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"There
Is No Alternative To Us. Not Yet"
West Bengal
Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya reflected optimism about winning
the state election when he spoke to INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Sumit Mitra
at the CPI(M) headquarters in Kolkata, minutes before rushing off for
campaigning. Excerpts:
Q: In
six months as chief minister, do you think you have been able to reposition
the CPI(M) ?
A: The people are in a better position to address this question rather
than me. I have tried my best though. At least within the state we have
tried to be candid. We've claimed credit for what we have accomplished.
At the same time, we have been critical about our failures. I think this
self-criticism has helped us win back some of those pro-Left people who'd
become alienated in the recent past.
Q: Do
Marxism and self-criticism go together?
A: Leftists should always be self-critical. No Leftist should have
the illusion of infallibility. We must learn the truth from the facts.
We must test the correctness of our policies by their popular acceptance.
Q: During
this campaign, your opponents are attacking you for your failure to address
basic problems such as employment. How will it affect your electoral prospects?
A: Lack of jobs is a nationwide problem. The opposition parties are
using it selectively in our state. However, the problem of joblessness
or poverty is not merely electoral rhetoric. It is not possible to solve
these problems without major policy changes at the national level. China
has gone a long way in removing poverty and unemployment but we have not
succeeded. In spite of this limitation, I must say we have achieved significant
success in rolling back poverty and unemployment in rural Bengal.
Q: How
will the charge of non-performance affect your prospects in the poll?
A: In the rural constituencies, the charge will fall on deaf ears
because the people know we have performed. A section of the urban poor
may still vote against us but we have been able to convince yet another
section in our favour.
Q: You
began talking about deficiencies in social services like health and education
after November last year when you became the chief minister. What had
the government been doing for the past 23 years when Jyoti Basu was the
chief minister? Why has it been silent this long?
A: Jyoti Basu was very much aware of these problems and so were we.
The dissatisfaction of the people led to several corrective actions, particularly
on the education front, in Basu's time. The delivery of social services
was faulty and we began setting up committees and task forces some years
ago. Now we have begun implementing some of the decisions taken in the
past by making laws and framing rules to standardise the performance of
government employees using carrots and sticks.
Q: Left
Front's strength fell from 245 to 203 (in a 294-member House) between
1991 and 1996. At this rate, it may drop to 160-plus this time. If that
happens, can you provide a stable government?
A: Politics is not arithmetic. You can't plot the future graph of
politics by the past figures. The situation today is quite different from
1996. We are sure to get mileage out of the fact that the policies of
the NDA Government, of which Trinamool was a partner, have badly affected
the people. The NDA Government is closing down our coal mines and nine
large factories. In banking, insurance and telecom sectors, the employees
are suffering from a growing sense of insecurity. Every new policy has
boomeranged on the Centre, be it abolition of rationing or lowering of
interest rates on savings.
Q: If
you return to power with a truncated majority, do you fear that your coalition
partners may become more demanding?
A: Our coalition is not an electoral alliance. The unity has been
forged through many decades of combined struggle. We have a united forum
for discussing the issues before taking them to the government. The NDA
cannot make any such claim because important issues are decided not by
the NDA partners but by the pmo, whatever that means.
Q: How
sure are you of winning the election?
A: I am absolutely optimistic. There is no uncertainty in this
election. There is no alternative to us. Not yet.
Q: Your
party hasn't tasted defeat since 1972. Do you have the antennae for sensing
reverse tide of public opinion?
A: We have gained a lot in experience. When we came to power in 1977,
the CPI(M) had only 38,000 members in the state. Now the number has crossed
two lakh. It means a lot to us. The party is like a tree and its members
are the roots. We get signals from every segment of the society.
Q: If
you are so confident of winning the election, why is your party resorting
to violence in the rural areas, particularly Midnapore?
A: It is a slander. A lie. All these allegations centre around seven
of the state's 447 police station areas. They are concentrated around
Keshpur and Garbeta in Midnapore. These were perfectly peaceful areas.
Last year, at a Lok Sabha by-election in the area, Trinamool sought to
forcibly reverse public opinion through violent means. Now the local people
will not let them interfere with the electoral process. If they still
resort to violence, the state's law and order machinery will stand in
the way.
Q: So
you are the judge and the jury?
A: Not at all. Try and understand the meaning of what Trinamool
calls its Panshkura line. It means that you first cleanse the constituency
of your opponents and then have the poll. For them, Panshkura was a test
case to be applied to the entire state if it succeeded.
Q: It
is said that your party has done exactly the same thing in most parts
of rural Bengal all these years.
A: It's the winner's curse that we have to live with such criticism
from a small section of the media. No party that is despised by the majority
can remain in power for so many years.
Q: As
an individual, do you agree with your party's policy of politicising every
institution, police, university teachers, including vice-chancellors,
schools, colleges, state undertakings everything for that matter?
A: Ours is a party-based democracy. The party has definitely some
role to play in formulating programmes and policies, but the party has
no role in the administration. In public undertakings, we would prefer
non-political people as long as the person is fit for the job. We have
taken some partymen in the public undertakings as a last recourse, because
willing and qualified people were not available outside. It is true that
we have made some mistakes in choosing party people. Now we have decided
to have only professionals at the top in the state undertakings. In higher
education, we shall have only academics.
Q: Will
the party stop interfering?
A: Of course, the party will have its cells on most matters. And
it will keep us informed.
Q: Do
you discuss cabinet matters in the party?
A: Generally not, except the wider political issues. When the Centre
wanted us to state our position on review of the Constitution, we consulted
the central committee of my party. Similarly, we discuss issues that may
impact public opinion, like a hike in bus fare or education policy. But
sensitive subjects concerning finance, law and order or intelligence are
never discussed outside the cabinet.
Q: Throughout
the campaign you have not mentioned Mamata Banerjee by name even once.
What is your personal assessment of her?
A: I think she is devoid of ideology. Though she comes from the Congress
flock she does not have the Congress orientation. Nor is she honest to
the BJP.
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