Choice for the Left and the future of N-Deal!?

What is preferable - on the 'right' of America or a 'right' India?  This seems to be the CPI-M dilemma. Never given to project their own leaders as leader for the nation, they have unnecessarily created the 3rd front that will scatter votes, make even more regional, small sectarian, narrow minded political entities feel important and may eventually contribute towards a post-poll situation which would be no different from the last few times.

In a loud and self-righteous media environment, no one has posed this question to the Left yet, what is preferable for them, what is their choice. Karat and his team need to spell out whether they will side with BJP to ensure the end of the Nuclear Deal or will they go back to the old Congress in a post-poll situation giving up the Nuclear issue forever? Can they demand a different face to lead a Congress Government? Can they get the N-deal re-examined? Or will they wait and watch the group they put together be weaned through 'negotiations' in a post-poll situation by either of the two main parties while they hold their moral high and sit in the opposition for another 5 years by when the public would have forgotten the N-deal and anyway we will be too far into it to pull out?? the BJP has promised a 're-examination' of the N-Deal, whatever that means, but, would the Left side with them and provide outside support?

Promises to everyone: the BJP Manifesto

Having blogged earlier on the CPI-M Manifesto and that of the Congress , I decided to read the rather longish BJP Manifesto (download here) too and blog on the same.

If you only read the preamble to the BJP Manifesto by Prof. MM Joshi, you would think this is some kind of a book on glory of Indian history, just about every piece of information that has been researched, documented earlier and recycled in the web in the last few years including a supposed speech by Macaulay in the British Parliament (this supposed speech has especially been recycled on the web for long, I could not find the source for this) have found its way to this introduction. Very impressive and could well pass of as a scholarly note, perhaps it is one.

However, none of this seems to have been read by the astute journalists who put together the remaining part of the manifesto. There are very interesting things, I particularly liked the part about saying no to GM seeds and producing 20% renewable energy. There are quite a few populist measures, including low cost supply of food, increasing the ceiling for Income Tax, sops for the farmers and elders, etc. 

The bunch of technocrats who have contributed to this seem to be rather heavily drawn from the Information Technology sector, so, while there is too much of detailing on the part of IT based ideas and plans, there is hardly any mention of technology related solutions in any other field or how it would impact other areas. IT obsession seems to be a pre-occupation of the Manifesto team.

The foreign policy is rather elaborate as is the security related issues. The Ram Sethu, Ram Mandir, etc. and other BJP mainstay (as one would think they will be) are appended to the manifesto as an after thought without connecting elsewhere in the manifesto.

As a manifesto, this one covers a wide variety of issues and perhaps has had the advantage of larger team of contributors than either that of Congress or that of the CPM. But, the question on BJP is not about its literary ability, it is about the rank and file and what are the 'identities' (the identity work crops up rather frequently in their manifesto) they own upto? Obviously, though there are sections (rather carefully worded one at that) on Minorities and a para on holding inter-faith dialogue with the Vatican on conversion, there is no reference to attacks on minorities and their protection.