Is Prakash Karat the most powerful man in India today?

CPI-M's tussle with the UPA on economic and foreign policy has confirmed that Prakash Karat is a hardcore Marxist. The General Secretary of the CPI-M dominates the headlines these days.
And when Karat is not threatening to withdraw support from the government over the Indo-US Nuclear Deal, he is making fiery speeches about the India’s national interest.
From foreign policy to economic reform, Karat can always be counted on to be the government's permanent opposition.
He said, “The Nuclear Deal will be nothing but paving the way for the imperialist US to dictate our foreign policy, which had remained non-aligned all these years. It is for the Congress leaders to decide in the next few weeks whether they were with the US or with the people of India. We are supporting the Manmohan Singh Government, not out of love, but to keep communal forces like the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power at the Centre.”
“The UPA Government has been pursuing the economic policies of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the US, which were suicidal for India and its farmers. The Centre should recall Ronen Sen if it has any sense of self-respect. Sen is working like an envoy of Bush, he added.
Karat's high ground while putting “national interest” on top of all other issues is seen as a commendable effort. But is Prakash Karat the most powerful man in the country today?
On CNN-IBN Face the Nation CPI-M Senior Leader, Dipankar Mukherjee, Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy and Senior Fellow, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy Ajay Shah debated the issue.
Is Prakash Karat the most powerful man in the country today?
Prakash Karat is a committed communist who has refused to dilute his party's leanings. The 59-year-old politician is seen more rigid and ‘ideologically rooted’ than his predecessors. In fact it is widely believed that it was Karat's tough line that denied Jyoti Basu the Prime Ministership in 1996.

It would be truer to call Prakash Karat the most powerful blackmailer in India today.