Left Wrong Left

Left is not right. That holds atleast for Kerala.Even in the midst of the startling victory of the left parties in the municipal elections of Kolkata, there is a general animosity towards the Left parties in Kerala. Atleast among people who believe that Kerala has the potential to be an economic superpower, but has lagged behind due to archaic social and political overtures. The remnants of an anachronistic socialistic mindset continues to haunt the state, where the policy of the Left seems to be to stall anything even distinctly progressive. I was left flabbergasted reading the insane attitude of the party towards the infusion of technology in kerala.
In the 1960's they protested against the use of tractor in farming as they claimed that it would lead to loss of job and was thus a 'capitalist's' ploy to exploit labour and accrue profit. Weirdly the same party let out vociferous protests against the computerisation of government offices, citing reasons of job loss. They even claimed that radiations from the monitor would lead to serious ailments including birth defects! Their other popular struggles include movements against mechanisation of farming, mechanisation of the coir industry and movement against privatisation of education.
The paradox of kerala is all too evident. Hailed as having social standards comparable to the developed world (with high literacy, low infant mortality, almost nil population growth, excellent medical care facilites etc.), the state remains to be one of the least industrialised in the country. Trade unionism is at it's fiery best here. Common lore goes that the red flag comes up the very next day a factory is started in kerala. Many investors have preferred closing their establishments rather than fighting it out with the trade unions and continuing investing money.
The latest controversy is regarding the establishment of an IT park in Ernakulam by the Dubai Internet City authorities. The left says that the project is mired in controversy and that the government is giving away prime land to the foreign company. A hug investment potential in the state hangs in mid air. The project will generate about 30,000 jobs and will give a fillip to the economy of the state.
Two days back, normal life was disrupted due to a 'hartal' called by the BJP to protest against the petrol and diesel price hike. Interestingly Kerala was the only state to go on a total hartal, nothing happened in even BJP ruled states! I wonder what the officials from Qatar who were at Kerala to discuss a multi crore investment project would have thought seeing the whole state come to a standstill at the call of a miniscule political party which does not even have a single MP from the state!
When West Bengal has moved forward from its rigid communist ideologies the Left in Kerala is still hanging on to an outdated philosophy which will only pull the state back from developing. The problem is that there is no viable alternative party in the state. The UDF (lead by the Congress I) is too busy sorting out internal party problems and it's off shoots themselves will make sure that the party won;t come to power in the next elections! That leaves us with the LDF (Left parties) as the clear winner in the next state elections. But I would prefer tattered yet forward looking party not afraid to move ahead with development plans. Left is surely not right.