Why Buddhadeb must remain

(Retrieved from deep freeze)

In his concluding post on WB Rohit argued that if Left Front is to dislodged from power Mamta Bannerjee must evolve as a center of opposition. I disagree.

But first as far as as culpability to heinous act perpetrated by CPM cadre in Nandigram my position is almost similar to Narendra Modi.

1. I support any verdict reached by due legal process.
2. I doubt there will be any verdict.
3. I think there is a good chance that the whole operation was orchestrated by the higher ups .

However the question that is being considered is the a political one, to be more precise electoral defeat of CPM. I have my disagreements here, in spite of being a BJP man.

Now, not to put too fine a point, I am hardly a fan of Mamta Bannerji. She is a street warrior, bereft of any specific direction for policy or any head for political alliances. However even if she was an expert in policy, I doubt it would have been much of a difference to electoral fortunes in CPM. The reason behind unopposed regime of left in Bengal is the manner in which the state has been appropriated as a patronage network to perpetuate party rule. This is similar to what happened in most of the countries with communist rule. This patronage means that it is well nigh impossible to dislodge left in Bengal.

The only strategy, in my view, that can upset this status-quo is one which can mobilize enough people against ruling alliance to extent that the they are ready to forsake the allure of patronage.
The easiest and therefore most political expedient way to achieve this is identity politics.
And this is what we saw in Nandigram unrest which took communal hue. To make the matters worst, it also saw Maoist participation. While this alliance may pose a challenge to left, there is nothing to be happy about it.

As I pointed out earlier, the rise of Islamic politics in Bengal portends ill for the future. The increasing population pressure in Bangladesh has altered demographics in the border districts of Bengal and Assam to a alarming degree. This is a security threat in its own right as pointed out numerous times by Arun Shourie, and when combined with the kind of politics Nandigram signals, a potent recipe for disaster security threat.

On the other hand with the reforms introduced by Buddhadeb, by unleashing change in society, have the potential to render the patronage network obsolete. If this happens it would be ironic.