LEFT scripted its DEFEAT

Unless the CPM puts its house in order, it has to remain in political wilderness for decades ahead. Even Left Front partners can desert it sounding the death knell for the party
Rakhi Chakrabarty Delhi/Kolkata

AN HOUR BEFORE counting began on May 16, a CPM candidate fighting the Election 2009 in the suburbs of Kolkata was brimming with confidence, "Just watch, I'll win by a huge margin."

Supporters of CPM candidate from Dum Dum parliamentary constituency, Amitava Nandy, had taken out a victory procession even before the counting began.

Ironically, both lost to their Trinamool Congress adversaries. Within the first few hours of the counting, the euphoria in the rank and file of the CPM and other Left Front constituents had begun to disappear.

The scene at the CPM state headquarters at Alimuddin Street in Kolkata was telling. On the counting day of every election in the last 32 years, this would be a beehive of activity. There would be whoops of joy, slogans of "Inquilab Zindabad" would rent the air as news of victory came in. Winners from Kolkata and adjoining areas would troop into Alimuddin Street with their supporters; cadres would smear each other with red abir.

This election was different. Alimuddin Street wore a deserted look as news of the impending doom trickled in. "The silence at the office was eerie," a party veteran said.

It was eerie and symbolic, a portent of things to come. The voters had dealt the Left Front a body blow. From 35 seats in 2004, the Left's tally was reduced to 15. CPM, the biggest Left Front constituent, managed to win only nine seats. In 2004, CPM alone had won 26 seats.

This was the worst-ever performance by the CPM and its Left allies, in their 32-year rule, worse than 1984 when the country was swept by a pro-Congress sympathy wave after Indira Gandhi's assassination. Then, the Left had won 26 seats and CPM 18 out of a total of 42 seats in Bengal.

This time, Left's loss has been Trinamool Congress' (TMC) gain. From a lonely one in 2004, the TMC's tally shot to 19. The Congress tally, however, remained unchanged at six.  Statistics reveal that the Left Front polled 43.3 per cent votes this time, around eight per cent less than votes polled by the Left in the 2006 assembly election. The Congress-TMC combine raked in 45.67 per cent votes. BJP's vote share has remained around six per cent since 2001.

Out of 294 assembly segments, the Left lagged behind in 193. It suffered heavy losses in the assembly constituencies of 27 ministers in Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's team.