When Red Turns Saffron and Does Not Revert

Birendra Shandilya, Wepen, May 10, 2019: What started as a simple yet effective political exercise has turned Frankenstein for the Left in Bengal.  “There is no use of leaping out of the TMC pan and into the BJP fire” cautioned veteran CPIM leader and former Chief Minister, West Bengal in an interview to CPIM mouthpiece Ganashakti. The CPIM leader’s statement comes on the wake of more and more Left supporters joining or silently supporting the saffron camp.

Sensing this as a permanent damage Bhattacharjee stated that the task at hand of the leadership is to ensure that the red supporters revert and save them from switching onto self-destruction mode.

Most of the CPIM leadership feel that BJP should be propped to route out the TMC. It would then be an easier task for the Left to replace the BJP. However Bhattacharjee sees BJP as the greater enemy and not the TMC.

The former CM dubbed Modi as a champion of “crony capitalism.” “The Chowkidar of opportunist capitalist has to be ousted at all costs” retorted Bhattacharjee.

Despite ideologies being poles apart, Left supporters in the state of West Bengal are steadily drifting across to the saffron camp. While they claim that it is a question of mere survival, the Left has failed to rally its supporters and  its strength has been dwindling by the day. The BJP has encashed on this effectively.

Along with this money power and rising muscle power of the BJP is a major factor that many Left supporters feel can be used to counter the TMC might.

Many CPIM cadres feel that the BJP alone can challenge the TMC. By the day the Left Vote share has been steadily decreasing in the State. Election results are a clear indication to this. In 2009 parliamentary elections the Left’s vote share was 42% which dipped to 30% in 2014. The BJP had a vote share of 9% in 2009 which increased to 17% in 2014.

With the TMC and Congress vote shares increasing, political commentators are of the opinion that Left votes are steadily converting to saffron.

“To free yourself of TMC don’t ever make the blunder of supporting the BJP. It will be self destruction” stated former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. The Left has been routed out of power by the BJP in Tripura.

However political observers feel that the warning comes a bit too late. The Left vote share could further see a dip of around 10% which would then translate to BJP votes. The red would feel the saffron heat in Left bastions like Siliguri opine political commentators. The Left cadres silently admit that quite a chunk of the Left votes went to the BJP in Siliguri, cross voting against their own candidate.

Kuliana Gram Pachayat of the Gopiballavpur-2 block of the Jhargram district is a classic example of this. In the 2013 panchayat elections the red brigade en mass had supported BJP and even contested elections as BJP. The reading was simple once they emerged victorious in the panchayat elections they would revert en mass to the Left. This is the time when BJP was not a force to recon with in Bengal.

Five years down the line in the 2018 panchayat election, in the same Kuliana gram panchayat the Left has been clearly left out. Out of the 10 seats, 8 has been bagged by the BJP; 1 by the TMC and the Left is left with 1.

Why did the CPIM cadres fail to revert? Ambikacharan Ghosh, CPIM local leader has the answer. “We have failed to organize. Political activities including rallies, meetings are at an all time low. We have failed to communicate with the masses Despite all this the party top brass have failed to react” stated Ghosh.

He further stated that there are many comrades arrested in different cases. “While we failed to stand with them and their families, the BJP has been supporting their families both monetarily and providing legal logistic. Why would they support us under such circumstances? When it trickles down to basic survival, ideologies seem minuscule” feels Ghosh.

The same model is being replicated throughout the length and breadth of the state.

The paradigm shift from “Tomar Naam, Aamar Naam…Sangram, Sangram” to “Tomar Naam, Ammar Naam, Jai Shree Ram” is all set to toll the knell for the Left, in the State which in the past has been the most fertile bed for revolutions.
Source: http://www.wepen.in/when-red-turns-saffron-and-does-not-revert/