Reports

On the Municipality Election in West Bengal
Alik Chakraborty

Trinamool Congress’s victory wave has remained unbroken and uninterrupted in the recent municipality elections in Bengal. After Singoor and Nandigram, the Panchayat elections, Lok Sabha elections and, lastly, these municipality elections proved that Bengal electors have more or less rejected the Left front government and accepted Trinamool Congress as the alternative. This quite indicates that unless any accident occurs, Trinamool Congress will capture majority in the forthcoming (2011) Assembly elections. Though CPIM cannot admit this fact, such is the reality. In these municipality elections too CPIM has faced a debacle not only in Kolkata but also in the suburbs. They won only one-third of what they had secured in the last municipality elections. In the previous election they were in power in 54 municipalities but now they have majority only in 18 municipalities. Though in Kolkata, Left Front secured a lead in more constituencies than they won in, yet they lost plenty of votes as compared to last Parliament elections. They won some seats in Kolkata due to the division of votes between Congress and Trinamool Congress.
If the election results reflect the people’s general political trend, then we can say that people want the CPIM-led government to be replaced at any cost. In the last Panchayat and, to some extent, Lok Sabha elections, people’s vote went against the repressive face of CPIM that was revealed in Singur and Nandigram. It was a reflection of the people’s democratic aspiration. That was mainly negative polling. But these municipality elections differ from previous elections mainly because this is the first time in recent years that Trinamool Congress has sought votes as part of UPA government and a UPA government that is increasingly taking more and more anti-people steps and policies. People are seeing that Trinamool Congress is doing nothing against those steps. In spite of this, people seem to be favouring Trinamool Congress for two reasons. First, the people have no illusion that CPIM will resist those same steps. So people are indifferent about that matter on the question of choice. Secondly, people want to see the exact consequence of changing the government. CPIM has lost all faith of the people and shattered the emotion of democratic people by forcefully grabbing land in Singur and Nandigram. CPIM’s main positive side was they were in favour of peasants’ rights. Before Singur and Nandigram people couldn’t believe that CPIM would ever side with the land grabbers and Congress and would be against landgrabbing. But the people saw that the exact opposite happened. So, though Mamata Banerjee is in the UPA Government and UPA government is taking many anti people steps, but majority of the people are favouring TMC without bothering about what is going on at the all-India level and its consequence.
So the situation is a complex one for the real left forces as well as communist revolutionaries. On the one hand, CR forces are not in a position to provide an alternative. In these municipality elections, some CR forces (including us) fought in such a microscopical sphere, that it could not make any imprint as a political alternative. On the other hand, people want change of contemporary government and are not bothered about whether the future government will be more reactionary or not.  People are seeking an able alternative to the present Left Front Government. People are not expecting radical reforms from TMC. TMC has already shown its real nature by joining the UPA. After Assembly elections, it is certain that both the Centre as well as the state government will be taking more and more anti-people policies and people’s discontent will grow simultaneously. Then people will naturally seek a real alternative which can lead it out of its discontent. If CR forces realize this situation and take steps accordingly, it will create a precondition for a radical and revolutionary people’s alternative. Already people are disillusioned with the TMC, but for the sake of change people are refraining from criticizing TMC. So, the challenge in front of CR forces is to be a real political alternative which can fight against every anti-people step of the government and be able to replace the government also, not only through the street battle but in the election arena also.
CR forces have a long fighting history against the government, but they have not been able to emerge as a political alternative. Today, though the situation is complex, it is a positive situation for the CRs because people have rejected CPIM and will be testing Trinamool. If all CR forces unite to fight against imperialist policies and anti-people role of the Government, expose all the ruling class representatives, develop a united, systematic propaganda all over the state, and take part collectively in the elections, then a ground will be prepared for the CRs to emerge as an alternative – a political force on which people can depend as an alternative to CPIM and TMC.