> > When Buddha Did Not Smile: Monobina GuptaThis is a guest > post by MONOBINA GUPTA > > > > > As the true magnitude of the West Bengal election results > sank in, a > sulking Buddhadeb responded, stonewalling the media as if > to say that > had it not been for them the Party would have romped home > victorious! > Here is a conversation reported in The Telegraph (May > 18,2009). The > reporters in Writer’s Building asked the Chief Minister: > > Is it true that you have offered to resign? > > No reply. > > > Will you step down as chief minister owning moral > responsibility for > the party’s debacle? > > No reply. > > Why didn’t you go to Delhi to attend the CPM politburo > meeting? > > No reply. > > Silence has rarely been so eloquent in the corridors of > Writers’ > Buildings as when a grim-faced Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee > walked out at > 1.30 pm for lunch at home. > Faced with a volley of questions whether he had offered to > resign, the > Bengal chief minister left without replying. The Telegraph > had > reported that the chief minister had offered to resign but > CPM boss > Prakash Karat had been trying to make him change his mind. > > This is not the first time Bhattacharjee has faced tricky > questions > but he usually deflects them by saying “I don’t reply > to questions > flung at me from the corridors’’. > But this afternoon, he opted for silence. > > 16th of May 2009 was a day of unmitigated disaster for the > CPI-M as it > stood stark and bare, stripped of its arrogance at one > stroke. Or did > it? As the election results started pouring in, the > Party’s angst grew > by the minute. Slammed with a total rout in the state it > has ruled > without a credible opposition over three decades, the CPI-M > slipped > into total shock. The Left Front’s total tally in West > Bengal crashed > from 35 in 2004 to 15. In the other Left stronghold > Kerala the voters > punished an endlessly squabbling CPI-M leadership, pulling > the Left > Democratic Front down from 18 to 5 seats. By noon the party > was > wobbling, having lost more than half of its 2004 tally. In > 2004 with > 63 MPs the Left Front was the third largest bloc in the Lok > Sabha. Now > it slipped to the eighth position with a bunch of 24 MPs. > > Suddenly all the campaign-time muscle flexing by the top > leadership, > particularly the CPI-M general secretary, seemed empty > political > acrobatics. According to the ‘script’ the Left Front > was supposed to > have emerged the coveted king makers who would set a high > price for > lending their support. Instead the CPI-M offices suddenly > went quiet. > On Alimuddin Street a hush descended as the stunning defeat > yanked the > ground from under the CPI-M’s feet. The last time the > ruling Left > coalition had lagged behind its rival was two decades ago > in the 1984 > elections, held amidst a wave of sympathy for the Congress, > following > Indira Gandhi’s assassination. In 2009 no sympathy > wave was > crisscrossing West Bengal; rather, a storm of anger was > raging through > its length and breadth. Anger, steadily mounting since > 2006, had built > up like a dam waiting to break through. No longer with its > ear to the > ground the CPI-M had expected the elections to throw up a > tough fight > but not a rout by a stretch; a brittle contest but > definitely not a > Waterloo. > > Decades of over confidence, arrogance and a contemptuous > dismissal of > Mamata Banerjee’s leadership had blinkered the Party’s > vision; it > could not feel the depth and extent of the tremors leading > to the > upheaval. Or if it did it, the Party showed little > recognition of the > danger that lay in wait. The results showed up the > leadership in > Delhi and in West Bengal in a dismal light. Prakash Karat, > the man > instrumental in pulling out support to the Manmohan Singh > government a > few months before the general elections, seemed like a > clumsy > political strategist, a far cry from his predecessor > Harkishen Singh > Surjeet, a past master at this game. The Congress rode to > power with > 201 seats, the highest any single party has notched up in > 25 years, > leaving a despondent BJP straggling behind. The third front > Karat was > relentlessly harping on had nothing tangible to offer. And > within 72 > hours Mayawati and Deve Gowda, the two key players of a > non-Congress, > non-BJP alternative, were offering unconditional support to > the UPA > government! > > With defeat blazing on the walls CPI-M leaders one by one > appeared on > television channels wearing contrived smiles. But as the > full impact > struck forced pleasantries disappeared. The desperate act > of putting > up a cohesive, brave front was dispensed with. The Bengal > unit raised > an accusing finger at the top office of the Party, that of > general > secretary Prakash Karat. A clamour of criticism rose and > for once no > efforts were made to drive the dirt underground. From the > sudden > slackening of discipline, a loosening of the tongue, it was > clear the > Party had been stabbed where it hurt most: West Bengal had > finally > moved into the electorally ‘vulnerable zone’. Not > knowing how to > accept such a sweeping defeat gracefully the CPI-M clung to > misleading > statements, pretending that Nandigram-Singur had never > happened. On > the eve of the results, bragging nonchalance the CPI-M > leaders had > declared they were used to sitting in opposition and unlike > any other > political formation, that the CPI-M was a cohesive Party, > not prone to > falling apart under adverse electoral impact. > > But that was exactly how it panned out. Strange statements > poured out > of Alimuddin Street. Without the slightest qualm, Biman > Bose, Left > Front chairperson, laid the blame squarely at A K Gopalan > Bhawan, more > specifically on the doorstep of Karat’s office. The cue > came from > Somnath Chatterjee, the expelled leader, when he said that > the > ‘narcissistic’ central leadership needed to behave in a > more mature > fashion. Chatterjee seemed to square up with Karat who had > summarily > expelled him. > > There was little doubt that Karat had made a mess with his > inflexible > ‘no support to a Congress-led government’ chant, his > efforts to gather > around him a motley group of people who shared little or > nothing in > common barring the lure of power. In fact the origin of > that mess > dated back to the time when the CPI-M withdrew support to > the UPA > government protesting the Indo-US Civil Nuclear deal after > having > stood by the coalition four and a half years. Unlike what > Karat later > tried to make out, it was not the Congress’ neo-liberal > policies that > prompted the decision. After all Buddhadeb was pursuing the > same > policies and much more violently, with undiminished > blessings from his > general secretary and politburo. At the heart of that > decisive Nuclear > Deal row seemed to be a clash of egos. The CPI-M general > secretary > made it an issue of brinkmanship between him and Manmohan > Singh; maybe > that was where Chatterjee’s ‘narcissistic’ bit came > from. Karat > dragged his Party, a reluctant West Bengal unit down an > uncertain if > not suicidal path even as Jyoti Basu cautioned restraint. > Interestingly the Nuclear Deal that had impelled the CPI-M > to such a > drastic move never figured prominently in the 2009 general > election > campaign! > > The decision to vote against the UPA government had a > cascading effect > on West Bengal. Teaming up with the Congress, Mamata > Banerjee turned > the heat on the ruling CPI-M. For once, the Left Front was > forced to > deal with a formidable opposition. Had the alliance not > come about, > people of West Bengal, angry and fed up with the > establishment, may > once more have been left high and dry-nursing their failed > hopes of a > possible change. If the CPI-M had escaped the drubbing it > would have > only been by sheer default. But the leaders in West Bengal > would not > be caught saying so; instead they shot off remarks playing > down > Nandigram-Singur and passing the buck to A K Gopalan > Bhawan. Suddenly > the Left Front’s nemesis seemed to have been an > incoherent > third-front, not its own arrogance and misrule. Losing the > elections > heavyweight MPs hit out at Karat, reviving the old Bengal > Vs Centre > debate. > > The names on that list of losers spoke volumes about the > people’s lack > of confidence in the CPI-M and the Left Front. Hannan > Mollah, who has > been winning the Uluberia seat since 1977 lost, as did > Tarit Topdar, > six-time MP from Barrckpore, Roopchand Pal, six-time MP > from Hoogly > which includes Singur assembly segment, Amitabha Nandi, > CPI-M’s state > committee member and two-time MP from Dum Dum. Kabir Sumon, > the > mesmerizing singer and Trinamool Congress candidate from > Jadavpur, > written off as a political featherweight defeated CPI-M’s > Sujon > Chakraborty The CPI-M’s muscle man in Tamluk, Lakshman > Seth, the eye > of the Nandigram storm lost. So did Mohammad Salim, the > Party’s deputy > leader in the Lok Sabha from Calcutta North. Salim was > banking on > Muslim votes. The results indicated that Muslims, a > traditional > support base for the Left, had shifted loyalties to the > opposition. > After all who could forget the CPI-M’s brazen handling of > the Rizwanur > Rehman case- the Party’s murky collusion with > Calcutta’s top cops, > three of whom have been indicted by court; or the data > supplied by the > Sachar Committee on the status of Muslims? With a 25.2 per > cent Muslim > population, the Left Front government over 32 years had > provided just > 2.1 per cent of government jobs to Muslims. West Bengal had > the worst > record of all Indian states in this respect. With 9.1 per > cent Muslims > Gujarat’s government employees include 5.4 per cent > Muslims. > > The 2009 elections provided the burgeoning mass of the > betrayed and > the disillusioned with an opportunity to retaliate > effectively through > the ballot box. It had to have taken more than withdrawal > of support > to the UPA and incoherence of a non-existent third-front to > throw up > such a resounding defeat. > > Monobina Gupta is a senior journalist and is working on a > book on the > Left and contempoary Bengal politics. > > _______________________________________________ > Foil-l mailing list > [email protected] > http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/foil-l_insaf.net > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indiathinkersnet/ > > <*> Your email settings: > Individual Email | Traditional > > <*> To change settings online go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indiathinkersnet/join > (Yahoo! ID required) > > <*> To change settings via email: > mailto:[email protected] > > mailto:[email protected] > > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email > to: > [email protected] > > <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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