Can Basu save the Left Front in WB?

KOLKATA: The crisis within the Left Front just refuses to abate. With several Left constituents still threatening to move out and form a ‘mini Front’, it was left once again to the CPM’s very own Jyoti Basu to make a fervent appeal to colleagues within the Front to maintain Left unity.

“No mini Front should be formed within the Left Front as it will only weaken the Left coalition to the benefit of its enemies, as it happened in the past,” Mr Basu said in an interview to Ganashakti. Fed up with the CPM’s high-handedness in conducting affairs of the state and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s arbitrary decisions, the CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc are still pressing ahead with the idea of forming a mini Front by breaking away from the CPM.

Mr Basu is by far the only CPM member whose influence cuts across Left parties, although there is a fair amount of resistance to his clout within his own party which CPM stalwarts admit privately. Still, everytime Left unity gets threatened or the government faces danger, virtually all roads lead to Indira Bhawan at Salt Lake which is Mr Basu’s official residence as all concerned pray for his intervention to sort things out.

Post Nandigram, however, it’s becoming difficult even for Mr Basu to set things right. Known and regarded for his poise even today, Mr Basu not only led the Left Front in West Bengal since its inception in 1977, he was also chief minister till he handed over power to Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Veteran leaders of other Left parties still consider him a doyen for his almost pioneering role as a communist.

“One or two Front partners have been alleging that they are not informed about many decisions. This gives the impression that there is a lack of coordination and this has to be admitted. This has to be corrected also and the process of negotiations have to be carried out,” he said.

“We have to convince the people that this is a government of the Left Front and not just one political party,” the former chief minister said. A strong advocate of a united Left Front, Mr Basu is reckoned to be the only cementing factor within a coalition.

Referring to allegations that the core committee of the Front was not active, Mr Basu said this should be activated immediately and the core committee must also meet regularly. “Any problem or dispute will have to be sorted out within the Left Front, since it will not bear fruit if separate meetings are held,” he said. He felt that the immediate need was to maintain the cohesion within the Left Front at all costs. Alleging that opposition parties have been “sabotaging” development work initiated by the state government, Mr Basu said “these forces cannot put up any political fight. Trinamool Congress, Maoists, Naxalites and SUCI all have been united. The ultra right forces are joining hands with the ultra left. The role of the Congress is also not good,” he said. Referring to chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s repeated assurances that no industry will come up at Nandigram if the people there do not want it, Mr Basu said: “I don’t understand why peace does not return to Nandigram, why violence still continues after such an announcement”.

Mr Basu advised a very cautious approach to the issue of land allotment for industrial purposes. “Now that a road map has been prepared, we will have to go by that map to avoid trouble in future. A concerted misinformation campaign has been launched over the Nandigram incident and move for setting up of industries. Such attempts were made against us (CPM) in the past also. It happened during the United Front regime in 1967 and 1969. Later, conspiracies were hatched against us after 1977. To counter, this we will have to take to streets and convince people about reality,” Mr Basu said.