Beginning of the end for Left in WB?

This is the first time in the 33 year of history of the Left Front rule in West Bengal that they seem to be on a sticky wicket, especially after the blow they received in the Panchayat elections in May last year and subsequent polls to 11 municipalities in several districts and in some by-elections held recently. Industry vs farmland

Biswajit Jha

This is the first time in the 33 year of history of the Left Front rule in West Bengal that they seem to be on a sticky wicket, especially after the blow they received in the Panchayat elections in May last year and subsequent polls to 11 municipalities in several districts and in some by-elections held recently. This has given the opposition parties comprising main opposition Trinamool Congress and the Congress, an opportunity to weaken the seemingly unbeatable Left in the General Elections. The projection will vary according to various factors, but in each scenario there is a considerable shrinking of the team the Left sends to the Lok Sabha from Bengal. It sent 35 MPs in 2004, out of 42. Now, the projections are that the number could go down to 20, though 25 would look more realistic. Some analysts work out the worst-case scenario for the Left. In 2004, the Congress got six seats and the Trinamool Congress one, with the Opposition divided. In nine seats, the combined tally of the two parties was greater than the Left. But with a four to six per cent swing in favour of the formidable opposition this time, the latter could gain another five seats. That gives the opposition 21 seats and the same number for the Red Brigade. If we analyse the issues upon which the elections in Bengal will be fought, we can ascertain that it’s a role reversal for the two main opposition parties. The Left Front had come into power in 1977 on the piggyback of massive support from the peasant classes that rode under Congress’ highhandedness at the time. Now similar issues are haunting them once again after three decades of uninterrupted rule of the Left in the state. Industry vs farmland For the first time the ruling Left Front is on the verge of losing its traditional vote bank-the tillers to a Congress-Trinamool Congress combine. Land acquisition and industrialisation have come out as two of the main poll planks in West Bengal as campaigning for a thrilling Lok Sabha contest gains momentum. It’s an irony that the ruling CPM-led front is trying to take credit for industrial drive to woo votes mainly in urban and semi-urban areas while the Trinamool Congress is using its resistance to farmland acquisition as the main campaign mantra, predominantly in the rural belt. Partho Chattapadhyay, a Trinamool leader considered close to Mamata Banerjee, said recently: "Land acquisition and industrialisation are the major agenda of our campaign. We have said we will allow the government to acquire land for essential purposes like building roads, hospitals. But we will oppose forcible acquisition.” "Land has to be acquired with the consent of the landowner. There should not be industrialisation at the cost of agriculture." Trinamool`s chief Mamata Banerjee has termed the anti-land acquisition protest as one for "Ma, Mati and Manush" (mother, land and the people). Land acquisition has become a bone of contention between CPM and TMC since mid-2006 after the opposition`s success in siding with the land losers in the Singur and Nandigram areas against the government`s decision to take land for industry. Governance If forcible land acquisition acted as a catalyst, the year-long failure of the Left in providing good governance is an issue that has upset the middle-class Bengalis. The governance failures on virtually every sector - roads, health, education, nutrition, infant mortality, poverty – will surely haunt them in the elections. Even the much hyped achievement in agricultural productivity and decline in rural poverty have been on the wane for years. Like in every election these issues will surely be highlighted by the Mamata Banerjee-led front to trigger collapse in the formidable Red bastion. Communalisation In their effort to woo the Muslim vote bank, the CPM has always played a major role. They have never taken the issue of Bangladeshi migration seriously which has created a huge problem for the people of the state. A party which claimed to be of secular credentials, the CPM has virtually buckled under the pressure of the Muslim fundamentalists while dealing with the controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to appease them. Politics of dictatorship The people of West Bengal are fed up with the violence, intimidation and oppression of the Left cadres, especially in the rural areas. It has created deep-rooted corruption in every sphere of life in the state. And herein lies Mamata’s achievement. She has kept the concept of political opposition in the state alive single-handedly. Anyone who confronted the Left in the state knows how difficult it is for any non-Left force to operate here and will appreciate her sheer courage and resolve to take on the Left. The unremitting rule of over 30 years has made most of the CPM leaders of the state despots and corrupt. This attitude came to the fore during the time of forcible land acquisition in Nandigram and Singur. The Left leadership is so confident of doing anything in the state that it unanimously took the decision to give farmlands to Tatas for making Nano without consulting the local peasants, a community that always voted for them for the last 30 years. Here we can recall American philosopher Francis Fukuyama’s famous quote from his much publicized book ‘The End of History’. Fukuyama said: “The most fundamental failure of totalitarianism was its failure to control thought.” It seems that Left front is fast losing grounds in controlling the thought of dethroning the corrupt and ineffective rule in West Bengal.