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Prakash Karat’s tryst with Mayawati last Sunday took political circles by surprise. It was an unexpected meeting between unlikely allies. But those with their ear to the ground know that it had been brewing for some weeks. To be precise, it was set into motion in May when Mayawati suddenly appeared at CPM veteran Harkishan Singh Surjeet’s hospital bedside. She came unannounced and appeared slightly embarrassed. After all, she had dared to tread in Mulayam SinghYadav-Amar Singh territory. She told the Marxists keeping watch over their ailing former general secretary that she had been toying with the idea of visiting Surjeet for some days. She wanted to wish him speedy recovery and then she slipped away as quietly as she came. Left circles couldn’t understand her motive and were further puzzled by reports that after that visit, she reached out to them on at least two more occasions but drew back at the last moment. Obviously Mayawati was waiting for the right moment.

It came when the SP dumped the Left to hitch its star to the Congress wagon and announced support to the nuclear deal. The Left’s dream of crafting a non-Congress, non-BJP front around Mulayam collapsed in a heartbeat. The next thing Karat knew was that Mayawati’s chief honcho, Satish Mishra, was on the line asking for a meeting. And so began Mayawati’s cautious trek from a mere chief minister to bagging endorsements as Third Front flotsam’s candidate for prime minister. Today, she’s Queen Bee. She’s already found two proposers, TRS chief Chandrashekhar Rao and CPI leader AB Bardhan, and as the Indian political cauldron churns, she may get more. If anyone has gained from the unexpected turn of events that has the Manmohan Singh government on the ropes, it’s Mayawati.

The Left may be only a three-state player but there’s no mistaking the value of the certificate Karat gave Mayawati on the Sunday they met. It was an announcement that the Left-led Third Front was ready to do business with her. Let negotiations begin. Indian politics has reached another critical juncture. Both national parties seem to be in disarray and however nebulous the so-called Third Front may be, the non-BJP, non-Congress parties have got a tailwind that’s giving them unexpected momentum. It’s a hallmark of our polity that new political creatures are born on the eve of elections, be it the Janata Party in 1977 or the Janata Dal in 1989 or the NDA and UPA after that. It may be too early to predict what will rise from the debris of the current turmoil in our politics but there’s little doubt that Mayawati has emerged as an important player. And ironically, it’s the Left, driven by the sudden and bitter collapse of its alliance with the Congress and SP, that has helped to hoist the BSP flag over the national stage.

TAILPIECE

CPM circles are quite shaken by Somnath Chatterjee’s “rebellion” against requests to step down from the Speaker’s post before the trust vote. The last person to defy the party’s iron code of discipline was Saifuddin Chaudhry. He was ruthlessly expelled even though it meant losing a good parliamentarian. Chatterjee has been in no-man’s land ever since his traditional Lok Sabha constituency, Bolpur, went into the reserved category in the recent delimitation exercise. He was hoping to swap seats with Ramachandra Dom who represents neighbouring Birbhum. Dom’s seat has moved from the reserved list to the general one. But now, after his brush with the high command, Chatterjee may opt for retirement. It’s going to be tough parting with the 12 peacocks he feeds everyday in the sprawling lawns of his Lutyens Delhi bungalow.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net