People's Democracy

WEST BENGAL

CPI(M) Reviews Assembly Election Results

B Prasant

THE two-day meting of the Bengal state committee of the CPI(M) held on June 17-18, 2006 reviewed the struggle leading to the results obtained in the 14th assembly elections held recently in Bengal in five phases as a first primary exercise. The review process commenced from the booth committees, going through the local, zonal, and district committees of the Bengal CPI(M).

A total of 34 state committee members participated in the discussion. Some submitted written comments, some others made verbal presentations. A few made both written submissions and spoke on the principal points raised there in. 

Central committee member of the CPI(M) Benoy Konar presided. State secretary Biman Basu led the discussions and summed up the proceedings. Biman Basu later briefed the media on the meeting at the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan.

The assembly elections in Bengal were held against a backdrop that was novel and unprecedented. The Left had chosen to support the Congress-UPA regime at the centre to keep the BJP at bay. At the same time, a massive all-India movement was being conducted against the anti-people policies and politics of the UPA government, with the alternative point of view of the Left brought sharply into focus.

The state committee felt that the results of the assembly elections endorsed the political stance of the CPI(M) and the Left Front. It held that the workers of the Party and the Left Front, could prove their advanced thinking and capability by campaigning against the UPA government and by highlighting the pro-people policies of the Left Front government.

The principal slogans of the CPI(M) and the Left Front in the election campaign was to keep in tact the pace of the struggle and development in Bengal, to keep intact the democratic heritage, and to safeguard power in the hands of the people. The election campaign also highlighted suitably the positive achievements of the Left Front government. 

ENHANCED POPULAR SUPPORT

It was seen both during the election campaign and in the results that obtained, that the people have accepted and supported the developmental programmes of the LF government and its initiative for rapid industrialisation. The results proved once more the amount of political confidence the people of Bengal would repose in the Left Front government.

Serious questions had been raised during the polls and even before it on the role played by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Some steps taken by the ECI militated against the free and fair exercise of franchise by the citizens and genuine voters. The people of the state, although rightfully anguished, took up the challenge, rose to the occasion, and came out in massive numbers to vote for the seventh Left Front government by a big majority. The state committee is of the firm opinion that there should be a national debate on the role of the ECI.

The Bengal unit of the CPI(M) and the mass organisations played a glorious role in the election campaign. They could muster a huge support base for the Left Front by carrying forth an integrated, disciplined campaign amidst the people. Operating within a myriad of limitations and restrictions that had been imposed, the Party and the Left Front were able to carry on the election campaign in a novel manner and communicate the political content of the campaign deep amidst the people of the state. The unity of the Left Front was well established.

The Bengal opposition outfits sought to put together an unprincipled alliance of sorts. The alliance fell through but only formally. Informally, overt and covert understanding was struck between the opposition outfits and in practice, single opposition candidate confronted the LF candidate in almost each seat. The Left Front was able to give a comprehensive defeat to the opposition despite all these devious efforts of opportunism and convenience.

As the election campaign was gathering momentum, state secretary of the Bengal unit of the CPI(M), Comrade Anil Biswas passed away, leaving the Party workers grief-struck, and filled with a sense of loss. The election campaign was then conducted in the spirit of declaring out a pledge to win as a mark of paying true homage to Comrade Biswas. 

SOME FEATURES OF ELECTION RESULTS

• The Left Front and the RJD together could win 235 seats. The Left Front won 235 seats, 36 more than in 2001. The percentage of votes that the LF won was 50.18 per cent, 1.19 per cent more than in 2001.

• In 13 districts, the LF could increase the number of seats won; in five, the number remained as in 2001; in only one district the number of seats won lessened.

• The state has 76 reserved seats for SC and ST. Of the 59 SC seats, the LF has won 48, 51, and 54 respectively in 2001, 2004, and 2006 elections.

• Of the 17 ST seats, the LF has won 16 in all three elections, 2001, 2004, and 2006.

• In the industrial area, the LF won 42 seats out of 80 in 2001, 56 in 2004, and 61 in 2006.

• Of the 64 seats in the urban areas, the LF won 30 in 2001, 41 in 2004, and 43 in 2006.

• Of the 216 seats in the mainly rural areas, the LF won 163 in 2001, 174 in 2004, and 183 in 2006.

• Of the 14 seats in mixed urban/rural areas, the LF won 6 in 2001, 8 in 2004, and 9 in 2006.

• In the ‘district towns’ outside of Kolkata (and including Howrah) there are 21 seats. Of these, the LF won 11 in 2001, 14 in 2004, and 16 in 2006.

• The support base of the Left Front is spread over every section of the people. The rural populace, the kisans and the khet mazdoors, and the tribal people have increased their support for the LF. Support for the LF has also gone up in the tea gardens and in the industrial belt.

• Women have come out in large numbers this time both in the election campaign of the LF and during the polls

• Students and youth have voted solidly for the LF 

• The vast majority of the minority communities have voted for the LF

• The middle class and the intellectuals have remained by the side of the LF

• In general, the support base in north Bengal has remained in favour of the Left Front despite some organisational weaknesses.

IMPERATIVE TASKS

• The state committee has identified the areas of failure. The electoral success would not mean that the organisation remained free from weaknesses. The state committee has identified as imperative tasks the following:

• The organisation must be further integrated and augmented

• The vast army of workers participating in the election must be brought inside the organisation.

• Special attention is to be given to working women, linguistic and religious minorities, and the youth

• Party education and re-education must be strengthened further

• The circulation of Ganashakti must be further increased in a continuous process

• The mass fronts must be further extended in terms of membership and circulation of their organs. Unorganised workers must be organised

• Class and mass struggles must be built up as per thorough analysis of the evolving situation 

• The struggle against communalism, religious fundamentalism, and the dangers they contain must be kept up

• The total literacy and total health campaign must be made into a mass movement

• Agricultural diversification and modernisation should be put to use

• Self-help groups must be extended further and strengthened as a viable means of opening the doors of employment to youth

• The panchayats must be run with transparency

• The village development samitis must be involved more and more in generation of employment and welfare

• The industrial policy of the state LF government must be explained to the people and all confusions being created by the opposition and a section of the media must be dispelled

• Constant mass contact must be stepped up further based on politics, ideology, and organisation

• The state committee warns against the electoral success becoming cause for utter self-satisfaction. Efforts must be made all through out to become ideologically enriched and to do away with weaknesses and failings

• Overwhelming support would also bring forth a massive expectation that should inspire the Party to work much harder for the fulfilment of the assigned tasks. The big electoral win has increased the hope of the people in the CPI(M), the Left Front and the Left Front government.

• People must be communicated about the reasons for not fulfilling every hope and aspiration in the circumstances dominated by the nature of the State structure, and by the burdensome limitations of a state in the federal polity. 

• The people must be inspired to participate in the struggle to do away with the restrictions and limitations