From Ahmed Yussef in New Delhi THE FALL of the Desai government in India last month has opened up a new period of crisis for the ruling classes.
The Janata politicians ranging from the right-wing Hinduchauvinists of the Jan Sangh to the ex-Socialists of George Fernandes, was forced together in 1977 by what is now called the 'authoritartanism' of Indira Gandbi's Emergency.
When Gandhi was thrown out in the general election the danata politicians, much to their own surprise, found themselves in government under the leadership of 80-year-old teetotaller and eccentric Morarji Desai.
From the outset it was clear that this coalition would be unable to guarantee the interests of the allinace of industrialists and farmers which shapes Indian politics. A wave of class struggles broke out in the countryside rich farmers labourers, often taking the form of clashes caste Hindus ('untouchables'). Charan Singh, the man who replaced Desai, the At the same time industrial workers were not slow to take adyantage of the removal of the Emergency restrictions on democratic rights. Important sections of the working class, such as employers and the government. that the organised strength of the movement, far from being smashed by Indira Gandhi's repression, plenty or connuence tor tre Dallies ancau In the absence of any clear perspective for the ring classes, the canata pondcians aa waat comes naturally to them: factions and began to squabble for the spoils of Party, a ragbag coalition of affluent and landless and Harijans acknowledged won concessions from the This showed workers intact, and there is they divided into office. These factions, which are also present in the two wings of the Congress Party, are not based on ideological considerations but on a network of patronage, corruption and personal loyalties to regional 'bosses'. CHARAN SINGH (right), who resigned as prime minister this week, with President Reddy challenge Ten me riley to ries jor railway "workers, are demanding that the bonus' system which prevails in the private sector of industry extended to the railways. This would mean an labour in India.
1974 thousands more Northern (headquarters branch) in leader George their leadership for promises of Janata ministers. which had stood disintegrates. forces. Both coalition.
and the struggling leadership, unable. second-rate face on the iocialist revolution. extra month's wages for the railway workers who are the strongest section of organised They have a long record of struggle. h went to jail and thousand sacked by the Gandhi regime, which was only able to break the strike after a long resistance. This time round the railway workers are determined to win. A mass meeting Railwaymen's Union Delhi on 1 August unanimously condemned their former fernandes minister in the Desai government) and criticised placing reliance on the The entire spectrum of Indian ruling class parties is being torn apart by the mad scramble for office which is happening at national and regional level. The masses watch this squabble for spoils with a bewilderment which is fast giving way to cynicism as the Janata Party, for restoration democratic rights after the Emergency, finally A tremendous opportunity Is opening up te build a genuine socialist alternative to all the bourgeois factions. The two Communist parties (CPI and CPM), however are either unable or unwilling (or both) to take up the challenge. The crisis of the bourgeois parties has caught them unprepared, exploding their project of forming 'anti-authoritarian and 'anti-fascist alliances with ruling • class Pet the ice Can sing "qualified support' to the Charan So while the Janata and Congress politicians fight it out amongst themselves, the worker masses of India remain tragically deprived of any independent political intervene into the political stage, unabl produce the real bistoric drama HU D
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Indiesperson of the rich farmers of North Squabble