This article was written a month back
Political situation in West Bengal
The mighty have shaken and history is made. . The people of West Bengal have given their verdict against the Left Front, notwithstanding the confidence of their cadres and leaders of being the sole representative of the masses. The cumulating dissent had earlier found shape in the Kolkata rally of November 14 of over 60,000 people (official figure) and the panchyat elections.But the Lok Sabha ( Left Front-15,Cong-TMC alliance-26,SUCI-1,BJP-1 the lowest tally for Left post emergency) verdict has finally given a clear picture for both the party in power and the nation that things have gone terribly wrong over the last few years.Now, as the Trinamool led alliance prepares to make the mighty fall; the Left is busy explaining the debacle to its ranks, instilling courage and hope, rethinking its tactics and agenda. What seemed a distant possibility a few days ago now has an element of tangibility to it. Whether the mighty will finally fall is a question best left to the people. But the situation and the contenders are worth a look into. The Left, clearly, has lost its base to a political identity crisis. The contradiction in the Left Front's virulent campaign against pro-liberal policies of the UPA and the near merciless crushing of what was, arguably, the strongest resistance in the country against SEZ in Nandigram created an ideological vaccum that somebody had to fill. And Trinamool, stepped in to represent the abandoned, erstwhile rural bastions of the Left Front. However, it is important to understand that the dream run of the Trinamool led alliance is not the result of an organised support base but of a culminating angst against the ruling party. This is validated by Trinamool supreme, Mamata Banerjee's own admission that the result is "a verdict of no confidence" against the Left-Front. The chinks in the newly formed amour of the party are too visible to be over looked and hence it is not yet time to write off the Left.Trinamool had played a leading role in the movements against land acquisition, forming one new base after the other but they have not given concrete solutions to the problems of unemployment,Industrialization or inflation. To give shape to this new found support they have to form clear plans of what lies ahead, keeping in mind the promises made to voters. Its rhetoric ' development with a human face' now needs to have a defined form. The tough part in this would be to walk the tight rope of keeping the peasant vote bank happy and maintaining its alliance with the Congress.Though there is little possibility of Congress-Left closeness in the near future, the Trinamool-Congress alliance in the state have a few possible hiccups. Congress, happy with the result of the alliance in the state, though may not be contemplating a break-up but after their rebirth across the country would not be interested to retreat from their economic policies including SEZ. On the contrary, Trinamool, to be honest to its manifesto and recent past has to play the role of more left than thou. A break at any point between the two on any such issue would result in split of votes and a significant change in results.Another drawback, which has kept Trinamool away from the pedestal over the years, is lack of leaders. Though Mamata Banerjee has been able to transform the image of the political leader in Bengal from a suave intellectual to a person on the streets, the party has not been able to project more leaders. Where Left Front has no dearth of leaders who can be projected as prospective candidates for holding office, the Trinamool leadership apart from the supremo is mostly lack lustre. A look at the history of prominent leadership in the country shows that they have mostly been products of student politics. A clear politics, which includes a comprehensive view of society and its development, is needed for the formation of organisations at different levels from where the leadership emerges. Trinamool Chhatra Parishad is virtually absent in Calcutta University and Jadavpur University -- the two prominent universities in the state-and this does not speak very highly of its student base or its comprehensive approach to society.It should be noted that people who voted for the alliance which would lead to a status quo , Congress led government at the centre might not be too keen to vote a party without prominent leadership to power in the state.With strengths and weaknesses of the two sides on a near balance the West Bengal assembly elections after several years would see a tough contest in 2011. And although the winds of change might be with the newly formed alliance, it is too early to write off the Left Front. All said and done May 17, 2009 was a historic day for West Bengal and Indian parliamentary democracy and the strength of the masses to form or remove a government was established yet again.