By IANS
Kolkata : If a “historic blunder” by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) cost veteran communist Jyoti Basu his prime ministership in 1996, will his party play ball now that his name is doing the rounds for Bharat Ratna?
The CPI-M does not want to hazard a guess lest it be seen to be compromising on its official stand against party leaders receiving awards.
“I don’t know about the parameters on the basis of which Bharat Ratna is conferred on an individual. But if Basu fulfils the parameters, the union government can think over it,” Left Front chairman Biman Bose said.
Senior CPI-M leader Shymal Chakraborty played safer.
“We have not even discussed it. It is based on a broad consensus (in the party),” he told IANS Saturday.
While the central government is yet to decide on Bharat Ratna, announced Jan 26 every year, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani has already proposed the name of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for it, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has put forward the name of Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram.
“The BJP is playing politics by urging the central government to confer the country’s highest award on Vajpayee,” Bose said.
CPI-M central committee member Benoy Konar said: “We shall not object in principle if Bharat Ratna is conferred on Jyoti Basu. But the party will not recommend his name to the central government as the BJP is shamelessly doing for Vajpayee.”
If the central government does confer Bharat Ratna on Basu, India’s longest serving chief minister, it could force the CPI-M to revisit 1996 but in a different context.
The CPI-M had rejected a proposal by the United Front in 1996 to make Basu the prime minister. But Basu himself and then CPI-M general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet were in favour of it.
Present CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat was among those who had shot down the proposal.
This time, Karat has not given any indication that he wants to revise the party policy against official awards.
Though the veteran leader’s own views are not known, Basu’s party could be in the horns of the dilemma if he decides to accept the honour.