Dote On Sonia, Vote For Basu

The ``so sweet to see factor, which dominated most of Rajiv Gandhis visits to Bengal, is expected to be at play again on Thursday. Crowds flock to rallies in huge numbers as a rule, particularly when its at the Brigade Parade Ground in the heart of this bustling, crumbling metropolis. So the hugest crowd that may turn out to catch a glimpse of Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi may mean nothing at all when it comes time to vote.

The Left, used for the past 20 years to treating Bengal virtually as home, is not worried. The emergence of Sonia Gandhi is just a move to stem the exodus from the Congress. It will have no effect on the Left and its prospects, says Anil Biswas, member of the CPI(M)s Central Committee.

 

If anything, the Left in Bengal sees these general elections as an opportunity to further consolidate in the state, taking advantage of a fractured Congress and a frenetic but clueless Trinamool Congress, led by breakaway Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.

Known more for its leader than for its agenda or organisational strength, the Trinamool Congress is in disarray. They wont say it openly but some at least of its leaders seem to have belatedly realised that theyve played a bigger role in further boosting the Lefts fortunes in the state than their own. With little more than a leader, who is seen at times as a firebrand and at others as a rabble rouser, they have provided that delectable third angle to the triangle that could very easily put the Left on top.

In pockets of semi-urban Bengal, Bannerjee is a factor to reckon with. Together with the Bharatiya Janata Party, with which she is making seat adjustments, she will be vying with the Congress for the second spot. ``It is either the Left or the Trinamool and lotus combine, says a resident of the semi-urban Arambagh in Hooghly district, indicating the growing polarisation of support between the Left and the new Mamata-led alliance. If shes representative of the urban voter, that only means further bad news for the Congress.

The Left certainly is dismissive. The emergence of the Trinamool Congress is not a factor, since the Congress in the state has always been a divided house. Of the states 42 Lok Sabha seats, 37 have went to the the Left allies in 1989 and 1991 but was down to 33 last year. The Congress gained from five in 1991 to nine last year but the Left is confident of bouncing back this time.

Seasoned campaigner that he is, chief minister Jyoti Basu seems to have figured that this time the BJP, and not the Congress, is enemy number one for the Left in the state. Having garnered about 11 per cent of the votes in the 1991 elections, the BJP is quietly gaining ground in Basus bastion. Not enough to cause any major worries for Basu, but enough to make him declare openly that the Trinamool-BJP combine should not be allowed to get a single seat in the state. The octogenarian boss of Bengal is taking no chances. Between the to-and-fro shuttling of Congressmen between the mother party and Trinamool, the Left is once again doing what it does best in this state mobilise forces and ensure an easy victory.