The Party and the State

The Left in West Bengal stands accused of equating the party interest with that of the State and in the process displaying fascist tendencies. It has also lost the sheen among the intellectuals, artists, creative people as well as the minorities. In fact depending too much on the party cadre it has botched up the effort to move towards a progressive and modern state. It is not helped by its opposition to nuclear deal with USA as both Russia and China appear to be for it.

by Brij Bhardwaj

After having ruled for three decades in West Bengal, the Left Front suddenly is behaving like an upstart or a rookie player making his first

appearance on the field. They can not do anything right and the extent of bungling is so big that even their partners have decided to disassociate them from the major partner. A feeling is growing that the CPI-M leadership in West Bengal is moving from one blunder into another.

The strong points of Left leadership was that they built a strong base in the rural areas which had strong roots starting from panchayat level onwards which made it impossible for opposition to defeat them. While incumbency factor made fall of every State Government a near certainty when elections came around, in West Bengal it made no difference and with every trial, the left became stronger and opposition led by Congress veterans or firebrand Mamta Banerjee could make limited impact and only fell by side as the left scored one victory after the other.

The change of leadership from veteran Jyoti Basu to Budhdev Bhattacharya made no impact except to hike the victory margin for Left Front. His move to bring industry into West Bengal to make it a front runner was also received well, but its implementation was ham handed to say the least. The incidents in Singur followed by Nandigram clearly showed that the Left relied more on its cadre and muscle power to implement administrative decisions instead of using administrative methods or persuasive power.

The result is that the two major strong points of Left are under serious threat. While in urban areas, the left is finding that the intellectuals, writers and other players engaged in fine arts have turned against them. It must be hurting the Chief Minister particularly who not very long ago was an active member of these groups. He is a poet of long standing and there were many expectations from him as a soft and modern face of Left movement. He has, however, disappointed many of his ardent supporters by his recent acts.

The huge loss for Left is that in addition to urban elite they have also lost the support of minority in the State who constitute a major vote bank and had been supporting Left front as a matter of habit. This was clearly demonstrated in the events in Calcutta where the leadership of minorities seemed to be slipping into the hands of extremist groups who were fringe players only in the past. The combination of issues like Taslima Nasreen stay in Calcutta and happenings in Nandigram clearly shows that Left has become ineffective in an area where they were very strong in the past.

These incidents in West Bengal clearly show that after a long time the Left front has managed to create a situation in which their weaknesses are emerging for which they have no one else to blame except their own high handedness. The Left has not only highlighted their stubbornness by being unable to carry even their committed supporters with them. According to a disappointed Left intellectuals the State Government was trying to do the right things but in a wrong manner.

The happenings in West Bengal and in-fighting in Kerala unit has placed Left in a very uncomfortable position. Many would like to believe that the concessions given by them in a grudging manner to UPA Government on the issue of nuclear deal for use of nuclear power for civilian purposes was a result of pressure from States under their control that an early election would be a disaster for them. As such the Left is playing for time but is aware of the fact that day of reckoning can not be postponed for long.

The pressure on Left is expected to increase further as two countries Russia and China whose cause is often advocated by the Left have also indicated that a deal with international agencies is essential for nuclear commerce between India and Russia to start with and China sometime in future. The Left parties in India today stand condemned for equating the interest of party with state and showing Fascist tendencies which have no place in a democracy. Left in India was unique to the extent that they came to power through process of ballot and not through the gun.

But they have lost their uniqueness to some extent through their behavior in recent events which may look insignificant when compared to happenings in Russia during days of Stalin or cultural revolution in China, but they certainly indicate a mind set which has close resemblance. It is time for Left to seriously think and introspect why they have made so many of their old admirers into determined critics.

The road from here onwards is going to be tough for Left. The big lesson to be learnt is that you can not assume the role of judge and executioner as a political party by assuming the role of State. A distinction between Sate and political party is essential in democracy and sooner it is accepted better it will be for all.