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After
Basu, Work
Reviving
a listless economy and keeping the die-hard reds at bay—the new Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya will require extraordinary grit to junk
the legacy of Basu raj.
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STATES:
WEST BENGAL
A
Battle Against Time
It's
actually a monumental shift that has the potential of ensuring a sixth
consecutive term for the Left Front. For the past three years, the anti-Left
Front forces under Mamata were on a roll precisely because they targeted
the ineptitude of Basu and the brutal tyranny of the CPI(M). Mamata's
uncompromising agitational style held out a glimmer of hope to all those
who felt the CPI(M) had deprived them of a worthwhile future. It really
didn't matter that she lacked any positive focus. Her charisma was centred
on her willingness to counter destruction with destruction. If Bhattacharya
succeeds in injecting the administration with a sense of purpose in seven
months, he will be reviving hope. That, coupled with the Left's awesome
election machinery, could blunt the anger and spontaneity behind Mamata's
challenge. To defeat the Left, Mamata needs a very angry electorate capable
of overwhelming the CPI(M)'s deeply entrenched machinery. In his final
years, Basu provided her all the ammunition. Now she has to wait for the
new man's mistakes.
It may not
be an indefinite wait. Bhattacharya may have a reformist agenda, endorsed
by the party. But he has to wait for the new Right turn to percolate downwards.
Time is not on his side. Used to getting its own way for 23 years, the
Coordination Committee isn't going to find it easy to reinvent itself
or curb its self-serving militancy. The state Government has so far existed
to pay salaries to its employees. Politically, it has abdicated all power
to the CPI(M) local committees that are a law unto themselves. If Bhattacharya
now expects this political culture to be replaced by performance and transparency,
he will have to do more than persuade. Says Communist Revolutionary League
of India leader Ashim Chatterjee, who quit the Left Front recently: "Change
comes too slowly in the Left Front. It took 36 years for the CPI(M) to
agree on being a part of parliamentary democracy. So one shouldn't expect
fast change in other fields."
That's not
something Bhattacharya will like to hear. The last thing he wants next
May is a vote on Basu's 23 years. Ironically, that's what Mamata will
press for.
-with
Labonita Ghosh
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