People's Democracy

Set Backs In Some Districts And Areas

Rural Bengal Once Again

Reposes Its Faith In Left Front

B Prasant

THE people of Bengal gave their emphatic verdict in favour of the Left Front for the seventh consecutive time in the panchayat general elections.

The Bengal Left Front has registered wins in 13 of the 17 district-level zillah parishads (ZPs). The Left Front has won back Murshidabad from the Pradesh Congress. It has lost four zillah parishads, two to the Trinamul Congress, south 24 Parganas and Midnapore east, and two to the Pradesh Congress, Maldah, and north Dinajpur. The Pradesh Congress had won Maldah in the 2003 rural polls as well along with Murshidabad. The Left Front lost seats both at Nandigram in Midnapore east and at Singur in Hooghly.

The final results for the other two tiers, i.e., the village level gram panchayats and the block level panchayat samities would be made available in a couple of days, given the enormousness of the task. The job is made that much more difficult as there were no voting machines in use in these rural polls.

In a statement issued from the Muzaffar Ahmad Bhavan where Central Committee member of the CPI(M), Benoy Konar briefed the media, the state committee of the CPI(M) said that the seventh panchayat general elections represented a tough proposition and that �this had been anticipated.�

This was because of the attack and slandering campaign about the CPI(M) and the Left Front government for the past one-and-a-half years, and the way the opposition were arrayed against the CPI(M) and the Left Front �stretching from the extreme right to the extreme left, and added to by religious fundamentalists of both persuasions.�

The �debate and doubts� generated among the Left itself, in the post-assembly elections period, too, �indirectly helped� the �campaign of misinformation of the opposition.�

The nailing of the slandering that was indulged in by the opposition could not be properly carried amongst the people by the CPI(M). �These negative aspects notwithstanding, the victory that the CPI(M) and the Left Front wrought is an important one.�

There is not a shred of doubt viewed self-critically that the �results obtained in several districts were not to the expectations of the Bengal CPI(M); the CPI(M) and the LF had to acknowledge defeat in four zillah parishads.� �There would be a full review by the Bengal CPI(M) in due course of time. The review will include such issues as the �political-organisational aspects, the process of running of the panchayati raj institutions, the experience of people�s participation in the rural endeavours, the weaknesses, and mistakes in implementing programmes etc.,� said the statement.

The state unit of the CPI(M) has extended its �hearty felicitations� to the people of Bengal for �voting in an overwhelming manner in support of the CPI(M) and the Left Front in the face of the constant attacks that were generated.� The Bengal CPI(M) exhorts the people to �come forward in ensuring a peaceful ambience to prevail throughout the state in the post-poll period, everywhere in Bengal.�