A wooden painting of Ho Chi Minh on one wall gifted by the Vietnamese, a big poster of Che Guevara on another, a present from the Cubans. The revolutionary fighters of the last century still adorn the office of Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan. There, on the second floor of the CPI headquarters at Ajoy Bhavan, there is a fleeting reminder of an age gone by and the vexing question of what radical change the traditional party Left in India has brought about lately.
But Bardhan keeps the faith. And he’s not ready to walk into the sunset just yet. At 87, he’s the seniormost Left leader still playing the elder statesman role. Just over a month ago, he stepped down as general secretary of the CPI after four terms (he had taken over from Indrajit Gupta in 1996), and Sudhakar Reddy took charge. But Bardhan says there is no question of retirement—“once a Communist, always a Communist.” Some say Bardhan was reluctant to make way for Reddy, but he dismisses such stories and says “change has to take place”.
The veteran with the blunt manner and a reputation for great integrity has connections across the political spectrum. So till Reddy comes into his own and becomes a player on the Delhi stage, Bardhan will continue to play a role in forums and meetings of the Left parties. And he will remain in touch with leaders of other parties for consultation on issues such as the presidential polls and any future front in which the Left would feature. For the Communists do see themselves as having a greater influence than their numbers in Parliament and the state legislatures would suggest. For all its mistakes and limitations, the Left still influences the discourse on policy matters although they are no longer in a position to block policy.
From his days as a young trade union activist and fiery orator in Nagpur to being a key player in the Delhi political scene, Bardhan’s been one of Left’s significant leaders. He has led quite a life (“been in jail 20 times for a total of four years”) and lived through the rise and decline of the Communist movement across the world. There’s a lifetime of memories, a ringside view of public events.
He makes no secret of the great disenchantment with Manmohan Singh, whose first term the Left parties supported. “Manmohan’s one agenda is to bring India closer to the US. He was always pro-US even on the issue of Iran that came up when we had coordination meetings with the UPA. On both economic and foreign policy matters, he’s completely pro-US.” Bardhan thinks more highly of Atal Behari Vajpayee than of the current PM. “Actually the BJP and Congress don’t differ on economic or foreign policy. But Vajpayee had far greater finesse than Manmohan Singh,” he says, adding that Vajpayee was easier to interact with and had a good working relationship with him and the late CPI(M) stalwart Harkishen Singh Surjeet.
But what of the Left itself, a force trapped in its own jargon and inner party ego battles? “You say that there are fights inside the CPI(M), but worse things happen in bourgeois parties like the Congress, BJP and regional outfits,” he replies. His critics say that Bardhan’s enthusiasm for Left unity has resulted in the CPI being reduced to an appendage of the CPI(M). “Things could always have been done differently,” he says, “but that does not mean that what was done was wrong.” What of the fact that while obc and SC representation has increased in all parties post-Mandal, in the Communist parties the number of Brahmins has increased! Bardhan argues that this is because there has to be “a certain level of literacy to understand the ideology of Marxism and socialism”.
There’s a great irony perhaps in the life of this believer in Communism. Bardhan’s own family appears to be well-adjusted members of what he would possibly describe as the bourgeoisie. His wife Padma, a teacher and a Communist, died 24 years ago. His daughter Alka is a doctor in Ahmedabad and her husband, Samir Barua, is the director of the IIM there, the premier institute that churns out would-be managers of capitalism! Their son Sahil runs a business out of Gurgaon. “It’s a very successful business, something to do with logistics that is expanding,” says Bardhan with a smile, adding “they all support my ideology”. The third son, Ashok, researches economics at Berkeley University.
The family is not there but for occasional visits, but the work and ideology is. Occasionally, there is music. He likes “most songs” of Mohammed Rafi and the preferred poet, naturally, is fellow traveller Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The rendition of his Hum Dekhenge by Iqbal Bano, almost an anthem in radical circles, is his favourite. Bardhan remembers that the CPI was home to many talented poets like Sahir Ludhianvi and Kaifi Azmi but that is a different era. “The most creative age has gone by,” he says.
But there is still so much to do and, till he can, Bardhan will be active. Till six years ago, he lived at Ajoy Bhavan like many CPI whole-timers. Then there was a small health scare and he was moved to the flat allotted to CPI Rajya Sabha MP K.E. Ismail. (It’s a tradition in the Left that MPs give their residential quarters to the party). Bardhan now shares the flat with Sudhakar Reddy. The former and present general secretary live together. But Ismail’s term in the upper house is ending, so other arrangements will have to be made. But attachment to a particular flat is unlikely to trouble a veteran Communist like Bardhan. That should be a small matter in the greater design.
