[West Bengal may be geographically divided into three
parts: south, central and north.
It is the central part where the CPIM has been able to
hold its own, as it appears at the moment.
Of the two major opposition formations, it is the
Trinamool Congress, which is stronger in the south,
has fared much better. The reasons include of course
its spirited fight against forcible acquisition of
fertile lands to be handed over to the corporate
houses. But its distancing from the BJP, and also the
Congress, and taking on a vaguely leftist hue have
also paid fulsome dividends. The Congress remains too
tainted with neo-liberalism. This is a lesson that the
TMC must take note of. A regional party can of course
be far more flexible than a national one in terms of
policies and switchovers.
Industrialisation per se has not been rejected. What
has been most emphatically rejected is coerced
acquisition of cultivated lands in the time-honoured
Stalinist style.
Lands for industry in the arid zones have apparently
been welcomed.
One will also have to explain the much worse
performance of the CPIM at the lower levels of the
three-tier elections. Even the junior LF partners viz.
RSP and Forward Bloc, who had vociferously critiqued
the highhanded Stalinist ways, have apparently gained
at the cost of the Big Brother.]
Panchayat poll result, a blow to Bengal's land
acquisition policy
From ANI
Kolkata, May 22: The just concluded panchayat polls in
West Bengal have dealt a major blow to chief minister
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's policy of acquiring farmland
for his much-hyped industrial drive.
The outcome of the rural elections also indicates that
large section of Muslims has turned against the ruling
Marxists for the state government's failure to improve
their lot as evident from the Sachar committee report.
The poll result has conclusively enhanced the stature
of Trinamul Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee who
almost single-handedly fought the CPI(M)-sponsored
terror. The reverses suffered by the Bengal CPI(M) are
likely to affect Left Front unity as major Front
partners like the RSP and the Forward Bloc are certain
to intensify their political offensive against the
"Big Brother."
The humiliating defeats suffered by the Marxists at
Singur and Nandigram have clearly proved that there is
some thing seriously wrong with the government's
farmland acquisition policy. CPI(M) strongman in
Haldia and party MP Lakshman Seth, who had tried his
level best to ensure the victory of his party nominees
in East Midnapore, has held "a vilification campaign
by the media" responsible for the poll reverses.
A district-wise review of the results of Zilla
Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections indicates
surprise gains for Trinamul Congress which did not
fare well in the last Assembly polls. The principal
opposition party has captured two Zilla Parishads-in
South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore which happen to
be CPI(M) strongholds. Trinamul Congress and the
Congress have also swept the Panchayat Samiti
elections in districts like Nadia and North 24
Parganas and done more or less well in Howrah.
The Congress, on its part, has retained the Malda
Zilla Parishad and wrested North Dinajpur from the
CPI(M), but lost Murshadabad to the Left Front mainly
due to the party's factional feud in the district. The
Marxists' strongholds have remained intact in north
Bengal districts like Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar as
well as tribal-infested[!]ones like Bankura and
Purulia. The Maoists' threat in West Midnapore has
also proved to be a non-starter with the CPI(M)
succeeding in maintaining its sway over the district.
A major fallout of the rural polls will be an increase
in the Trinamul Congress chairperson's bargaining
power vis-à-vis the Congress. Ms Banerjee, who has
been consciously keeping a distance from the state BJP
to win over the minority community, is still wary of
the Congress high command's relationship with the
Marxists.
She has not totally ruled out the possibility of her
party joining hands with the Congress to prevent the
CPI(M) from capturing Village Panchayat and Panchayat
Samiti boards. However, at the same time she expects
the Congress high command not to "specially treat the
ruling Marxists in Bengal."
She has already decided to launch a no-holds-bar
movement against the state government over its land
acquisition policy and intends to put greater pressure
on the Centre to take firm action against the Marxists
"for indulging in terror and violence."
The poll reverses will prompt the Bengal CPI(M) to
rethink its policy vis-à-vis major Left Front partners
like the RSP and the Forward Bloc. The RSP has
succeeded in inflicting defeats on the CPI(M) nominees
at Basanti in South 24 Parganas which witnessed
unprecedented violence on the election day. Similarly,
Forward Bloc has snatched a number of seats from the
"Big Brother" in Cooch Behar and Howrah. The Marxists
are naturally under pressure to soften its stand
regarding the two Front partners if they want to keep
the coalition intact.
The state CPI(M) will also have to deal with the
party's internal dissension which has taken a heavy
toll in North 24 Parganas. Transport minister and the
chief minister's main detractor Subhas Chakraborty has
blamed the party's farmland acquisition policy for the
electoral setbacks. "Why was the state administration
so keen to acquire agricultural land for the Tatas'
small car project at Singur? Once we had taken part in
a movement against the Tatas. Our policy of land
acquisition has certainly sent a wrong signal to the
poor peasants," he observed. By Gautam Ghosh
II/III.
http://telegraphindia.com/1080523/jsp/frontpage/story_9309640.jsp
Policy at risk, not politics Govt faces twin thorns
ASHIS CHAKRABARTI
Bengal's panchayat poll results have thrown up fewer
surprises than would immediately strike one. That the
CPM would suffer major reverses and the Trinamul
Congress make some gains, especially in Nandigram and
Singur, was always on the cards.
The real surprise is that the Nandigram-Singur wave
did not sweep the Marxists off their feet in larger
parts of Bengal. Even so, the results could mean much
trouble for Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and his party.
No one can grudge Mamata Banerjee her moments with
rasogollas. But, the sweets notwithstanding, the
results could not have come without a sour taste too.
After all, these were no mere Nandigram-Singur
elections.
After she and the CPM had given their customary
responses to the results, they could look at the
political map of Bengal and see how little has
changed. There is still the Hooghly river dividing the
areas of influence — the west of the river is CPM
territory and the much smaller part in its east, part
of south Bengal, is hers. One has only to recall the
patterns of the last few elections to see how familiar
the picture is.
In fact, the overall Bengal picture — the CPM winning
13 of the 17 zilla parishads — hardly indicates that
this is the "beginning of the CPM's end", as Mamata
has put it one more time.
The CPM's critics would actually be disappointed with
the results. These rural polls came at the crest of a
wave of protests that featured issues ranging from the
police firing and the Marxists' terror tactics at
Nandigram to the government's bungling of one issue
after another, especially the Rizwanur Rahman case,
and the CPM's isolation from its partners and Left
liberals.
Also, between Nandigram and Rizwanur, the anti-CPM
mood swayed Bengal's large Muslim masses as on few
occasions before.
Rarely in recent decades has Bengal seen such long and
bitter spells of popular protests against the CPM. If
Mamata and other opponents of the CPM have failed to
make big benefits from this political upheaval beyond
East Midnapore (courtesy Nandigram), Singur, South
24-Parganas and North Dinajpur (courtesy a new star on
the horizon called Deepa Das Munshi), it does not
spell very high hopes for the coming collapse of the
CPM.
That is not to say, though, that the Marxists will be
at peace with these results. They will have much to
worry about the spread effect of these results in
terms of space and time. More so because the next big
battle they face — the Lok Sabha polls — is
approaching.
The biggest and immediate worry for them, though, may
not be the end of their rule in Bengal and with that
their newfound role in Delhi, but the difficulty
Bhattacharjee may face in governance.
Benoy Konar and other CPM leaders who said the results
would have no impact on Bengal's industrialisation
were clearly trying to put a brave face on the
Nandigram effect. The chief minister and his party
would know how difficult it would be for them to push
the industrial agenda, at least before the
parliamentary polls.
It's not just Mamata who would try and do everything
to push her Nandigram advantage. It is possible that
she will move into areas where land acquisition for
new industries has been smooth so far and raise new
battle cries. One such front could be in her newly
acquired South 24-Parganas, where villagers have
reached a consensus on giving their land for a
ship-building project.
And, she would be encouraged to open new fronts in
places like Burdwan, where she could take her "not an
inch of farmland" cry to even state projects such as
the proposed thermal power plant at Katwa.
Bhattacharjee will also have to face two sets of old
adversaries on a new scale. His critics within the
party, some leaders in Bengal and at the central
committee, will now try to tie his hands even more
than they had done before.
He — and the CPM — are sure to be under fresh pressure
from parties like the RSP and the Forward Bloc. These
partners have nothing to lose and much to gain from
halting Bhattacharjee's big leap forward for
industrialisation. Such pressures may not be limited
to issues of industrialisation — they will have their
impact on other policy issues, the retail business and
private investment in agriculture, for example.
It would thus be reasonable to expect the political
temperature in Bengal to keep rising till the
parliamentary polls. And that could mean a couple of
more bandhs, more violence in the districts and more
of many other things that are no help to
industrialisation.
III.
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/left-front-lost-due-to-lack-of-unity_10051684.html
'Left Front lost due to lack of unity'
May 23rd, 2008 - 1:46 am ICT by admin - Email This
Post Email This Post
Kolkata, May 22 (IANS) West Bengal's ruling Left Front
lost its hold in four districts in the panchayat
elections because of lack of unity among its
constituents, Transport, Sports and Youth Services
Minister Subhas Chakraborty said Thursday. "The Left
Front partners must take immediate steps to amend the
situation," Chakraborty said here, a day after
election results stunned the Left alliance, in
particular its leader, the Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M).
"The results are a clear indication that there is lack
of unity and harmony among the Front constituents that
led to this setback. I firmly believe that no party
can turn victorious against the Left Front unless the
party is internally divided," CPI-M's Chakraborty told
reporters.
But CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose said: "There is
no point in discussing what already has happened.
Instead we must take measures so that this is not
repeated in future. I request all the Left Front
partners to maintain peace and discipline so that we
can work at the cracks within before the situation
goes out of control.
"We have to discuss and sort out matters among
ourselves at the soonest," Bose said.
The panchayat polls results seemed to have opened
fresh fissures in the Left Front, with the
Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) blaming 'big
brother' CPI-M for bowing to big business.
"The panchayat results will not hamper or stop
industrialisation," declared Commerce and Industry
Minister Nirupam Sen.
The Left Front suffered an erosion in its rural base
though it managed to retain its domination in 13 of
the 17 districts in elections to the three-tier
self-government bodies Wednesday.
The ruling combine was wiped out in Nandigram and
Singur, areas which saw massive opposition-sponsored
protests against the state government's drive to
acquire land for setting up industries.
East Midnapore district, where Nandigram is located,
jolted the Front, which lost the Zila Parishad - the
top tier of the panchayat system - to the Trinamool
Congress after an uninterrupted reign of three decades.
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