Venkaiah Naidu gives new definition to Communism

July 15, 2008
By Syed Akbar
What has communism to do with road blocks and hurdles? At least senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu feels that communism is akin to creating road blocks and hurdles.
Asked if the BJP will shed its "communal" ideology to become more people-friendly as suggested by CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, Venkaiah Naidu shot back, during an informal interaction with a group of reporters, "will the Communists shed their ideology of communism?"
He then went on explaining what communism is all about. The communism ideology is nothing but creating hurdles for others. The communists go on committing mistakes but realise them a bit late.
It took them years to recognise the greatness of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and the patriotism of Subhash Chandra Bose, Venkaiah Naidu said adding that the Communists have now realised, though a bit late, that they had committed a mistake by supporting the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre.
Venkaiah Naidu said in his own inimitable style that as long as the Communists maintain their ideology, the BJP too will not shed its ideology. This in other words means the BJP will not align with the Left whatever be the political necessity of the former.
Talking of political necessities, one is reminded of the proposed political party of film actor Chiranjeevi. The "proposal" has been hanging in thin air for the past few months. In fact, for a couple of years now.
The inordinate delay in turning the proposal a reality has marred the image of the Tollywood hero. The day may be drawing closer - going by what his brothers and brother-in-law have been claiming - but significantly the aversion to Chiranjeevi's political plans too seems to be growing among the public.
Interestingly, even his die-hard fans are not so interested in his political moves and the educated class in particular is certainly more sceptical. There had been anticipation about Chiranjeevi’s political foray right from the mid-1990s when he was at the peak of his filmy career, delivering one major hit after the other.
But never did Chiranjeevi leave a hint about his supposed political ambitions. In the later years, the talk about Chiranjeevi’s political moves continued -- in a low profile though.
But the talk of Chiranjeevi's entry has led to an exodus in the Telugu Desam. Congress leaders are adopting a wait and watch policy but their counterparts in the Telugu Desam want to be early birds to grab the attention of the film actor.
The Left too is anxious about the entry of Chiranjeevi so that they will find a new political ally. They have tasted power by siding with the Congress and the Telugu Desam. With Venkaiah Naidu curtly spurning the Left advances, the Communists have to be content with Chiranjeevi, if at all he forms the party.