People's Democracy

WEST BENGAL

Left Front Govt Works For Toiling Masses

 B Prasant

THE Left Front government has been working and will continue to work for the uplift of the poor and the exploited. So said CPI(M) state secretary Anil Biswas on the 27th anniversary of Bengal Left Front government, while felicitating the people on this occasion.

Biswas said that by initiating many new pro-people schemes while remaining with the people, the Left Front government created a new precedent in the history of coalition governments. It was significant that communists could run a government for such a long time within the framework of parliamentary democracy. 

In this period, the people’s democratic consciousness has been raised perceptively.  Democratic rights are well established in the state. In the six assembly elections, nine Lok Sabha polls and six panchayat elections held in the state, popularity of the Left Front has gone on increasing every time.

Over the period, the forces of reaction and also the union government hatched many conspiracies hatched against the LF government, especially between 1978 and 1989. Obstacles were put in the path of governmental functioning. But these attempts failed because the people, who regard the LF government as their own, came forward to defend it. The most stable of political situations in the country existed in Bengal and Tripura at the moment. There is also social stability. It is the people who can claim credit for this state of affairs.

The Left Front government has to work within the constitutional and economic realities of the country. The state cannot be entirely free from the conditions that prevail nationwide. The people continue to struggle against poverty and sorrow.  So does the LF government with all sincerity. The fact remained that under the present system, full emancipation from poverty was not possible. Efforts will go on to make the best of the situation and provide maximum relief to the people. 

A new political situation has arisen in the country. One has to tackle the new problems that arise and also take advantage of the opportunities that come. The aim will remain as before --- to uplift the poorest of the poor and the exploited masses. Cutting down on poverty if not its complete eradication (which would not be possible in the present set-up) remains the aim of the LF government.

The UPA’s CMP makes a mention of creation of employment. This, said Biswas, remains chiefly the responsibility of the union government. But the state government too has been creating employment, both rural and urban. More than 18,000 young men and women are at work at Salt Lake electronics complex and they mostly represent the middle classes.

Biswas said there was no socialist world in the present international circumstances, and the communist movement is struggling from a defensive position. The CPI(M), like other communist parties around the globe, is working within this reality. These parties are working within the democratic set-up. In a country where socialism exists for half-a-century, the Communist Party has to take a position of cooperation vis-à-vis capitalism.

In India, said Biswas, we are not in power but in office in a state within a semi-capitalistic, semi-feudal structure led by the big bourgeoisie, in which no fundamental problem can be solved. However, the struggle is on to protect the welfare measures the people enjoyed before the onset of neo-liberal globalisation.

Replying to questions from the media, Anil Biswas said the Congress allegation about the state sliding backward was false. The Congress had been in office in Bengal for around 27 years. Even a cursory comparison would make clear the comparative progress that the state has made under the LF government. The Left Front has struggled against both the Congress and the BJP, and has become stronger. The process would continue in the days to come. Biswas described the Trinamul Congress as an outfit that was gradually unravelling.

STRUGGLES TO BE  STRENGTHENED: BASU

On the occasion of the Bengal Left Front felicitating the newly-elected Left members of the Lok Sabha from the state, senior CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu declared that the democratic movement throughout the country must be strengthened in the new political situation so that communal forces are never able to make a come-back. Held at Promode Dasgupta Bhavan in Kolkata on June 25, the meeting was presided over by the Bengal Left Front chairman Biman Basu.  Both Jyoti Basu and Biman Basu congratulated the democratic, patriotic, secular and peace-loving people of Bengal for electing so many Left members of parliament from the state. The LF leadership was present at the meeting as were 28 of the 35 Left MPs elected.

Jyoti Basu, who was the only speaker on the occasion, said the situation facing the nation was complex and tough. The UPA needed the Left support. The Left needed the UPA to keep the communal forces away from power. Over its six years rule, the BJP government was a failure all the way. Their only agendum was to put in place a vicious communalism across the country. They were fully dependent on the USA in a manner that was not seen during the earlier governments. The BJP and its allies followed blindly the WTO-World Bank dictates. 

The Left consistently fought against that government but did not have the requisite strength to put in an alternative government even with the participation of other democratic forces. Thus, one had to depend on the Congress to form a government.  The Congress remained a secular party but it did make occasional compromises with the forces of communalism.

This is not the first time that the Left has offered outside support. When the Congress split into two in 1969, the Left supported the group led by Mrs Indira Gandhi because the country would have faced ruination had the other fraction, the so-called “Syndicate Congress,” come to office. They had the backing of the forces of reaction. The Left also supported the V P Singh government at the centre, and the United Front governments. Singh took support also of the BJP, but the Left did warn him of the consequences of sharing a platform with the BJP. The Singh government later fell over the ‘rathayatra’ issue.

The situation today is complex. The UPA has accepted some recommendations of the Left in its Common Minimum Programme. The rest would be subsequently discussed. The principal task is to implement the CMP. There must be coordination between the UPA and the Left via a coordination committee. If there is any difference of view with the UPA, the Left would take the issues to the people. But the Left does want to see the UPA government complete its full term. The UPA ought to heed the left and discuss issues with it, Basu said.

Turning to the situation in the state, Basu said the Congress would not cooperate with the Left on issues that would benefit the people of the state. He recalled how in 1985 the Pradesh Congress had refused cooperation over the issues of industrialisation and the Haldia petro-chem complex when the issues had been broached before the then union government. The Pradesh Congress is bereft of principles and morality. Basu called upon the Congress MPs to approach the union government jointly with the Left over issues concerning the development of Bengal. If they choose not to go, the people would be the judge of their behaviour.

Referring to the BJP national executive’s decision to cling to the issue of Hindutva as the main plank, Basu said the BJP is determined to thrust its barbaric communalism on the nation. While the BJP has been defeated in the elections, the RSS, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal et al remain very much active. They have said in so many words that they would not allow the UPA government to stay in office for five years. But the Left is determined to ensure that the present government completes its term.

Speaking about the Left Front winning 51 per cent of votes in the state, Basu said this “has increased our responsibility.” The Left Front must continue to struggle in a united manner. Taking advantage of the new situation, the Left must further expand its mass base. The democratic masses must be made more united so that the barbarism called communalism finds no place here and in the rest of the country.

In his brief address, Biman Basu said the democratically conscious people of the state and the Left Front workers need to be congratulated for the arduous work they performed to make the Left triumphant. This was the result of the work of Left Front that stands firmly united. In seats where a Left Front candidate got defeated, the LF workers did not shirk their duties. Warning that the enemy was not gone, Biman Basu urged upon the people to be wary of the opposition. He concluded by noting that consolidation of the electoral victory must taken up in earnestness.