चुनाउ परिणामले के भन्छ?
मनोज वोगटी, 13 मई, कालेबुङ। मोर्चाले मोठ 3,43,931 भोट पायो। मोर्चा बाहेक जम्मै दल मिलेर मात्र 88,926 भोट पाएको छ। जम्मै अरू दलका उम्मेद्वारहरूको भन्दा मोर्चाले 2,55,005 धेर भोट पाएको छ। मोर्चाले सबैको जमानत जफ्त गराइदिएको छ। अब प्रश्न उठ्छ, यो चुनाउको परिणामले के भन्छ ? भर्खर नै क्रामाकपाले मोर्चाले जित्छ तर त्यो जित गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति नभएर प्राधिकरण जस्तै कुनै पनि गोर्खाल्याण्ड मुनीको व्यवस्थाको निम्ति हुन्छ, भन्यो। किन यो शंका गरिएको हो भन्ने प्रश्न राख्दा क्रामाकपाले मोर्चाले सोझै गोर्खाल्याण्ड ल्याउने महाधुर्त भनेर कुनै पनि व्यवस्था भएरै मोर्चाले गोर्खाल्याण्ड पुग्ने चहाना सार्वजनिक गरेको कारण मात्र होइन, मोर्चाले अहिलेसम्म मुखमा गोर्खाल्याण्ड र लेखापढीमा अर्कै व्यवस्थाको वकालती गरेको कारण पनि बताइएको थियो। यसपल्ट प्राधिकरण होइन गोर्खाल्याण्ड भनेपछि मोर्चाले लाखौं भोट प्राप्त गरेको छ। आज डा.हर्कबहादुर छेत्रीले कालेबुङबाट गोर्खाल्याण्डको कुरा गर्न मोर्चाले जनमत पाएको स्पष्ट पारेका छन्। तिनी पार्टी उम्मेद्वार मात्र होइनन् प्रवक्ता पनि हुन्। प्रवक्ता मात्र होइन वार्ताका अंशग्रहणकारी पनि हुन्। तिनले भने, सरकारले मुद्दाको निम्ति जनमत खोज्छ, हामीले त्यो जनमत तयार गरेका छौं। यति मात्र होइन अरूदललाई जनताले विश्वास गर्दैन भन्ने जवाब पनि दिएको छ। परिणामले राजनैतिक शिविरमा तहल्का नै मच्चाइदिएको छ। मोर्चाको कट्टर विरोधी मानिएको गोर्खालीगलाई भन्दा धेर मत पहाड़वासीले सीपीआई र सीपीआईएमलाई दिएकोले लीग जनताको तराजुमा राम्ररी नै परेको स्पष्ट छ।
अर्कोतिर दोस्रो जनमत प्राप्त दह्रो राजनैतिक सङ्गठनकोरूपमा आएको छ गोरामुमो। दुवै दल अहिले नै गोर्खाल्याण्ड नहुने भन्दै अन्य व्यवस्थाको निम्ति वकालती गर्ने दलहरू हुन्। गोजमुमोले डिफेक्टो स्टेट नै रहेको प्रस्ताव दिएको छ, जसलाई लिएर वार्ता जारी छ अनि गोरामुमो फेरि छैटौं अनुसूची मार्फत नयॉं गोर्खा हिल काउन्सिलको कुरा गरिरहेको छ। दुवै गोर्खाल्याण्ड अहिले नै नहुने भन्ने दलहरूले धेर मत प्राप्त गरेको छ। युटी र गणतन्त्र बहालीको मुद्दाले भोट नै पाएन। यसले के स्पष्ट पारेको छ भने केवल गनगन गर्ने र तथ्यपरक कार्यक्रम नगर्ने दलहरूलाई जनताले रुचाउँदैन। क्रामाकपा भने कति जनता लिएर बसेको छ, त्यो खुलस्त हुन सकेन।
मोर्चाले पाएको जनमतलाई कसैले पनि नकार्न सक्दैन, यसकारण अब अन्य तल्लोवर्गका दलहरूलाई राजनैतिक अस्तित्व संरक्षणको निम्ति गतिलै कार्यक्रम र आत्म विश्वास लिएर आउनुपर्ने देखिएको छ। मोर्चाले पाएको जनमत गोर्खाल्याण्डको निम्ति हो कि अन्य विषयको निम्ति, मोर्चा आफै विषयलाई लिएर चल्मलाउन थालेपछि नै यो कुराबारे स्पष्ट चित्र आउन सक्छ तर मोर्चाले जे गर्छ त्यसको कुरा नगरेर दलहरू आफैले कुनै पनि दह्रो कार्य नबनाए विस्तारै पहाड़का दलहरू सङ्कटमा पर्न सक्ने छॉंट यसै चुनाउले देखाएको छ।
गोजामुमो
त्रिलोक देवान -1,20,532
डा.हर्कबहादुर छेत्री -1,09,102
डा.रोहित शर्मा -1,14,297
मोठ -3,43,931
गोरामुमो -42,605
सीपीआई(एम) -12,711
कंग्रेस -10,134
मोठ- -88,926
Headlines SMS:
Rajen Mukhia resigns from ABGL.
Jaswant Singh arrived inDarjeeling.
Mamta Banerjee is likely to start hill development ministry.
BGP is holding a seminar in Kalimpong.Petrol price baptism for new govt
TT, May 14: Petrol prices were today raised by over Rs 5 a litre in the sharpest jump in at least 11 years, the announcement coming a day after the election results in five states.
The increase, brewing since unrest spread in several Arab nations, has gifted the Left a tool for protest after its worst defeat and set up a tax test for the incoming Mamata Banerjee government.
Calcuttans will have to pay Rs 67.71 a litre from midnight, after the ninth increase since prices were deregulated last June. This means the price has gone up by nearly Rs 12.50 a litre in a year in the city
The sales tax on petrol in Left-ruled Bengal has been among the highest in the country at 25 per cent. Under fire for protesting against the Centre for oil price rise while refusing to cut sales tax, the state government had last July announced a Re 1 subsidy on each litre of diesel bought by bus, minibus and taxi operators.
Senior Trinamul Congress leaders tonight refused to comment whether the new government would reduce the sales tax at a time the outgoing regime has left behind a huge debt burden.
The Left also appeared to be facing a dilemma — over the mode of protest — though the issue has rejuvenated the group a day after its worst electoral drubbing. It is not averse to calling a bandh but sections in Bengal are wondering if that would be construed as an “obstructionist” policy towards the new government in the state.
“This is the UPA’s gift to the people one day after they voted for them,” CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in Delhi. “We are announcing nationwide protests tomorrow.”
Asked whether the Left plans to call a bandh, Yechury said: “We would like to. But we shall talk to our allies before deciding.”
But Bengal CPM leader Biman Bose, who also warned of protests, said in Calcutta: “There is no question of calling bandhs”.
A price rise was on the cards after international crude oil prices jumped to a two-year high of $120 a barrel in April — driven by the political uncertainty in West Asia, slow global recovery and a debt crisis in Europe — from $100 in January when the last revision was announced.
India imports 80 per cent of its crude requirements. “The hike was much needed for the health of the oil firms and for managing the monetary policy. There could be another hike in petrol prices in a month or so when global crude prices stabilise. A hike in diesel prices also needs to be undertaken to manage the subsidy burden of the government,” said N.R. Bhanumurthy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
The government had asked state-owned oil companies to hold prices steady till the elections in Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were over, officials said.
“Despite very high global crude oil prices and a huge debt burden for oil firms, the increase is only moderate keeping the consumers’ interests in view,” an IOC official said of the sharpest increase since the year 2000.
But an official said that “the hike needed to bring domestic rates on a par with international prices was Rs 10.50 per litre”. The increase announced today has been half that, he added.
The IOC, BPCL and HPCL lose about Rs 16.17 per litre of diesel, Rs 28.28 per litre of kerosene and Rs 329.73 per domestic LPG cylinder they sell.
Diesel prices have been left unchanged to avoid a cascading effect on prices of all goods, especially food products, since that is the fuel used by trucks.
“The empowered Group of Ministers (headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee) is likely to meet after May 23” to decide on diesel and cooking gas prices, a senior oil ministry official said.
The government paid Rs 40,912 crore in subsidy to oil companies in the last financial year — over half the Rs 78,000 crore the three firms lost by selling auto and cooking fuel below their imported cost
The three firms will “at current international crude oil prices lose Rs 180,208 crore in revenues by selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below their imported cost in the 2011-12 fiscal,” an official said
From marginal to mammoth wins, Bengal polls saw it all
IANS, Kolkata, May 14: From a thumping victory to just making it past the post, the margins of victories in the West Bengal polls had it all.
Among the 294 winning candidates, five managed to oust their opponents by less than 500 votes.
In Mangolkote constituency, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate Sahajahan Choudhury defeated his opponent from the Trinamool Congress by a margin of just 126 votes.
In Raipur of Bankura and Pandua of Hooghly district, CPI-M candidates Upen Kisku and S.K. Amjad Hossain defeated Trinamool
On the other hand, Trinamool candidates Banamali Hazra and Hiten Barman got the better of their rivals by 298 and 257 votes respectively.
Five other candidates also won by a margin of less than 1,000 votes.
The candidates who scored overwhelming victories include Gorkha Janamukti Morcha candidate Trilok Dewan from Kurseong, who won by a margin of 106,555 votes, followed by his party colleague Harka Bahudur Chhetri from Kalimpong, who finished ahead of his nearest rival by 101,675 votes.
Among the battle hardened politicians, Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee defeated his opponent from CPI-M with a margin of 59,021 votes in Behala West assembly constituency.
The increase, brewing since unrest spread in several Arab nations, has gifted the Left a tool for protest after its worst defeat and set up a tax test for the incoming Mamata Banerjee government.
Calcuttans will have to pay Rs 67.71 a litre from midnight, after the ninth increase since prices were deregulated last June. This means the price has gone up by nearly Rs 12.50 a litre in a year in the city
The sales tax on petrol in Left-ruled Bengal has been among the highest in the country at 25 per cent. Under fire for protesting against the Centre for oil price rise while refusing to cut sales tax, the state government had last July announced a Re 1 subsidy on each litre of diesel bought by bus, minibus and taxi operators.
Senior Trinamul Congress leaders tonight refused to comment whether the new government would reduce the sales tax at a time the outgoing regime has left behind a huge debt burden.
The Left also appeared to be facing a dilemma — over the mode of protest — though the issue has rejuvenated the group a day after its worst electoral drubbing. It is not averse to calling a bandh but sections in Bengal are wondering if that would be construed as an “obstructionist” policy towards the new government in the state.
“This is the UPA’s gift to the people one day after they voted for them,” CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in Delhi. “We are announcing nationwide protests tomorrow.”
Asked whether the Left plans to call a bandh, Yechury said: “We would like to. But we shall talk to our allies before deciding.”
But Bengal CPM leader Biman Bose, who also warned of protests, said in Calcutta: “There is no question of calling bandhs”.
A price rise was on the cards after international crude oil prices jumped to a two-year high of $120 a barrel in April — driven by the political uncertainty in West Asia, slow global recovery and a debt crisis in Europe — from $100 in January when the last revision was announced.
India imports 80 per cent of its crude requirements. “The hike was much needed for the health of the oil firms and for managing the monetary policy. There could be another hike in petrol prices in a month or so when global crude prices stabilise. A hike in diesel prices also needs to be undertaken to manage the subsidy burden of the government,” said N.R. Bhanumurthy of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
The government had asked state-owned oil companies to hold prices steady till the elections in Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were over, officials said.
“Despite very high global crude oil prices and a huge debt burden for oil firms, the increase is only moderate keeping the consumers’ interests in view,” an IOC official said of the sharpest increase since the year 2000.
But an official said that “the hike needed to bring domestic rates on a par with international prices was Rs 10.50 per litre”. The increase announced today has been half that, he added.
The IOC, BPCL and HPCL lose about Rs 16.17 per litre of diesel, Rs 28.28 per litre of kerosene and Rs 329.73 per domestic LPG cylinder they sell.
Diesel prices have been left unchanged to avoid a cascading effect on prices of all goods, especially food products, since that is the fuel used by trucks.
“The empowered Group of Ministers (headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee) is likely to meet after May 23” to decide on diesel and cooking gas prices, a senior oil ministry official said.
The government paid Rs 40,912 crore in subsidy to oil companies in the last financial year — over half the Rs 78,000 crore the three firms lost by selling auto and cooking fuel below their imported cost
The three firms will “at current international crude oil prices lose Rs 180,208 crore in revenues by selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below their imported cost in the 2011-12 fiscal,” an official said
From marginal to mammoth wins, Bengal polls saw it all
IANS, Kolkata, May 14: From a thumping victory to just making it past the post, the margins of victories in the West Bengal polls had it all.
Among the 294 winning candidates, five managed to oust their opponents by less than 500 votes.
In Mangolkote constituency, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidate Sahajahan Choudhury defeated his opponent from the Trinamool Congress by a margin of just 126 votes.
In Raipur of Bankura and Pandua of Hooghly district, CPI-M candidates Upen Kisku and S.K. Amjad Hossain defeated Trinamool
On the other hand, Trinamool candidates Banamali Hazra and Hiten Barman got the better of their rivals by 298 and 257 votes respectively.
Five other candidates also won by a margin of less than 1,000 votes.
The candidates who scored overwhelming victories include Gorkha Janamukti Morcha candidate Trilok Dewan from Kurseong, who won by a margin of 106,555 votes, followed by his party colleague Harka Bahudur Chhetri from Kalimpong, who finished ahead of his nearest rival by 101,675 votes.
Among the battle hardened politicians, Trinamool Congress leader Partha Chatterjee defeated his opponent from CPI-M with a margin of 59,021 votes in Behala West assembly constituency.
NOT A BAD POLL
Like the proverbial curate’s egg, the election results of the assemblies of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have been good in parts for the Congress. The party has been beleaguered in recent months. The reason for this is the set of problems the government has been facing. The government has been the target of attack because of the involvement of one of its former ministers in the 2G spectrum allocation scandal. The Congress has not been able to sufficiently distance itself from this because the minister concerned, A. Raja, belongs to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a coalition partner. In the polls in Tamil Nadu, the Congress fought as an ally of the DMK. Paradoxically, the rout of the DMK by its principal enemy, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, will not completely displease the Congress. The defeat of the DMK will give to the United Progressive Alliance greater elbow room to deal with those of the DMK who are accused of being involved in the 2G spectrum scam. The bargaining power of the DMK will be reduced, allowing the prime minister greater freedom to reshuffle his cabinet and to remove the taint of corruption from his government. This should please the Congress despite it being on the losing side in Tamil Nadu.
The news from Kerala and Assam should also bring joy to the Congress. In Assam, the victory of the Congress is comprehensive. The results reiterate the Assam electorate’s faith in the Congress. In large measure, this faith is based on the perception that a Congress government is best placed to lead the peace talks with the Ulfa to a successful conclusion. A Congress government is obviously seen by the voters in Assam as the best guarantee for stability. Even though Assam is remote from Delhi, this victory will boost Congress morale since in all the other states of North India, the party’s position is dwindling. In the deep South, the Congress will form the government in Kerala, albeit with a very narrow majority. It is difficult to be unequivocal about this result not only because of the narrow margin but also because in Kerala electoral fortunes are very volatile. But a victory is a victory for all that.
The Congress’s good performance in West Bengal will remain a subject for debate: how far was this on the Congress’s own steam and how far was it the result of the Congress riding piggyback on Mamata Banerjee? The implications of the results are, however, undeniable. Ms Banerjee desperately needs a sweetheart financial deal from the Central government if she is to rescue the state’s fisc from its parlous plight. She, therefore, cannot ride roughshod over the Congress in West Bengal as she is often prone to do. The poker game between Ms Banerjee and the Congress will be interesting, as both hold reasonable suits.
The Congress after these polls cannot be jubilant but it can afford a smile after a long grimace. Mamata meets Pranab, asks Congress to join ministry
IANS & IE, Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal's would be chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday called on finance minister and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee and formally requested the Congress to join her ministry.
"The two leaders discussed Congress's participation in the ministry," said Trinamool sources. Banerjee, who went to Mukherjee's south Kolkata residence, said the discussions were "fruitful".
Congress was a part of the Trinamool-led alliance that swept the Assembly polls in West Bengal on Friday ending the Left Front's unprecedented 34-year rule. In the 294-member Assembly, Trinamool Congress and allies won 227 seats - a three-fourth majority - leaving the Left.
At a crucial late evening meeting with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, she discussed the participation of the Congress in the new government, retention of the railway ministry by the Trinamool Congress, and the priorities of West Bengal’s new regime, including a special economic package from the Centre.
Mukherjee, who arrived from Delhi in the evening, said, “The new government will bring all-round development in Bengal under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee... We discussed issues relating to the new government formation and the final discussions would be held in Delhi.”
Banerjee said she would “accompany Pranabda to Delhi in a day or two and officially place an invitation before the Congress high command for joining the government”. “We have fought together, we will move together.”
Top TMC leaders said Banerjee would seek a “special economic package” for Bengal, to overcome the financial crisis left behind by the Marxists and as a gesture of goodwill towards the people who had given the alliance its historic mandate.
The preliminary discussions of this evening would be carried forward in Banerjee’s meetings in Delhi with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, they said.
Abhirup Sarkar, an economist at Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, said revenues could be boosted by means other than imposing new taxes — “by way of better tax administration and by controlling corruption”. In a TV talk show, Amit Mitra, widely tipped to be Banerjee’s finance minister, briefly touched on possible remedies to bail the state out of its debt.
The government could draw up small sector-specific vision documents on health, finance, education, etc., which should focus on the causes for the economic downslide and areas needing immediate attention, he said. The prime minister, finance minister and Planning Commision might take steps based on these documents, Mitra said.
Banerjee is learnt to have made clear to Mukherjee that the Trinamool would like to keep the railway ministry. Names of Minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Trivedi were doing the rounds for the job, with Roy said to be ahead in the race.
Shakeel Ahmed, the central Congress leader in charge of Bengal, who travelled with Mukherjee to Kolkata, said the issue of the Congress’s participation was still open. He added, however, that “I myself had been in the Rabri Devi government in Bihar where we were in a minority” — a significant statement in the context of some talk in Congress circles that the party leadership is generally not too keen to join a government where it is the junior partner.
It is learnt that the swearing-in would be on May 18. Banerjee wanted it at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground, but Governor M K Narayanan is believed to have persuaded her to have the ceremony at the Raj Bhavan. The swearing-in is a government function, and she can always hold a rally at Brigade Parade afterward, the governor is learnt to have told Banerjee
Cong open to power-sharing - Fruitful discussion, says Pranab
TT, May 14: The prospect of the Congress joining a Mamata Banerjee-led government brightened tonight with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee holding a “fruitful discussion” with the Trinamul chief.
“I had a fruitful discussion with Mamata,” Mukherjee said in Calcutta, asked if the Congress would join the Trinamul-led government.
TT, May 14: The prospect of the Congress joining a Mamata Banerjee-led government brightened tonight with Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee holding a “fruitful discussion” with the Trinamul chief.
“I had a fruitful discussion with Mamata,” Mukherjee said in Calcutta, asked if the Congress would join the Trinamul-led government.
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Mamata was learnt to have told Mukherjee that she preferred a small cabinet, unlike the CPM that carved up ministries to accommodate allies.
The Trinamul chief had a fortnight ago told STAR Ananda that she herself would oversee four key departments like industry, home, education and health for at least six months.
Mamata visited Mukherjee’s Dhakuria residence around 9.10pm and was closeted with him for nearly 50 minutes. She was accompanied by her junior cabinet colleague Mukul Roy, three party MPs and her MLA from Tollygunge.
Mamata is expected to accompany Mukherjee to Delhi tomorrow to apparently discuss the Congress’s participation in her government. The Trinamul leader will meet Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
She will invite them to the swearing-in, expected on Wednesday. “I shall go to Delhi with Pranabda tomorrow,” Mamata said.
Asked if Sonia will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Calcutta, sources in Delhi said no decision had been taken so far. Sonia is expected to address a rally in Varanasi on May 19 but no programme has been scheduled for May 18. “If Mamata personally invites her to the ceremony, she may choose to go,” a leader said.
AICC secretary in charge of Bengal Shakeel Ahmed said he was “thankful to Mamataji for inviting us to join her government”. Describing it as “a very positive development,” Shakeel said: “We shall take the final call after discussing the matter with our elected representatives.”
The Congress has convened a meeting of its legislature party tomorrow morning. “A majority of our elected representatives are in favour of joining the government. We shall discuss the matter with a positive mind,” said a PCC leader.
Although the Congress is not in a position to drive a hard bargain for portfolios, an AICC leader said Mamata would be requested to give berths that would “help us reach out to the people”.
State Congress president Manas Bhuniya today sent a bouquet of flowers to Mamata to congratulate her on her “landslide victory”.
Sources in Delhi said the Congress central leadership had more or less decided to join the Mamata government.
Sources said the Congress core committee yesterday reviewed the election results and decided to ascertain the views of the MLAs first but the unanimous view was that there should be no hesitation in joining the government in Bengal.
Although some senior leaders felt that the party should wait to see how the new government performs, the majority view was that a joint government would send a positive signal from the very beginning and generate enthusiasm among the workers.
A senior Congress leader said in Delhi: “All indications suggest that we are joining the government. We don’t want to create doubts about our coalition at this juncture.”
Senior party leaders felt that staying away from the government would be detrimental to the party’s growth in the state. “Trinamul, which has grown at our cost, will be in a better position to lure away our leaders if we do not share power,” a leader said.
The Congress had stayed away from power in Tamil Nadu but it yielded no political dividends.
GJM looking for positive change in Darjeeling hills
PTI, Kolkata, May 15 : With the Trinamool Congress-led combine at the helm in West Bengal, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is expecting a positive change in the attitude of the government towards its statehood demand.
GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said that people had voted overwhelmingly for its candidates in the three hill sub-divisions only to facilitate realisation of their goal of a separate state in Darjeeling.
"We have only one agenda and that is a separate state for the people of the hills and the people have voted for us to achieve that only," Giri told PTI over phone.
The newly-elected MLA from Kalimpong, Harkabahadur Chhetri, said not only its three candidates had won the election, but an independent, backed by GJM, from Kalchini also made it to the Assembly.
"The verdict of the people is very clear that the people of the hills want a separate state and so the newly elected government should work in that direction to honour the wishes of the people," Chetri said.
Asked about their perception of the new government, Chetri said, "The Left Front government was very much opposed to a separate state and they wanted to suppress the voices of people, but we are hopeful that Mamata will give proper honour to our demands," Chetri said.
Asked if they are allowed to raise their voices in the Assembly, Chetri said, "It is not the time to speculate.
Rather, we will have work together for the proper formation of the state and we are hopeful that Mamata Banerjee will understand the sentiment in the hills."
"She coined the slogan ''poriborton'' or change, and so she should translate her slogan into reality and in the hills the people are eagerly waiting for the change," Chetri said.
Three GJM candidates Trilok Kumar Dewan, Harkabahadur Chhetri and Rohit Sharma won from Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong respectively and another independent candidate Wilson Champamary, supported by GJM, won from Kalchini constituency. IN HER HANDS, THE FUTURE - Mamata’s slogan of change and popular anger come together
Rudrangshu Mukherjee, TT : Change cannot be divorced from human agency. Only a very crude determinism attempts such a separation. The results of the elections to the West Bengal assembly are products of human thought and action. The Left Front has been voted out and Mamata Banerjee voted in because millions of people not only wanted it that way but also because they went to the polling booths to demonstrate their choice. The results are not the products of absentmindedness on the part of the voters, neither are they an accidental outcome of collective choice. The verdict is too overwhelming and comprehensive to be either. Quite apart from the victory of Mamata Banerjee, this historic election also represents a triumph of human will and agency. The point is important since for a better part of the past 34 years, a concerted attempt had been made by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to dominate human agency and to make human beings subservient to the diktats of the party and its cadre.
From the above generalizations two related questions follow. One, what made the people of West Bengal wait over three decades to assert their will and to overthrow the CPI(M)? And two, why did they choose Mamata Banerjee and her party, the Trinamul Congress, as their preferred instrument to show the Left the door? The second question is easier to answer than the first, so I will begin with that.
In spite of the overall dominance of the Left in West Bengal since 1977, voting figures show that a substantial body of electors in every election cast their ballots against the Left. This number hovered somewhere around 40 per cent of the total number of votes cast in each election. This suggests that over the years there existed in West Bengal a body of voters who were not happy with the way the Left ruled the state or were ideologically not inclined to support a political formation that was associated with some form of communism. The expectations of these voters could not get adequate representation because of the failures of the political party that since independence was the only force opposed to the rise of communist power and influence in West Bengal, that is, the Indian National Congress.
The Congress in West Bengal from the 1980s had no important leader who could appeal and reach out to the people. The Congress national leadership was not too concerned about the plight of the West Bengal unit of the party. The one important figure within the Congress who came from the state was Pranab Mukherjee who, till the other day, could not win a Lok Sabha seat from West Bengal and when he finally did, it was because he had the support of the Left. The Congress in West Bengal had little or no credibility, and the perception was that many of the local leaders had made their own deals with the Left. Under these circumstances, one figure and one voice stood out.
The figure was that of a woman and the voice was shrill. Through many vicissitudes of fortune Mamata Banerjee refused to compromise with the Left. She was relentless in her opposition to Left rule in West Bengal even when this meant that she was in a hopeless minority or even when many people suspected her motives and criticized her behaviour. Even her enemies and her critics were forced to recognize her as the sole spokesman of anti-Left opinion in West Bengal. The bhadralok, for reasons of class and gender, took their time to accept this, but they had no other option. This is one of the reasons for her growing popularity. But the significance of this factor should not lead to an underestimation of her skills as a politician, her uncanny ability to stay with the people and to feel their mood, her nerves as a negotiator and so on. She was not born with charisma but she acquired it through her hard work or, it could be said, she had charisma thrust upon her.
It is an old philosophical premise that no identity can be affirmed without its Other. Following from this, it could be said that Mamata Banerjee’s identity as the sole spokesman would not have been possible without the powerful existence of the Left. Last Sunday, a veteran and committed supporter of the CPI(M) told me, “The greatest achievement of the Left Front in West Bengal is the making of Mamata Banerjee.” There was irony and bitterness in the statement but it is difficult to imagine Mamata Banerjee and her present status without the existence of her arch adversary, the CPI(M).
The upsurge of popular discontent against the Left of which this election results are a manifestation must be seen for the purpose of analysis at two distinct but related levels. One is at the level of trends — something traceable over a period of time; and the other is, events — incidents that aggravated the trend of decline. The dominance of the Left, especially that of the CPI(M), was articulated through two instruments — control and terror. The CPI(M) tried to control every sphere of life in West Bengal by using the power of the State, by making every single institution (bureaucracy, educational establishments, hospitals, panchayats, municipal bodies, unions, the local clubs and so on) subservient to the party. Where the attempts failed or were resisted, the CPI(M) used terror through its cadre. This created discontent which was muted or even suppressed. This use of terror, not unexpected from a Stalinist party, was the hallmark of the Left’s tenure in West Bengal and this will be the remembrance mark of the Left despite its many much-flaunted achievements.
At the level of events, the most crucial episode was the violence in Nandigram in 2007 where the CPI(M), in an act of revenge and retaliation, unleashed a reign of terror. The party wanted to regain lost turf and it used armed cadre and the state police to achieve its ends. Many of the victims of this violence were poor peasants and farmers who had at one time supported the Left and had then felt threatened by the government’s policy of land acquisition. The violence produced shock and dismay, especially among the intelligentsia, most of whom had since 1977 been advocates of Left rule. The intelligentsia and members of civil society came out in protest against the government’s and the CPI(M)’s shameless use of force and terror. This was a turning point. The people of West Bengal began to realize that it was possible and necessary to stand up against the Left’s arrogance and misrule. It was the beginning of the end.
It was almost natural that this rising anger of the people would look for a political face and find it in Mamata Banerjee who had been fighting the CPI(M)’s arrogance and use of force for over a decade. There was a coming together of this popular anger and Mamata’s image as the sole spokesman of anti-Left opinion and politics in West Bengal. Mamata’s charisma is grounded in this merger. Mamata Banerjee’s particular purpose comprehended the substantial content of the people’s anger and desire for change. They flocked to her banner. She became the instrument of their agency.
Any change has embedded in it an element of uncertainty. Mamata Banerjee’s endeavour to refashion the present history of West Bengal cannot escape its historical context. She will inevitably feel the dead hand of the past. As the chief minister, she will be expected to exercise choice without fear or prejudice. Will she be able to do that? The cynics will say, the more things change, the more they remain the same. The optimists will respond with the words of the poet, “There is only the fight to recover what has been lost... there is only the trying.” West Bengal waits, caught in the cusp of history.
Bengal waiting for an education facelift
Arunima Ghosh, SNS, KOLKATA, 14 MAY: The victory of the Trinamul Congress-Congress combine would finally reduce the political clout of the CPI(M)-backed teachers' organisations that had flourished in the past three decades, said teachers who declined membership of these associations.
Two major organisations ~ All Bengal Teachers' Association (ABTA) and West Bengal College and University Teachers' Association (WBCUTA) ~ have served as two of the frontal organisations of the CPI-M in implementing the state government's education policies.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, at an election rally in Dum Dum, had lashed out at the state government for its faulty education policies and fall in the standard of education in the state. This is primarily due to the teachers associations that had inspired teachers to attend political rallies rather than take classes.
Interestingly, both the associations were formed in pre-Independence India. Political intervention began only in the early 1980s and teachers were converted into party cadres. Important issues like appointments, transfers, promotions and increments depended on membership of ABTA and WBCUTA. ABTA members could bag their increments timely while non-members had to do the rounds of the district inspector’s office, said Mr Ashok Maity, former general secretary of West Bengal Headmasters’ Association..
Teachers could easily escape punishments being ABTA members, he said,
Again, members of the CPI(M)-led organisations enjoyed postings at the government colleges of the city for years while the non-members remained posted in faraway districts, said a teacher. This resulted in the education standard at the prestigious colleges of Kolkata being lowered with results deteriorating continuously.
Now, the fear of unearthing past irregularities looms large among members.
As per tradition, most of the ABTA and WBCUTA leaders have held prominent posts in the state-aided universities, state school and college service commissions, district primary councils, primary board, secondary board and higher secondary council. They serve as representatives in the governing bodies of colleges and are members of the highest administrative and academic bodies of the universities, namely Senate, Syndicate, Court and Council.
Allegiance to CPI-M has been given more priority than academic qualification during several appointments, said Mr Biman Shankar Nanda, a Democratic Teachers for Autonomy and Academic Freedom leader. Thus, existence of these members might now be put at stake.
For years, these associations maintained their allegiance to the CPI-M without ever discussing ways to improve the syllabi and teaching standard. Bengal has thus been pushed to the 18th position among all states with students performing poorly in most national-level examinations. The recent being the Civil Services examinations with a 171-rank-holder being the state topper.
‘Left Front will strive for early recovery'
TH, KOLKATA: “Leftism will have its final say in the matter of peace and prosperity of the downtrodden people.” Expressing this conviction, Forward Bloc general secretary Debabrata Biswas said here on Saturday that the Left Front victory in 1977 and its defeat now in 2011 would both be treated henceforth as “historical events”.
He said the events deserved in-depth study to trace the evolution of the Left movement in India. “This study can provide us ample lessons for guidelines to our future course of action,” he added.
Admitting that it was a landslide victory for the Trinamool Congress, he said the Left accepted the people's verdict and would strive hard in a true Leftist way for an early recovery.
Noting that the Left Front has had its ups and downs in the course of its last seven terms, Mr. Biswas said while this was nothing unusual for a moving body, the nature of the present debacle was something that could not be fully anticipated.
“It is now realised that the people overwhelmingly responded to the massive slogan of change given by the Opposition. This response of the people must have been fuelled by quite a few failures and wrong-stepping by the Left Front government. This is what we need to analyse in detail by the individual partners and the Left Front as a whole,” he said.
Mr. Biswas said the Left Front's two-way role would be to act as a responsible Opposition with a constructive approach. The strength of the Left is down to 62 from 235 in 2006, and the Forward Bloc has won 11 seats, he said.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Saturday alleged that its workers were coming under increased attacks at the hands of Trinamool supporters after the declaration of the results on Friday.
The party said that there had been seven instances of attacks in Pashim Medinipur district and 10 in Purba Medinipur. Party supporters were being forced to “surrender” before Trinamool workers and party offices were being locked up. In some cases people were being forced to flee their homes. Elsewhere in the State too reports are coming in of forced celebrations in colleges and hoisting of TMC flags at CPI(M) offices. In Kolkata too reports are coming in of some incidents of altercations between party workers, though the TMC chief has asked her supporters to exercise restraint while celebrating the party's victory.
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