On Their Last Legs, Bengal’s Reds Keen on Congress as Crutch

A possible alliance between Left and Congress in West Bengal doesn’t bode well for Mamata, writes Abheek Barman.

The CPI(M)‘s recent plenum in Kolkata hints at a possible Left-Congress tie-up ahead of the assembly polls in 2016. (Photo: The Quint)

After nearly 40 years, the CPI(M), India’s largest communist party has been reduced to a rump, ruling only Tripura in the northeast. Kerala can come back, as it does every five years, but Bengal – where under leaders like Jyoti Basu and Pramod Dasgupta it lorded over for 34 years – is gone.

Given that shock, it’s surprising that CPI(M) decided to organise its ‘plenum’ – a word derived from Soviet era communism – in Kolkata. More than 400 of the party’s leaders have descended on the city. The highlight was the December 27 rally at the Brigade Ground that can easily hold 500,000 people. And surprisingly, it did.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and other Marxist leaders at a party rally during the Kolkata plenum on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharaya is an ailing shadow of his former self: he presided over the meeting – mostly seated. Younger leaders like Surya Kanta Mishra, now head of the CPI(M)’s state unit and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar went up and spoke. As did Sitaram Yechury – a bright person who now heads the pan-India party or whatever remains of it – but with no mooring in popular politics.

Message from the Strength of Crowd

Applause was muted because the speeches were mostly the same old rhetoric about imperialism, capitalism, communalism and whatnot. But two remarkable things happened.

First, very few left the ground after getting the compulsory food packets with a shingara (or samosa as they call it in north India) and a sweet. The CPI (M) has never been a rent-a-crowd party. If it gets 500,000 people, most come on their volition. But during rallies many drift away to visit the Museum or the once-famed ghats of the Ganga or the temple in Kalighat. It’s Calcutta-darshan for subalterns and the Left understood this long ago.

This day, the crowd stood thick and fast, through mediocre speeches by not-so-subaltern leaders.

Former CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat (extreme left), Left Front Chairman Biman Bose, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee at a rally in Kolkata on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

A Tie-Up With Congress In The Offing?

Second, not one Left speaker spoke against the Congress party.

From 1948, when BT Ranadive, an exceptionally myopic leader of the Left declared “yeh azaadi jhoota hai” and said India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was a “running dog for imperialism”, the Left has been virulently anti-Congress.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury at a press conference during the party’s Kolkata plenum, on Monday. (Photo: PTI)

Well, no more. The ghost of BTR (as he was known) has finally been exorcised. The CPI(M) is probably trying to ally with Congress – even if tacitly, under the table – to beat both Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP in Bengal.

This makes sense, at least if you go by the last assembly election vote shares. That was when TMC won 184 of Bengal’s 294 seats with just 39% of the vote. Congress won 42 seats with 9% of votes; CPI (M) despite a massive 30% share of all votes, won just 40 seats. Its Left allies, combined, won another 10% vote share.

Vice President Hamid Ansari, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury and other leaders at a function for the release of coffee-table book “Sangharsh ke Senani” on JD-U President Sharad Yadav (right) in New Delhi, December 21, 2015. (Photo: PTI)

Warning Bell for Pishima

Today, Mamata Banerjee, who was universally called ‘Didi’ – or elder sister – earlier is referred to as ‘Pishima’. This is a Bangla whatsit to denote a paternal aunt.

Nevertheless, the name-switch carries its own meaning: Banerjee has been most active promoting her nephew Abhishek through the ranks of the party. A callow youngster, he was elevated to high office in the party, before he – inevitably – won a Lok Sabha seat in 2014.

The new title, with its hint of dynastic politics, is a swipe at Mamata. She will also have to cope with the possibility of a Left-Congress alliance in Bengal. If that happens, going by the 2011 numbers, the alliance will sweep the state with 49% share of votes.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee beating a drum during the inauguration of Biswabangla Loksanskriti Utsav on a floating stage in Kolkata, December 23, 2015. (Photo: PTI)

She went out of her way recently to greet Congress President Sonia Gandhi on her birthday, perhaps to end speculation about a Congress-Left alliance in Bengal.

But democratic politics cannot be guided by individuals. The fact that 500,000 people turned up at a CPI(M) rally at the Brigade Ground, and did not drift away to watch the sights nearby, is a warning bell.

The other, for yesterday’s Didi and today’s Pishima, is the ominous possibility of a Left-Congress alliance in Bengal.

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist)