THE END OF HEGEMONY

THE END OF HEGEMONY

The results of the elections will bring out a historic change in the left governed states. This time in West Bengal, the history will not repeat itself. The history of a prolonged political hegemony established by the CPIM led Left Front that replaced in 1977 another prolonged reign of the Congress is all set to change. More than three decades of Monolithic rule will be uprooted by humble women in white sari called Mamata. Its time to celebrate and say goodbye to Dhoti clad stalins. There are many factors which are bringing about this change. To start with the one accepted by Buddha Dev himself: Nadigram & Singur, wrong conceptualization of industrialization, poor governance, high-handedness of the CPIM and other left party leaders and workers, pathetic state of minorities as per the Sachar Committee report, are the range of factors that combine to create a ferocious anti-CPIM mood among the public. Although, the left has always followed the economic class line of analysis, as a crude reality the economic poor of Bengal are mainly consisted of the socially disadvantaged – Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis. What the left has continued to do was using the socio-economic vulnerabilities of the masses and taking their subjugation to the party as granted. The erosion of the left’s base among the poor was indicated enough in the 2006 election itself – the Muslim support base started to revolt. Instead of identifying the particular disadvantages of the Muslims, the party – and its public face Mr. Buddha Dev Bhataccahya – continued to alienate the Muslims. At one point of time there was little or no difference in the line of expression of Mr. L.K. Advani and Mr. Bhattacharya. While the policy of land acquisition, which was fought vehemently by the Muslims in Bhangar (near Kolkata) even before 2006, directly went against the livelihood interest of the Muslims, Mr. Bhattacharya’s almost equating this social group with religious terrorism, fanaticism, intellectual backwardness and so on, infuriated them en masse. On the other hand, the growing aspiration among part of the dalit masses, who are relatively empowered than their lowlier brethren but perceived to be deprived of the privileges and power, found ways of expression against the suppressive rule of the party and government. Instead of attempting to read the situation the CPIM tried to control damage through the conventional means – party’s custodianship at the societal level and over-dependence on bureaucracy at governmental level.

So how will the left behave in opposition? Will it play a constructive role or stall every new bill in the assembly and go berserk on the streets, in conformity with its trademark public behaviour? The entire Left front needs to bring more democracy in its cadre and stop behaving like a Hindu Undivided Family where the role of the other partners is strictly defined and prescribed by the big brother. To rebuild its image, it needs to come out of its 34years of comfort zone to contribute and help the state into turning Right.