Verdict makes signal stronger for Left Front

Some CPM leaders see no hope in upcoming Assembly elections of 2011

Crisis deepened for the Left in West Bengal as they suffered yet another humiliating electoral defeat and lost the Siliguri Municipal Corporation to the TMC-Congress combine after 27 years. Of the 47 seats, the Opposition got 29 and the Left got 17, while one seat went to an Independent.

As the result was declared, the Left leaders went into a huddle and the chairman of the Left Front, Biman Bose, said, "This was unexpected and we will have to review the situation before we can identify the causes for the defeat." The reactions of the Left leaders clearly show that they are completely clueless to the changing political reality of the state.

While the Opposition was in a jubilant mood and TMC and Congress leaders went into a self congratulatory mode, the CPI-M, the major partner in the ruling Left Front, leaders were desperately looking for some way out from the crisis.

The crisis is two fold: one is external and another is internal. Externally, there seems to be no respite from the steady erosion in their vote bank. While the CPI-M leaders are more or less reconciled to the reality that in 2011 the state will witness a changeover in the political scenario, some leaders are aggrieved because the party is not taking any corrective measures.

Despite the revelations that some of the leaders have become arrogant, fallen to the trappings of "neo-liberal culture", the party has failed to take any steps to discipline them. The chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, is the most prominent among that unhappy lot.

It is true that that after the debacle in the Lok Sabha election, the chief minister became a reluctant leader as he failed to carry his party with him to introduce some corrective measures. Despite his wishes, he failed to bring any change in some of the departments like health ministry.

Rabin Deb, a member of the CPI-M state committee, explained, "The chief minister is unhappy because he is unable to run the administration in the manner he would like to do. He gets easily upset as a person who often gets carried away by his emotions.

Rezzak Mollah, a CPI-M leader and a minister in Buddhadeb's government concurs, "Buddhadeb is basically guided by his emotions." So, when the party (both state and the central leadership) blamed poor governance as one of the major causes for the disaster, Buddhadeb took it personally, as a party insider puts it. His recent illness and absence from successive politburo meetings gave rise to speculation that he had wanted to be relieved of his responsibility.

The state CPI-M leaders, even, who are not happy with his role, admit that the chief minister is unhappy about the way things are evolving, but so far has not taken the final plunge.

The CPIM state committee will meet on September 17 to discuss the political situation. The controversy over the Vedic Village land scam has only weakened the party, though investigations revealed that some of the local TMC leaders were also involved. Land and land reform minister Rezzak Mollah's name figured prominently in this context.

Mollah has threatened to reveal more on it, stressing the point that the acquisition of poor farmers' land at gun point started much before he became the minister of the land and land reform department, and that it was in the knowledge of the party.

Mollah said, "We must realise that the people are determined to bring the Opposition to power in 2011. We will have to prepare ourselves for the future." But like him, many leaders do not see any initiatives coming from the leadership to that effect. Asked if the party could initiate a major purge to weed out the bad elements from the party, Mollah said: "How could that be possible? To do that? At least one third of the state committee members will have to be removed!" A former MP said: "We have entered into a turbulent zone and it will remain so for the next few years."