People's Democracy

  Bengal Opposition Engaged In Internecine Strife

Pranab Mukherjee Heckled

THE scene on the afternoon of May 15 at the Pradesh Congress office was atypical of the syndrome affecting the opposition in Bengal as the run up to the civic polls began.  As soon as Congress leader and defence minister, Pranab Mukherjee finished reading out the list of candidates of Pradesh Congress, Subrata Mukherjee’s ‘Unnayan Mancha,’ and of sundry other marginal political groups like the PDS for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections, pandemonium broke loose amongst the eager-beaver prospective candidates whose names did not feature in Mukherjee’s list.

HECKLED

That Mukherjee was heckled would be an understatement to all the media persons who were there at the Lal Mohan Bhattacharjee office of the Pradesh Congress to ‘cover’ the event.  Mukherjee was chased about, shouted foul words at, and generally pushed into such a mental frame that a normal quiescent Mukherjee was, let us put it thus, clearly seen losing patience, and emoting a pattern of behaviour that an impatient Congressman was quite expected to do.  The police personnel present and his loyalists came rushing to Mukherjee’s rescue before harm could be done, but not before the ubiquitous media had captured the moments in video for (at least recent) posterity.

The incident was not an isolated one, by any means.  The imbroglio had started the day Subrata Mukherjee, self-declaredly ‘once of the Trinamul Congress,’ (he is yet to be expelled by Trinamul supremo Mamata ‘didi’ Banerjee) had floated the ‘Unnayan Mancha’ at a convention in Kolkata. On the occasion, amidst general blackguarding of the Trinamul Congress, Mukherjee and his loyalists had disclosed deals that the Kolkata Corporation had to undertake at the behest of the outfit. This was not to the liking of some of the Mancha men whose names had long been associated with the deals in the media.

‘UDA’: A HALF-WAY HOUSE

Harsh words were exchanged and sotto voce comments were made about one another, comments that certainly were never thought fit to print.  Perhaps the only persons embarrassed by the low-down verbal duels were the media persons.  The biggest joke of the day was the floating of, at the behest of Pranab Mukherjee, the United Democratic Alliance comprising the Pradesh Congress and the Unnayan Mancha plus a few small political groups. The outfit has no manifesto, no hierarchy of leadership, and no programme, long-term or otherwise.

By its name a half-way-house, between the NDA and the UPA, the nomenclature at least carried conviction because, after all, the Mancha consisted of the breakaway faction of the Trinamul Congress (a partner of the NDA) and the Pradesh Congress (of the UPA).

Of the Pradesh Congress leaders present at the convention, most sang paeans of praise for Subrata Mukherjee, especially the elderly A B A Ghani Khan Chaudhuri before being reminded of the presence of a plainly huffed Pranab Mukherjee and a sullenly silent Somen Mitra, the Pradesh Congress ‘strongman.’  The UDA was not able to put out any election manifesto. 

It was left to the Pradesh Congress officialdom to announce a partial list of candidates subsequently on May 15. The list included strangely five supporters of another Somen loyalist and Subrata-baiter, Paresh Pal who was asked to contest the polls with five of his henchmen using the Congress symbol. Subrata Mukherjee and his men and women have been left with the single choice of contesting the polls as candidates of the NCP, which of course has hardly any presence in the state, electoral or otherwise.

GRASS EATERS

Mamata Banerjee has been expectedly furious at the developments as she saw her chance of retaining the Kolkata Corporation getting to be a lost proposition. She raves and rants at every convenient occasion and has been known to sputter that ’even if those cows and goats (i.e., Subrata and his lackeys) eat up the entire quantity of grass that is Trinamul Congress (the name means ‘grassroots’), we shall water the land and create a fresh crop of grass.’ 

Not all her arguments have been this vegetarian or this bovine. She has called the Unnayan Mancha a ‘tired front.’  She has dubbed Subrata (once her vaunted mentor and guide) as a person who is a perennial betrayer, and has sprouted that once the Trinamul Congress has recaptured the KMC board, she will make the reality clear for everyone concerned. 

In the meanwhile, announcing her list of candidates for 118 of the 141 wards of the KMC, Mamata was not able to clear up the reason why her dear partner-at-arms, the Bengal BJP chose not to wait for her before declaring their list of candidates.  Nor would she deign to explain the reason why she was not able to announce her candidates from at least two wards. 

COMPLICATIONS

The prospective Trinamul candidate for the post of mayor has created complications.  There were several names proposed by Mamata only to see the named candidates literally running away from her.  At last, a decidedly depressed-looking Sobhandeb Chattopadhyaya has been ‘persuaded’ to contest against Subrata Mukherjee in ward 87.  The other prospective mayoral candidate, Ajit Panja appears to have fallen behind in the race to curry Mamata Banerjee’s favour.

State secretary of the CPI(M), Anil Biswas has called the Mancha a platform of seasonal character.  Biswas has compared the Mancha to the temporary platforms of stick-and-straw that the fruit sellers rustle up during the summer months in haats and bazaars, to sell seasonal fruits from, only to dismantle them shortly after the season is over. 

LF POLL CAMPAIGN SWINGS AHEAD

Anil Biswas noted that despite the internecine quarrels that were perennial to the right opposition in the state, there was always an unannounced alliance built up against the CPI(M) and the Left Front especially when polls were held. 

This time would be no exception to that phenomenon, and Biswas called upon the CPI(M) and Left Front workers to work in a strongly united manner to ensure that the opportunistic elements that comprised the Bengal opposition never managed to succeed in any manner in the forthcoming civic elections. 

The Left Front has announced names of candidates for the Bidhannanagar (Salt Lake) municipality, and has gone full tilt into the election campaign all over the state with leaders like Biswas, Biman Basu, and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, among others, addressing meetings and rallies. (B P)