No interpreter of maladies

Uninterrupted power for 32 years has blunted the  sensibilities of the Left to feel the pulse of the people.  The communists had raised expectations when they swept  to power in 1977. But, they failed to live up to it. Instead,  they injected sloth and nepotism in every state-run institution 

Rakhi Chakrabarty Kolkata/Delhi

The CPM-led Left Front in West Bengal has lost the plot. This is an oft-heard comment ever since the results of the Lok Sabha election showed that all is not right with the Left.

So, is it the beginning of the end for the CPM-led Left Front (LF) in Bengal? Well, a large section of the common masses would want to believe that.

Being used to power for 32 years, Left leaders found it difficult to reconcile with the current harsh reality. But, true to its credo, the communists went in for a comprehensive post-mortem of what led to the drubbing. Questionnaires were sent to every unit of the party hierarchy, down to the local committee, to introspect and list the causes of the debacle. 

A common strain that emerged was the disconnect between the party and the people that invested it with the power to rule them for the last 32 years. Senior leaders of CPM and other LF constituents admit that uninterrupted power for more than three decades has blunted the sensibilities of the Left to feel the pulse of the people. CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat, has admitted that arrogance of cadres in Bengal had contributed to the poor showing in the polls.

With power came corruption in all ranks of the party. The frugal demeanour of many a Left leader in Bengal is beguiling. Take for instance, a venerable CPM leader from Howrah, who has been a Lok Sabha MP for eight terms. Nationally, he is known and respected for his pro-poor and anti-communalism utterances. Back home, however, an unwritten writ "foists" contracts by the state-run electricity board in his constituency on his nephew. This is one of the minor aberrations.

An industrialist in Kolkata rued, "In places like UP or Delhi, you pay hefty bribes to politicians and bureaucrats and rest assured your work will be done. In Bengal, you bribe at every step - from clerks to bureaucrats to the "party" and its leaders to ministers. Yet, there is no certainty that they will do your work."

Corruption has eaten into every level of the Left. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee may be honest, but he failed to ensure an honest government that delivers. The Left has failed miserably in weeding out corruption from its rank and file.

Realisation dawned on the people that the Left was no different. They became increasingly disillusioned with it. Gradual disillusionment overwhelms all elected institutions. And, the LF government in West Bengal is not immune to this, admitted a veteran CPM leader.

In fact, for the Left in Bengal, anti-incumbency was building up for more than a decade. The fact that it did not reflect in the election result was primarily due to a fractured opposition. In 2009 Lok Sabha election, the opposition put up a united fight against the Left and the outcome is for all to see. 

The communists had raised expectations in the people when they swept to power in 1977. But, they failed to live up to it. Instead, what they did was inject sloth and nepotism in every State-run institution. Four major sectors fell victim to this: education, health, industry and police.