Amulya Ganguli

Although the Left Front is widely expected to win the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal, the alliance does not seem to be approaching the contest with as much confidence as before. There are a number of reasons for its nervousness. One is the proactive nature of the Election Commission’s functioning which includes, apart from a close scrutiny of the voters’ list, ensuring that the non-bailable warrants against people associated with the Leftists are executed.

The fact that these anti-social elements used to roam about freely during earlier elections led to the prevalence of a “reign of terror,” as the CPM’s opponents claimed. Now, that “advantage” will be lost for the comrades, for voters can no longer be directly intimidated although the threat of post-election reprisals will remain.

The decision to hold the elections over five days has also irked the Communists, who regard it as some kind of an insult to their political integrity. As Jyoti Basu said when the schedule was announced, “West Bengal is not Bihar”.

Although K J Rao, the Election Commission official who is credited with conducting the Bihar polls with great efficiency, has retired, there is little doubt that the Commission intends to ensure that there is no scope for the familiar complaints this time about the “scientific rigging” which are allegedly carried out by the Marxist cadres. To prevent such manoeuvres, the Commission has decided to post a large number of police and paramilitary personnel from other states at the polling booths despite the objections raised by CPM general secretary Prakash Karat that such a step would create “communication problems.”

The Left Front’s confidence has also been dented by the sudden death of the secretary of the CPM’s state committee, Anil Biswas. A few days before his death, Biswas told Jyoti Basu that although there was no doubt about the Left Front’s victory, there was no room for complacency. Revealing this conversation, Basu told a meeting held to commemorate Biswas’s death that the party should remember the former secretary’s last advice. If there was some doubt in Biswas’s mind about the Left Front’s prospects, the reason could not have been anything other than the somewhat turbulent ideological cross-currents among the Marxists.

Otherwise, the CPM doesn’t face much of a challenge from its political adversaries. The failure of the Congress and Trinamool Congress to reach an agreement about seat sharing has ensured that the Left Front will have a relatively easy ride in the polls even if Biswas had warned against a secret tacit understanding between the two Congresses. But a major problem for the ruling coalition is the continuing internal debate within the CPM on the process of economic reforms which Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee has been pursuing with uncommon vigour for a Marxist.

Apparently ignoring the line which the party’s central leaders have been following at the centre, where they are seen as extremely hesitant, if not directly opposed, to the economic policies focussing on the retreat of the government from several sectors favoured by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Bhattacharjee has been openly critical of the CPM’s earlier policies in West Bengal, including militant trade union tactics which led to a flight of capital from the state in the sixties and seventies.

He has also been inviting investment from domestic and foreign entrepreneurs with open arms and favouring the setting up of shopping malls and multiplexes in addition to turning the state into a new destination for the Information Technology sector. Not surprisingly, his wholehearted embracement of policies which boosts the private sector has caused a turmoil among the party faithful, who have long been taught to regard the corporate world as ruthless exploiters of the working class.

While Bhattacharjee has the support of some of his cabinet colleagues like Industries and Commerce Minister Nirupam Sen, there are not many in the party who approve of his pro-capitalist policies. It is in this respect that the support extended to him by the smooth-talking Biswas was invaluable. The Chief Minister was indebted to the former party secretary for the latter’s remarkable persuasive skills in explaining the virtual U-turn which the organisation was taking on economic matters. Biswas’s argument that “development is part of class struggle” may have been no more than juggling with words, but there is little doubt that he had considerable success in toning down the criticism of Bhattacharjee’s line within the party.

It is in this context that the installation of the Left Front chairman Biman Bose as the new secretary may queer the pitch for the party and the government on the eve of the polls. A Marxist in the traditional mould, Bose is once said to have asked” ‘What is this IT ? Does one eat it or wear it on the head ?’ He is also known for his lack of tact in the use of words as when he wanted the party apparatchiki to catch the election observers by their shirt collars and throw them out of the polling booths, or when his disrespectful comments about a judge of the Kolkata High Court earned him a notice for contempt of court.

Yet, there are several reasons why Bhattacharjee not only acquiesced in Bose’s appointment to the post of secretary but played a crucial role in his selection with Jyoti Basu and other senior leaders. One is his long association with Bose, dating back to the seventies when the threesome – Bose, Bhattacharjee and Biswas – were groomed by the then secretary and highly respected leader, Promode Dasgupta, in assuming responsibilities in the party. It was virtually inevitable, therefore, that Bose would take Biswas’s place. But the other reason was that there was no one else in the party who had an adequate personal standing in the organisation to be able to hold the post with a modicum of authority.

Although Bose has indicated that he would follow a careful line regarding Bhattacharjee’s economic policies, the latter’s enthusiasm is bound to be partially curbed because he cannot be certain of what Bose may say or do in future. Besides, the present is obviously a period of transition for the CPM. Much will depend on the electoral outcome. If the Left Front scores a runaway success, Bhattacharjee’s hands will be strengthened. But if it suffers even a minor loss of votes, his detractors will blame his economic policies for the setback.

The outcome in Kerala will be important, too. If the Left Democratic Front wins, it will be seen as an endorsement of its chief ministerial nominee V S Achuthanandan’s hardline economic stance. But if the LDF cannot make it or scores only a marginal victory, Bhattacharjee will gain in West Bengal. The next two months will be crucial, therefore, for determining the CPM’s politics and economics in the two states where it has a strong base.