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Wednesday, June 29, 2005
The gap between practice and preaching
Principles are all very well when it comes to rhetoric, but in politics, they are often discarded at moments of action. The Left has acknowledged this. They had once vociferously opposed the nomination of Rajya Sabha members from states where they weren't domiciled, but have now gone against their own stated principles by nominating Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury from Bengal. Defending this decision, Jyoti Basu told the Telegraph:
Update (June 30): Subra Srinivasan suggests that we scrap the Rajya Sabha altogether.
True, we once opposed, we still oppose election of Rajya Sabha MPs from states where they are not domiciled, but today’s decision reflects a political necessity.We see this same phenomenon across everything the Left does. For example, they oppose privatisation when they lecture the central government, but carry it out in Bengal because they're in power there, and have to behave responsibly. India will be better off if they bridge the gap between practice and preaching – but only if they begin preaching what they practise. Not the other way around.
Update (June 30): Subra Srinivasan suggests that we scrap the Rajya Sabha altogether.
