All’s not LOST for CPM

Given the strong traditions of anti-Congress, anti-BJP ideology of Bengal, it is theoretically possible for the CPM to recover lost ground if they make some course corrections
Nilanjana Gupta Kolkata

Already much has been said and written about the reasons for the CPM-led Left Front's (LF) poll debacle in the Lok Sabha elections. In West Bengal, from a situation where the main opposition force had only managed to retain one seat in 2004 - that of Mamata Banerjee herself - to a situation where the Trinamool Congress and allies managed to win 26 seats (plus, one seat which BJP won from Darjeeling) was completely unexpected, probably even beyond the dreams of the winners themselves. The question that is being discussed across the length and breadth of the state now is whether this is the beginning of the end of the unprecedented domination of Bengal since 1977 by the CPM-led LF. Assembly elections are scheduled for 2011. Will the scenario change by then, or, after 34 years, will there be a non-LF government in West Bengal?

Two years is a long time in a period of volatile political turmoil. And, volatile these last few years have been. Two years is a long enough time for the CPM to analyse its weaknesses and re-position itself, its rhetoric and its movements. However, the question is whether the CPM can actually manage to do this. The immediate post-poll reactions do not seem to indicate that the CPM will be able to respond in a way that will regain the confidence of the electorate and form a government for a remarkable eighth term.

Over the last month, it seems that the topic of the election results dominated all addas in West Bengal. Of course, not the national results, but the Bengal results. Some points which have been noted as causes of the decline in seats have more to do with the behaviour of party members - such as petty corruption at all levels, the arrogance born out of unchallenged power for so many years, unwillingness to listen to alternative viewpoints and a disconnect from people. Some of these problems have also figured in the intra-party discussions now going on. These are things that the party can correct if it is serious about responding to the results of the recent elections.

However, it seems to me that there are other, more fundamental, issues that are going to be much more difficult to address. The CPM has, like many communist parties all over the world, been facing an identity crisis for some time now. Yet, the CPM has been unwilling to acknowledge this. The support base of the party had consisted of the poor because of steps that had directly benefited them such as, not only the land reform movements, but also making school education available by expanding the number of schools and making them free, giving rights to slum dwellers for the first time, to give just a few examples.

At the same time, social movements transformed traditional social structures to instil dignity and awareness of rights in the traditionally marginalised sections of our society. Social movements made overt caste oppression almost disappear. Old timers will still talk of their moment of pride when, led by the local CPM worker, low-caste villagers all walked to the high-caste landowner's house wearing their slippers for the first time.

Before that moment, they were supposed to only approach barefooted and bareheaded. The gradual breaking down of religion-based intolerance at the social level was another great achievement of the Left movement. The fact that West Bengal is the only state where more girls are adopted than boys is just another reflection of the success of the agenda of progressive social transformation led by the communists.