People's Democracy

Massive Rally Celebrates Left Front’s Electoral Triumph

(From left) V S Achutanandan, Manik Sarkar, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Jyoti Basu, Biman Basu and Prakash Karat

B Prasant

JYOTI Basu, his full and throaty voice belying his 93 years, was deeply reminiscent when he commenced his address to the overflowing assemblage at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata in the afternoon of May 28, 2006.  The occasion was the victory rally of the Bengal Left Front.

“Anil,” said Jyoti Basu “would frequently visit my place during the election campaign in the run up to the assembly polls.  ‘You move around the state addressing meetings, rallies and conventions,’ I told him and then I asked him, ‘how do you assess the electoral outcome this time around?’  Anil in his own understated way had told me quietly, confidently, and firmly that the Left Front would win in many more seats than it had in 2001.”

The late Comrade Anil Biswas’s presence on the victory celebration was poignantly clear.  The vast 40’ x 10’ backdrop that adorned the big dais had his large photo looking in at the main feature photo of a sea of Red comprising thousands of joyous people smeared in vermillion celebrating Left Front’s victory. 

The other end of the backdrop had large photos of three communist stalwarts who had virtually acted as chief architects of the Bengal Left Front over the years: the late Comrades Promode Dasgupta, Saroj Mukherjee, and Sailen Dasgupta.

JYOTI BASU

In his short but powerful address, Jyoti Basu pointed out that the massive triumph of the Bengal Left Front was fitting reply in the face of all those who had tried to heap insults on the people in the run up to the, and during the assembly polls.

Critical of the way a segment of the election commission had behaved in the manner they did, Jyoti Basu said that on every earlier occasion, from 1977 to 2001, elections in Bengal had been peaceful, free, and fair. 

The last time the assembly polls were held, in 2001, said the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, the Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had confidently, almost airily, declared that she would ‘see everybody very soon at the Writers’ Buildings’ as the peaceful election had ‘ensured her party’s win.’

Full of praises for the high level of the political consciousness of the people of Bengal, who had voted in the Left Front for the seventh time in succession, Jyoti Basu said that the leadership of the CPI(M) and the Left would raise the issue of the role of a section of the electoral officialdom appropriately in Delhi in the days to come.

Emphasising that the programme outlined in the Left Front’s Election Manifesto would be implemented in full, Jyoti Basu pointed out that industrialisation would be built up on the solid base that Bengal possessed in agricultural growth.  He also outlined in brief the various achievements of the past Left Front governments in land reform, panchayat, operation barga et al, and iterated what was written in bold letters on the backdrop adorning the dais and the rostrum: struggle and development would proceed apace.

Calling upon the diminutive opposition to veer away from the present line of anarchy that it was enamoured of, and to go in for constructive criticism, Jyoti Basu said that everybody must remember that the Left Front government as before would be run not merely from the Writers’ Buildings but from amidst the people and the people-oriented organisations like the panchayats and the urban local bodies.

Jyoti Basu amidst tumultuous applause called for the continuity in the process of strengthening of the Party and for widening further the base of the mass organisations for achieving ‘what we strive for as the task ahead: bringing about basic social changes.’

PRAKASH KARAT

General secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Prakash Karat speaking in Hindi described the occasion as a happy one and said that he would like to felicitate the people of Bengal through the massive assemblage on behalf of the central committee of the CPI(M).  Prakash Karat recalled the role played by the late Comrade Anil Biswas in helping build the foundation of the electoral success of the Left Front and the CPI(M) in Bengal.

Iterating the Marxist conviction that people created history throughout the world, Prakash Karat said that the people of Bengal had made themselves part of that  process by electing and with an impressive number of seats, the Left Front to office for the seventh time in succession. 

Situating the triumph of the Bengal Left Front in the context of the changes taking place on the international scene, Prakash Karat drew the attention of the rally to the burgeoning resistance being seen all across the globe against imperialist globalisation and liberalisation.  These struggles, like the one in Bengal, were led and participated in by the communists and the Left, the CPI(M) leader declared.

The two-thirds majority chalked up by the Left Front in Bengal and by the Left Democratic Front in Kerala, continued the CPI(M) general secretary, would augment, and bolster in a meaningful way the struggle of the toiling masses across India. 

The pro-people and pro-poor policies of these two governments would set an example in India for governance, whether at the level of the union government or the state governments. 

At the same time, said Prakash Karat, reiterating the view of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau, the Left triumph in Kerala and Bengal would help bring more pressure on the UPA government not to go in for anti-people policies.

BIMAN BASU

Thanking the democratic-minded people of Bengal for ensuring a big victory of the Left Front in the assembly polls, state secretary of the CPI(M) and Bengal Left Front chairman, Biman Basu said that the width and depth of the electoral success increased manifold the responsibility of the Left Front and the CPI(M).

Biman Basu said that the pro-people programme that remained incomplete must be completed.  New programme would be taken up in such spheres as agriculture, industry, education, and health. 

The people must be taken into confidence as to what could be achieved and what could not be. The role of the union government as an impediment too must be explained before the masses.  The massive popular mandate must be honoured in a pro-people way.

Emphasising the concomitant progress of development and struggle, Biman Basu said that for this to happen the Party and the mass organisations must be further strengthened.  He said that an important task ahead was the drive to win over to the side of the CPI(M) and the Left Front those members of the toiling masses in particular who had not voted for the Bengal Left Front. 

Noting the depth of the conspiracies being machinated against the Left Front in Bengal, Biman Basu pointed to the incident at Singur, Hooghly.  Here a private concern was to have set up an automobile manufacturing unit.  Anti-Left forces, along with a small segment of the audio-visual media, did try to frustrate the initiative. They were prevented from doing so by the conscious people of the area.

Citing another example, Biman Basu said that a campaign was found circulating in sections of the print media that industrialisation would interfere with agricultural production. The speaker referred to statistics and said that with modern technology available, the amount of agricultural land continued to increase with fallow being made fertile all the time.

Biman Basu concluded by exhorting upon the assembly, to struggle for the rapid development of the state, to widen the mass base of the CPI(M) and the Left Front, and to isolate the enemies of the people.

BUDDHADEB

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee spoke about the great necessity of improving work culture further of the state Left Front government.  He also pointed to the need for making the administration itself transparent, responsive, responsible, pro-people, and pro-poor.

Buddhadeb was also clear in his mind about the challenges ahead.  He noted that the priority of the seventh LF government would be to advance and consolidate the successes achieved in agriculture and to unleash a powerful industrialisation drive across the state.

The new ministry would follow its predecessor, said Buddhadeb by making itself active, disciplined, and attuned to the needs, demands, and desires of the people of Bengal. The administration must continue to nurture nothing but burning hatred for everything that was corrupt. The imperatives of alleviating the miseries of those who yet remained poor must be an important duty of the seventh Left Front government.

Stressing the need for employment generation, the Bengal chief minister spoke of accelerating industrial growth, widening and diversifying the agricultural base, and stepping up the urbanisation drive. More investments are necessary. Trade and commerce must be made to undergo great expansion. A balance, said Buddhadeb, must be maintained all the while between industrialisation, agricultural expansion, and land.

Criticising the anti-people policies of the UPA government and its kow-towing before the US, Buddhadeb said that the enhanced strength of the CPI(M) and the Left would help the process of resisting the anti-people policies of the UPA government.

Describing the progress of the Bengal Left Front government as progress along an untravelled path, Buddhadeb said that there was no scope for looking back and decelerating.  The movement would be forward and this was the will of the people of Bengal and India.

Kerala chief minister V S Achutanandan said that the victory of the LF in Bengal and of the LDF in Kerala was replete with historic significance.  He pointed out that these triumphs will allow the Left to put additional pressure on the UPA government to implement in full measure the Common Minimum Programme.

In his short address before the gathering, Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar said that the triumph of the people of Bengal in the assembly polls was also a triumph for the toiling masses of India. The forces that were anti-imperialist and anti-communal would draw inspiration and sustenance from this triumph.

The rally was addressed by the Bengal Left Front leadership as well.  The speakers were Ashok Ghosh (FB), Debabrata Bandyopadhyay (RSP), Manjukumar Majumdar (CPI), Kironmoy Nanda (WBSP), Pratim Chatterjee (FB-M), Prabodh Sinha (DSP), Mihir Byne (RCPI), and Sunil Chaudhuri (Biplabi Bangla Congress).

The victory rally was attended among others by Polit Bureau members Sitaram Yechury, M K Pandhe, Brinda Karat, and Chittabrata Majumdar, and the entirety of the Bengal CPI(M) and Left Front leadership, and by Gita Biswas and Ajanta Biswas, the wife and daughter of the late Comrade Anil Biswas.

Before the commencement of the speeches, members of the new Left Front ministry were introduced to the assemblage amidst great enthusiasm and loud applause.  The fact that the stadium was filled to the brim saw the setting up of several giant wide screens outside.

The rally commenced and ended with mass songs with a sonorous rendition of a Rabindrasangeet by the noted exponent Dwijen Mukhopadhyay.