Comrades then, foes now: CPM faces ‘insider’ test

KOLKATA: For years, they were part of the faithful brotherhood of comrades. Standing behind the hammer-and-sickle insignia, they served the party silently. But then, over the years, doubts crept in and finally, there was bitter separation. Each one had a different reason for quitting, but all of them have crossed swords with CPM before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Two of them ��� Saifuddin Chowdhury and Bratin Sengupta ��� are ex-MPs and are in the fray this time as well. The other two, Abu Ayesh Mandal and Radhika Ranjan Pramanik, are campaigning for Trinamool Congress, CPM���s arch-
rival .

For each of them, the script could have been very different. Chowdhury, for example, was the rising star within CPM in the 90s. Elected from Katwa in Burdwan since 1980, Chowdhury was the first CPM leader to raise the banner of revolt ��� talking about inner-party democracy and liberalism ��� against the CPM leadership over a decade ago. He was sidelined, even refused nomination as a sitting MP in 1996. Five years later, he formed his own party. Incidentally, Jyoti Basu loyalist and state transport minister Subhas Chakraborty, too, had supported Chowdhury before backing out later.

Chowdhury is now representing Party for Democratic Socialism (PDS) from the Jadavpur Lok Sabha seat. PDS, which has a number of former CPM leaders and members, had stood by Mamata Banerjee during her Singur agitation. This time, it chose to fight it alone. ���I want to provide people with an alternative to CPM. Rather than joining any other party, we formed our own to achieve this goal. People���s aspirations have been suffocated by two parties (CPM and Trinamool). I want to show them there���s a way out,��� he said.

Chowdhury contested the 2004 Lok Sabha polls as a PDS nominee with Congress support, but didn���t win. Ironically, the man who defeated Chowdhury, Abu Ayesh Mandal, not just quit CPM but has joined Trinamool as its state vice-president . ���For 37 years, I was a party whole-timer . People should ask why I had to leave CPM. Being denied the ticket this time is not the reason behind my quitting CPM. The leadership these days cares only for yes men. Those who raise their voices against corruption are sidelined,��� Mandal said.

In the late 90s, Bratin Sengupta raised questions in the upper house as a CPM MP. One of the youngest in the Rajya Sabha , Sengupta had started distancing himself from the party for four years before crossing over to BJP in 2002. He stood accused for breaching party discipline ��� for protesting against an assault on journalists at Writers ��� Buildings and attending a dinner hosted by A B Vajpayee. ���I was in close contact with BJP leaders since 1997, but I never crossed the line.

After I retired as a Rajya Sabha MP, I left CPM and joined BJP. For me this was a move from a regional party to a national one,��� said Sengupta, BJP���s candidate from Barasat. Sengupta, instead of attacking CPM, has taken a different strategy . He is highlighting development work carried out during the NDA-regime .

Like Mandal, another CPM heavyweight Radhika Ranjan Pramanik had also raised the corruption bogey and got expelled from CPM in 2003. Pramanik was an MP from Mathurapur for 10 years before the showdown. In 2004, he fought on a Trinamool ticket but lost.

This time, Pramanik is overseeing the Trinamool campaign in Bishnupur. ���CPM has been in power for 32 years, banking on organizational strength. But the party and leaders have changed. The lifestyle of CPM leaders and ministers has changed,��� Pramanik said.

As a CPM MP, he had campaigned to bring a nuclear power plant to the state but faced criticism within his own party. Now, when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is trying to set up a plant at Haripur, Pramanik again finds himself in the company of those who oppose the plant.

(With inputs from Debajyoti Chakraborty and Debamoy Ghosh)