharjya

lic, respecting their commitments to the coalition. CPI(M) ism—a convenient euphemism for BJP—and America. members say Karat’s contention was that the president’s Outside the confines of AKG Bhavan, he is a gentleman com- post was constitutional and thus, not an issue to fight for. rade who is friendly with other parties. He opposed the dis- But in return for the Left’s vote, Karat ensured that his nom- missal of the Mulayam Singh Government in Uttar Pradesh inee Mohammad Hamid Ansari was the Left-UPA candidate after an adverse judicial judgement. BJP and the Congress for the vice-president’s post. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath had struck an understanding that the dismissal would get Chatterjee’s desire for the post might have remained unful- the necessary parliamentary approval, but Karat told the filled, but with him and Ansari chairing the two Houses, the prime minister that CPI(M) would not allow it. He even sup- Left’s symbolic control over Parliament was complete. ported Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on the As a politician, he has only two phobias: communal- question of Ram Setu. When Health Minister Ambumani

44 INDIA TODAY N DECEMBER 24, 2007 cover story NEWSMAKER 2007 SIPRA DAS THE KARAT EFFECT

NO BIG DEAL He has singlehandedly stalled the Indo-US nuclear deal. Even Sonia Gandhi’s dinner diplomacy that had worked so well on his predecessor could not sway Karat. Despite Nandigram, he is not ready to compromise his ideology for power and has been consistent in his stand that it will either be the deal or the Government.

THE PRESIDENTIAL STAKES If it hadn’t been for the Left, the Congress would have installed Shivraj Patil in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Karat rejected four cabinet ministers before he okayed Pratibha Patil’s name. Having made the Congress sweat it out, he then proceeded to install his own candidate Mohammad Hamid Ansari as vice-president. Such is Karat’s sway over the UPA that there was not a murmur of objection even though many felt that the post should go to a Congressman.

FOR THE PEOPLE The Congress had planned to GUARDIAN OF ENGELS: Karat at a CPI(M) rally in Delhi impose President’s Rule in Uttar Pradesh in Ramadoss found it difficult to get the Parliament to approve February last year after the Supreme Court his legislation for getting rid of All India Institute of Medical disqualified 13 BSP MPs for defecting to Sciences Director P. Venugopal, Karat came to his rescue. As party boss, Karat marks a cultural shift from his pred- the Samajwadi Party. The UPA had even ecessors, especially Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who was a convinced BJP to support this somewhat master of manipulation in the back rooms of power. Unlike controversial decision. But Karat refused some of his comrades, he refuses to be dazzled by the point blank to endorse this move and the Dynasty. In his ideological absolutism, Karat is perhaps closer to EMS. No other Marxist has earned so many head- Congress had to abandon its plans. lines for the party. A Google search for Prakash Karat yields almost 75,000 results. The formidable Karat edifice is built on the twin pillars of consistency and independence. His ide- ological antiquity may take India backward, but his personal REFORMS ON THE BACKTRACK After the rollback of integrity is impeccable—and the UPA finds it dangerous. It is late evening and lesser apparatchiks have left the the BHEL disinvestment, the Government was party headquarters. Only a corner room on the second floor forced to abandon its plans of disinvesting 13 is lit. A hot air blower breaks the silence. The chief is still at profit-making PSUs including GAIL, ONGC and work. As the smog thickens outside his window, he is SAIL. Karat is against plans to allow foreign tempted to read the latest Ian Rankin, but the approaching party conference in Ganganagar, Rajasthan, gets prefer- capital into multibrand retailing, insurance ence. It is getting dark and some retired babus are waiting and banking, and has stalled the modernisa- for a darshan. He puts on a black blazer over a moss green tion of Kolkata and Chennai airports. sweater and walks out, wiping the dust off his spectacles. Class enemies better clear out of Karat’s sight. with Shankkar Aiyar

DECEMBER 24, 2007 N INDIA TODAY 45