Author: Manash Ghosh
Publication: The Statesman
Date: June 23, 2000
THE Left Front's defeat
in the Panskura by-election signals the decline of Left politics in West
Bengal. Not that this trend has surfaced just now. It was evident earlier;
but not on the scale and dimension seen in Panskura. The result signifies
the front's dwindling political appeal and clout, and the erosion in its
commitment to uphold the causes it espouses. Corruption, nepotism and other
"bourgeois vices" have further compromised the front's image and credibility.
The myth of a 10-party
front is also exposed. Panskura was a CPI-M show. Des-pite the candidature
of Gurudas Das-gupta, their visibility was marginal. Other front partners,
who have MLAs in Panskura, were non-existent.
But it was the feeling
of being invincible that turned out to be the front's undoing. Eighty per
cent of voters in the constituency were supposed to be their natural allies
- landless agricultural labourers, sharecroppers and marginal and middle
peasants. Their support was taken for granted. It was this over-confidence
which made Buddhadev Bhatta-charya reassure his party colleagues on polling
day that Gurudas Dasgupta would win by at least 15,000 votes. Biman Bose,
member of the CPI-M Politburo, who had camped and campaigned in Panskura
had predicted a margin of 100,000. MARXIST CROSS
Even those who did not
quite share this optimism had no doubt that he would win. Panskura had
always returned the Left Front. All the seven assembly seats and 95 per
cent of panchayats belonged to the front. So confident was Das-gupta of
victory that he rubbished apprehensions to the contrary. Little did he
realise that he was bearing the CPI-M cross which proved a handicap. His
fate was sealed on 20 May when the Marxists killed 11 people in Kespur.
This whipped up a strong reaction and helped the Trinamul Congress to unleash
counter-terror.
The Marxists were blissfully
ignorant about a pro-Mamata swing. The old system of independent information
channels had fallen into disuse. There was no way they could verify that
there was a distinct mood for change even among traditional Left voters.
This was not perceptible to CPI-M leaders who, even on polling day, nursed
hopes of securing a handsome lead in Kespur.
The bulwark of landless
and poor peasants that they had built for the party' s organisation was
badly breached by their creation of a new class of haves among the have
nots. So wide was the breach that they were unable to retain their traditional
support base and allowed Trinamul to make deep inroads into their strongholds
either through persuasive or coercive skills.
The Marxists had neither
the strength nor inclination to resist Trinamul. Hapless party supporters
blamed the local leadership for being cowards and throwing them to the
Trinamul wolves. At Tilonta-para in the Balpai anchal of Sabong several
hundred Marxists were left to the mercy of Trinamul goons who earlier had
set fire to their houses. Three key party leaders, whose tyranny and infamy
are comparable to that of Pol Pot or Papa "Doc" Duvalier, fled the area.
They paid occasional "reassuring visits" with armed police escorting them.
But they did not stay as the cadres had begun to "hate them for being concerned
only about their own safety".
The leaders were aware
of this and unwilling to take risks. The cadres blamed their suffering
on the "sins" of these leaders. The terror these leaders had unleashed
in the past was being met with counter-terror by Trinamul. This worsened
matters. It was mostly disaffected Marxists who helped Trinamul to rig
elections in Panskura.
Similar was the scene
in Pingla and Kespur. Let alone resisting Trinamul's atrocities, the Marxists
could not even summon up enough courage to condemn them. Morally they were
so weak after the 20 May carnage in Kespur that many leaders sought to
rationalise the Trinamul backlash by quoting Newton's third law. On polling
day the cadres deserted the polling booths en masse.
BOURGEOIS VICES
But the alienation from
the party leadership had begun much earlier. Marxist panchayat pradhans
and schoolmasters had antagonised their own comrades by institutionalising
nepotism. They provided jobs, institutional finance and assistance to their
undeserving kith and kin. Jobs were sold against hefty bribes. All this
widened the chasm and made the party's rank and file hostile. In a climate
of extreme backwardness and poverty such examples stood out as iniquitous
and inconsistent. The by-election was a handy opportunity for the party's
have-nots to rebel against the haves. The poll verdict was also a protest
against attempts to wholly regulate rural life. It was aimed at unshackling
the control of the party's zonal and local committees.
But it is the large-scale
corruption by panchayats that eroded the Marxist base and its striking
power. Corruption has been so thoroughly systematised that it has upset
most sections of rural society. A bribe of Rs 10,000 ensures permission
for sinking a deep tubewell. Another Rs 8,000 is required to "process"
the application.
Extortion with the panchayat's
blessings reached alarming proportions. Whether it is the middle peasant
or the small trader, all are forced to pay huge "dharjya" (ordered amount)
to the party although the receipts mention only a nominal amount. Dharjya
has forced many traders out of business. Heavy "fines" are collected even
from feuding spouses. Big sums are raised for "sramik majoori" and "sramik
hajira" funds from all those who engage labour in their fields. The bulk
of this money undoubtedly goes to the party but a sizeable part lines the
pockets of party functionaries many of whom own the latest Marutis and
two-wheelers.
A partisan approach in
selecting beneficiaries for anti-poverty schemes has also alienated the
electorate. They made brazen distinctions between "our and their poor".
While "our poor" were favoured with "free" below the poverty line ration
cards, "their poor" have to bribe panchayats to get their dues. But even
payment does not always ensure this. The bid for the supply of items for
rural schools is open only to a few partymen.
OPPRESSION
The process governing
the provision of power connections is even more whimsical. Tribals of Kusumdah
in Pingla, who have traditionally voted the CPI-M, have not been given
connections. Reason? An ad-joining Congress village will have to be given
connection first because of its locational advantage. But Marxist leaders
always get priority when it comes to getting power connections. High school
teachers with strong party links and 40-45 bigha holdings have been given
vested land violating entitlement rules. The Panskura verdict is also against
the tyranny of the oppressed that rural Bengal has experienced these past
23 years. The rich and middle peasantry supported Trinamul with a vengeance.
As the worst victims they have not been able to forgive and forget. With
the Congress defunct, Trinamul appeared the only credible force to take
on the Marxists who of course view this as re-emergence of powerful proprietory
interests.
But anti-Marxist feelings
are fanned by the realisation that a cash-strapped Left Front government
has nothing to offer in terms of development. With Trinamul sharing power
at the Centre, support to it may bring a windfall. Expectations of even
small farmers have soared. This reflects the spirit of the slogan of a
soft drink giant: Yeh dil mange more.
