THE CRY FOR ALTERNATIVE

West Bengal panchayat elections have just got over and the ruling Trinamool Congress has emerged as a clean winner wiping out the Left from the rural bodies except in a few pockets. Since the perceived outrage against the TMC government didn’t really work in the panchayat elections, the results will definitely give a boost to the chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s belief that everything is concocted by the media and her leaders, party and the government are going in the right direction. In this situation the opposition can’t find much political space in the state, atleast in near future. It gives rise to the perennial question Bengal is facing for decades.

Will West Bengal keep on suffering simply because there is no alternative to the political formation that is ruling the state? Since my childhood I had seen my grandfathers and uncles lamenting about the Communist rule, or the misrule. As I grew up I have seen there were allegations and instances of atrocities by the Left. Despite that in every election the Left came out with flying colours. The name of the chief minister of Bengal would not change. It remained to be Jyoti Basu. Everyone criticized the government but asked themselves: Where is the alternative? I used to wonder why the Congress couldn’t defeat the Left in West Bengal when the same party is coming in and going out of power in various other states of the country! Cynics used to claim the Congress leaders were happy to be the regional satraps with their pockets of support base and enjoy the facilities provided by the Left leaders under the table. They wouldn’t like to take up the huge burden of running a government. 

Mamata Banerjee broke away from Congress with the allegation that it was not really opposed to CPIM and she launched a massive anti-CPIM movement. She enjoyed a huge popularity among a section of the people and created hope among them although her capabilities were suspect given her maverick style of functioning. Then there was also a problem of divided opposition. So question still remained: where is the alternative?

As the people, both at the urban and the rural level, were so disgusted with the Left rule, they, to my mind, without thinking much voted Mamata’s Trinamool Congress to power. Nandigram and Singur worked as the catalyst to the culmination of the anti-Left movement bringing together fringe socio-political groups which forced the change of guard. Many thought it was more like a mandate against the Left than for Mamata.

Now there is so much outcry over the failure of the new government, its functioning and most importantly the chief minister’s denial mode! The TMC rule seems to be the other side of the same coin we saw during the Left regime. Why is the opposition Left, which many thought would be a smart opposition, is failing to act? It seems the Left is waiting for the situation to be too ripe to take the Mamata government head on. No one can see the Left coming to power in near future. Are they waiting for a Singur or a Nandigram to happen? Probably they are. The way the Left’s organization has eroded, it will take time to repair. Before that there is an urgent need for an alternative leader which is missing. People who voted the Left out of power would not so easily repose faith in the leaders like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Biman Bose or Gautam Deb. So the Left wants to go step by step and wait for the people’s anger against the government to grow and explode. 

The problem is the anger against the rulers has always remained among the people. We saw it there especially in last 10 years of the Left rule. But it took time to take a shape electorally. It needed a leader to anchor the anger. We saw how Mamata Banerjee, on a rainy day, was shouting outside the gate of Taj Bengal hotel when Beni Santosha, the Indonesian industrialist, had come visiting Bengal to discuss chemical hub and other projects. There were five or six people behind her. We also saw how that sustained campaign turned that five or six into lakhs behind her during Singur and Nandigram. 

The Left is failing to capitalize on the issues which are creating outrage among the people against this government. Due to presence of electronic media, their job should have been easier. But the TMC government sees no political challenge before them in near future.

The unfortunate part of the West Bengal politics is it is so polarized that sporadic movement by fringe socio-politico organizations can’t do much in the state. Any movement to turn big and be electorally decisive has to be anchored by either the Left or the TMC. Till then one will continue to rule at their will and we will continue to lament: where is the alternative?