The writing on the wall is clear for Left

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

Remember the song ‘Winds of change’ by the German band Scorpions. It had become the popular anthem for German reunification in the early 1990s. It may not be too far away that composers in Bengal might be geared up to produce such a song. Although no reunification is in store for state, a political change definitely seems to be on the cards. The Left Fort is showing sings of cracks which are beyond repairs and the state could soon be painted green after the Assembly polls in 2011. It is no longer ‘Ma, Mati, Manush’ for the Trinamool Congress but ‘Ma, Mati, Manush and Mamata’ for the state.

Bengal finally seems to have had too much of Left for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the last three decades and wants a change in menu. Idealism never seems to feed the Bengali stomach and they want growth and the anti-Left lobby finally seems to seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Left ruled with an iron fist and shattered the hopes of everyone who thought they could be defeated. Years of power made it corrupt and years of defeat made the opposition loose confidence. BJP never existed in Bengal, the Congress surrendered but it was the grit of one lady whom many term insane believed in the impossible.

There was always an anti-Left vote in Bengal but it was never confident and never organised. These people boycotted polls at an individual level as they election results in Bengal were not worth betting. All it needed was a trigger for these people to come together under one banner and take on the Left. Nandigram and Singur proved to be catalyst and the results are here for everyone to see. It now seems Left had crumbled from inside long ago but the absence of a strong opposition gave it the power to rule the state over and over again.

Some staunch Left supporters dismissed their defeat in the 2008 Panchayat elections saying it was village issues which cost them power. It 2009 Lok Sabha polls they blamed the national wave for UPA as the reason for their defeat. In 2010 they say people voted for candidates in the civic body rather than the parties they represented. What would they say for 2011 elections? What other issues will people vote for? The writing on the wall is clear for the Left, only the leaders and their staunch supporters need to sense it. It is quite another thing to close the eyes and feel the world outside is dark.

Left supporters blame Mamata, calling her insane and blaming her for what happened in Singur. True this was one of the episodes which TMC should be apologetic about but this brand of politics of bandhs, gheraos and bringing industries to a halt had been mastered by the left for ages. In Singur, Mamata seemed more like the Left than the Left themselves. It is no point having a prejudice against Mamata even before voting her to power. If she fails to perform as a Chief Minister, people will have the opportunity to fall upon the Left again but somewhere a single party rule has to end.