Left Moves In For A Share Of Split Verdict

Author: Times News Network
Publication: The Times of India
Date: May 7, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/662813.cms

Buoyed by exit poll results, Left Front partners are planning an active political career. A meeting in Delhi on May 15 and 16 will discuss what role they can play in ministry-making. Regional parties and the Left would have a much greater role to play, they feel.
 
Even the elusive Third Front may emerge after the polls. "We expect we will be able to form a non-Congress, non-BJP government," CPM heavyweight Somnath Chatterjee said on Thursday. "If these parties win a substantial number of seats, the Congress will have to lend them support from outside. Otherwise, it will be held responsible for paving the way for a BJP-led government."
 
According to Forward Bloc state secretary Ashok Ghosh, the exit poll results indicated that even with their existing allies, neither BJP nor Congress would be close to the numbers needed to form a government. "The NDA was much below the target in the first two rounds of exit polls, but in the third round they have made a recovery, while the Congress has lost some," Ghosh pointed out.
 
"In the final round, there are states where neither BJP nor Congress will do well, while the Left and the regional parties will increase their tallies." CPM was also preparing for a situation where they would support Congress in forming a government. "It is clear CPM will not join a Congress-led government, we will extend support from outside," he said.
 
He felt CPM and other LF partners would still have an important role to play in shaping the economic policies of such a government. "It is clear now that under NDA the economic priorities of the country have lost focus completely." Among the LF partners, the question of supporting Sonia Gandhi as prime minister would, however, continue to be a thorny issue.
 
"The CPM has no problem if Sonia becomes the PM," Chatterjee said. "We will not raise the issue of her nationality." Ghosh however, was tongue-in-cheek. "It may not come to that," he said. "Many parties may not like to see Sonia as PM. Mulayam Singh or Sharad Pawar may object."
 
LF leaders admitted there could be a tussle over leadership if the non- Congress, non-BJP parties made a bid for power. "There was a tussle in 1996 as well, but it was sorted out," Ghosh said. "Differences will be buried in the anxiety to defeat the common enemy, the NDA. It will be a cementing factor."
 
They never tire of Mao's slogan about power coming out of the barrel of a gun. But when PM Vajpayee compared Bengal 's poll process with Bihar  and J&K, he was greeted with hoots from the CPM.
 
In parts of Midnapore, Bankura, Hooghly , North 24-Parganas and Howrah  , the ruling Left rolls out an amazing array of tricks to switch results its way. For the Left, electioneering is an all-year process that begins with updating voter lists.
 
CPM men armed with previous results go around with state-appointed enumerators during the household survey. In case some family is averse to the Left and is not present at that time, the CPM man ensures that the enumerator chucks out the names from the rolls.
 
This has happened in Kolkata NW and Kolkata S where electoral rolls have been reduced by over a lakh. In villages, it's simpler. Pick any village, you'll find a CPM office well-connected with party and district headquarters. They run most panchayats and the village poor have to come to them either for an Indira Awas hut, or other facilities. Though most are Central projects, the poor man has to depend on the Left for sanctions. Often, land pattas distributed to peasants lie at the CPM office.
 
The final tactic comes on election day. Aware of rising anti-incumbency, especially in towns and the city, the Left resorts to limited violence in the locality to keep peace-loving voters away from polling booths. Then there bands of false voters who jam booths and pull up the poll percentage in the afternoon. Booth presiding officers - often Left-affiliated - helps out.
 
This might not work this time with the EC stepping in, making the Left uneasy. But it doesn't attack EC, just some observers, who it calls 'BJP lackeys.'
 

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