CPI(M) West bengal

In West Bengal, Down and Out CPI-M Sets in Motion the Process of a Political Turnaround

The party has been trying to adopt strategies employed by yesteryear’s tall leaders, relying on the student wing to connect with the masses, and focusing on bringing unity among various religious groups.

Kolkata: In its attempt to regain its relevance in the politics of West Bengal, the young Turks in the Left movement, particularly of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), are looking for inspiration in the ways of the old legends of the party: Jyoti Basu, Harekrishna Konar, Binoy Choudhury, Pramod Dasgupta, etc.

There has been a rising trend to fall back on the path of the traditional Left movement and reconnect with the masses at the grassroots level. This new strategy also involves reacquainting people with the history of the Left movement in Bengal.

An interesting strategy that the leaders of the Left student organisations have adopted is focusing on the religious cultures of different communities in West Bengal, and through dialogue and classes, to counter the campaigns of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Reliance on past success strategies

In 1947, the Communist Party of India had two MLAs in Bengal Legislative Assembly: Jyoti Basu and Ratan Lal Brahman, who were elected from the “Registered Factories” constituencies. Jyoti Basu won from the Railway Trade Union constituency, and Ratan Lal Bramhan from the Darjeeling Tea Garden constituency. They were both elected by labour-class voters. Their success came with the vigorous campaigns in the working class areas. Jyoti Basu’s organisational work and door-to-door campaign in the working class areas remain a legendary tale in the corridors of CPI(M) offices.

Another legendary tale is Binoy Choudhury’s electoral win from the Burdwan constituency in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election of 1952. In that election, the then-jailed Choudhury defeated Congress candidate Uday Chand Mahatab who was a member of the Burdwan Royal Family. Numerous rallies and intensive door-to-door campaigns brought electoral success.

The organisational skill of Hare Krishna Konar became the pillar of the 1967 and 1971 United Front governments and the Left Front government of 1977. Konar’s organisational work attracted the rural masses to the party.

CPI(M) central committee member Rabin Dev said, “They are our party’s legends, whose work remains a source of inspiration for generations. With this inspiration, our student wing, the Student Federation of India (SFI), is doing excellent campaigning in the state. But, it is a continuous process. They need to keep up with the momentum. Presently, social networking sites have become the medium of communication, but lack human bondage. Only, face-to-face communication can build the bridge between the masses and the party.”

Also read: Panchayat Polls Are the Weathervane of WB’s Politics. So What’s On the Cards This Time?

Before the upcoming panchayat elections, the CPI(M) appears to be swaying between hope and despair. In the recent state committee meeting, the party leadership in districts reported that the masses are responding positively to the party programmes. A good number of inactive party members are now taking part in these programmes.

Challenges and reworking of strategy

However, the challenge is many of the party’s footsoldiers appear willing to compromise with the BJP to combat the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Such a strategy proved costly for the party in the 2018 Panchayat elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha election, which culminated in the 2021 Assembly election, where the CPI(M) could not win a single Assembly seat.

On the other hand, though TMC had won an overwhelming majority in the last election to the state’s three-tier Panchayat, it is beset by corruption allegations, and also a sense of deprivation looms large over the people in rural Bengal. The CPI(M)’s leadership in districts feels that this is why party workers on the ground think that TMC should be defeated first. For this, they are ready to become allies of the BJP.

In recent times, CPI(M) and BJP have shared seats in some cooperative society elections in the East Midnapore district, and the results have been in favour of the Left-BJP combine. CPI(M) leadership has taken strict action against 10 local leaders who had entered into an understanding with the saffron party and has expelled them from the party.

The CPI(M) leadership is of the opinion that the success of the BJP in the jungle-mahal area of Bankura, Purulia, Jhargram, and North Bengal is due to the social base of the RSS. These areas are dominated by the SC, ST, and OBC communities. Once, CPI(M) had a solid base within the tribal community. Even after losing power in the state, it still retained some presence in these areas till the 2016 Assembly Election, following which it has steadily been losing ground.

Also read: Is This the End of the Road for the CPI(M) in Bengal?

Before the RSS’s annual meeting in Prayagraj, which was from October 15 to 18, the Purbo Khetro Sanghachalak of West Bengal, Ajay Nandy, told reporters that the branches of RSS have increased their presence by 25% in the state.

To combat this, CPI(M) is now banking on its student wing. The central executive committee of SFI organised the All India Jatha, called ‘March for Education’ from August 1, 2022 to September 15, 2022. SFI members marched from five different corners of the country with slogans against saffronisation within the country. The north eastern chapter of All India Jatha entered West Bengal on August 19, 2022, and the Eastern chapter entered West Bengal on August 20, 2022.

SFI and DYFI members march to Raj Bhavan in Kolkata in protest against the TET recruitment scam. Credit: Twitter/CPI(M)

The president of SFI, Pratikur Rahaman, said, “All India Jatha stayed here for almost two weeks. In these two weeks, the Jatha covered a 3,200 kilometres and witnessed more than a thousand meetings and street corner meetings. The Jatha, which on its way held as many as a hundred and 73 public rallies, was widely accepted by the general people of the state.” The SFI leadership is of the opinion that their continuous protest rallies in the streets against the School Service Commission scam have been instrumental in bringing this success.

Holding onto this success, the SFI leadership has drawn up a plan to combat RSS-BJP’s dominance and regain the lost ground. The SFI leadership has directed all district committees to go on a door-to-door campaign, with a newly designed approach to reaching out to the people. The major part of this new formula includes addressing different religious cultures existing in the state.

SFI president Pratikur Rahaman said, “We have directed our district committees to be familiar with the different religious cultures of our state, like the Bhakti cult, Sufi, Vaishnavs, and the preachings of the Matua gurus Hari Chand Thakur, Guru Chand Thakur, and other ethno-religious movements of the Adivasi Leaders. For this, we have arranged classes for our members. While the RSS and BJP are dividing people in the name of religion, we, in our door-to-door campaigns, are spreading awareness of the inclusivity of our state’s religious cultural history.”

The SFI also believes that the National Education Policy is directed by the RSS and is “very divisive”.

The secretary of SFI, Srijan Bhattacharya said, “We have organised All India Jatha against the National Education Policy. Now, we are campaigning against the divisive politics of RSS across the state. Under the Trinamool’s regime, RSS has increased its presence. RSS is trying to break our social fabric. To combat RSS, we are reminding the people of the cultural heritage of our state. We are explaining the role of social reformers like Chaitanya Dev, Lalan Fakir and the teachings of Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. We are also upholding the sacrifices made by Bhagat Singh, Khudiram Bose, Subhash Chandra Bose and others for our Independence.”

Besides this, the state leadership has decided to take stern action against those members who are willing to join hands with the saffron camp in the forthcoming panchayat elections. “At the central level, RSS-BJP is our main rival. In the state, both BJP and TMC are our political rivals. So, if any party member holds BJP’s hand to defeat TMC, the party will take stern action against that member,” said CPI(M) central committee member Rabin Dev.

So, while it is yet to be seen if these attempts will enable the party to recover its presence in the politics of West Bengal, it seems that the process of trying to stage a turnaround has been set in motion.

Biswajit Bhattacharya is a senior journalist based in Kolkata.

Riding on Tireless Relief Work, the Left Charts a Return to Bengal’s Radar

In a state affected by a cyclone and a health crisis, the CPI(M) and other Left parties have climbed up several notches on the popularity scale thanks to their relief work.

Kolkata: Khejuri village in West Bengal’s East Midnapore has been witness to a symbolic political epoch in the last few weeks.

This village was at the heart of the Nandigram agitation to protest land acquisition for a special economic zone in 2007, which was one of the factors that led to the fall of the Left Front government in the state in 2011. Since then, leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) have had to stay away from the village.

But the hardships of the lockdown implemented to combat COVID-19 and the destruction caused by cyclone Amphan ensured a change of heart for the people in the village for the party as its cadres and volunteers rushed in to help with basics like soap, food grains, cooked food and tarpaulin for people whose homes were destroyed.

Though this return may only be of symbolic significance, in the last few months, the CPI(M) has held rallies, conducted volunteer work and other activities in different parts of East and West Midnapore, in areas which had been difficult to access for them for over 10 years.

CPI(M) leader Tapas Sinha, who contested the Assembly election from east Midnapore’s Ramnagar in 2016 says that they have been able to function from party offices once again in areas like Nandigram, Khejuri, Garbeta and Keshpur. They had not been able to open them earlier for fear of violence.

A Left rally in Khejuri. Photo: Author provided.

“We opened a few offices during the previous [2016 Bengal Assembly] elections and after the Lok Sabha election [2019] but this time we are getting overwhelming support from the local people,” he says.

Not just in Midnapore, community kitchens during the lockdown, sustained relief work after cyclone Amphan, their efforts in reaching out to migrant workers in different states and even the noise around the Kerala model to combat COVID-19 has resurrected the Left as a force to consider in West Bengal politics. This is quite the feat considering the near oblivion it had been sinking into after the 2019 Lok Sabha election with zero seats and only 6.34% of the vote share.

Senior CPM leader and politburo member Mohammad Salim credits the quick reaction of the party to the lockdown and necessity of relief to the tradition of the left political movement in the state and a culture of sharing. “Despite being on fertile land, Bengal used to be prone to crisis and famine. From the very beginning of their journey in the state, communist parties have acted on issues of food and health. That is why the Left in Bengal rose through the food movement in the 1960s. Even during the Bengal
famine in the middle of World War II, the Communist party formed many voluntary groups and many people who were not from the party – intellectuals, democrats, apolitical groups– joined in support,” says Salim.

This time, the Left-organised relief initiatives did find contributors and volunteers from outside the party fold. Professionals, students and local businessmen joined in. Most said that they did not see it as a party activity. In Hooghly district’s Konnagar town, seven community kitchens were running till early July where over 30,000 people came daily for food, according to
Left activists.

Left volunteers help people in Hooghly’s Konnagar. Photo: Author provided

The scale of this activity encouraged Mithua Chakraborty, a 38-year-old school teacher, to join them. “I have little to do with politics. I just saw young college going boys and girls working all day and night for relief after the cyclone and thought I should join them too. There are people from my locality who support other parties but they too joined in to help,” says Chakraborty.

Non-political organisations that do not align with the CPI(M)’s politics, NGOs and other bodies also joined hands in large scale relief work in cities and villages.

“These other initiatives have done commendable work too. We have worked in co-operation with apolitical organisations. Initially, we took care not to use party flags to get people to join freely and contribute,” says Salim.

But will this new found connection with the people reflect in the 2021 Assembly elections?

Also read: Trinamool Must Check Its Own Intolerance to Counter the Rise of BJP in Bengal

The ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) has a humungous task on its hands of managing the economic and healthcare challenges of COVID-19 and provide relief to those affected by the cyclone which according to the state government has caused damage of over Rs 1 lakh crore.

With the BJP emerging as a strong contender in the 2019 Lok Sabha with nearly half the seats, its position as the unchallengeable power has already weakened. Now with multiple allegations of corruption and mishandling of relief funds, with the party expelling over 200 members for corruption in cyclone relief work earlier this month, its ground is shaky.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Credit: PTI

“There is a lack of confidence in the government and a strong anti-incumbency. But it is unlikely that this will favour the CPI(M),” says Rohit Basu, political commentator and associate editor of Bengali newspaper Uttarbanga Sangbad.

Basu explains that though the Left has gained in acceptance in the last few months, it is yet to position itself as a likely winner in the state. “And that becomes a crucial factor in how people vote.”

As far as a chance to win is concerned, observers in Bengal are not putting their bets on the CPI(M). Some like Omprakash Mishra, professor of International Relations at Jadavpur University, who was also a senior Congress leader and is now with the Trinamul, do not see the Left as an alternative in the state. Mishra sees many Left-minded people voting for the Trinamul to keep BJP at bay.

Also read: ‘Becoming Beggars’: As Lockdown Lifts, Hunger Returns to Bengal’s Jangalmahal

“For many such people in the state who organised such relief activity or even participated in it, BJP still remains the ideological
and philosophical opponent. They have problems with the Trinamul Congress too, but do not question the ideological moorings of TMC. The Left’s competition with the TMC is on aspects of governance and administration, like violence, corruption, nepotism. This competition is within the framework of constitutional democracy and does not negate the essence of Indian pluralism. With BJP, it’s an ideological challenge and not a mere political competition. So even these people end up voting for the Trinamul Congress,” says Mishra.

CPI(M) leaders, however, assert that their relief work or community support is taken up for more than just votes. “We have tried and helped people in as many states as possible. In many states we are not even contesting,” says veteran CPI(M) leader Rabin Deb.

Deb, however, claims that the party has got a strong momentum from the work. “Many young boys and girls have come forward to participate. Some of these are absolutely new faces and some are from traditionally Left families whose children had somehow been removed from politics because of their jobs or because they were not interested. We saw them handling contributions and managing kitchens with a lot of energy. This, along with our movements for employment and economic security during this crisis has definitely created the base for a social Left again,” he says.

Ground Report: With Voters Angry With TMC, Congress Likely To Retain Murshidabad

Murshidabad, a Congress stronghold, will see a triangular contest during the upcoming general elections as the Congress, TMC and the CPI(M)battle it out for three Lok Sabha constituencies.

Berhampore (Murshidabad): Nabarun Banerjee was sipping his black tea at a roadside tea stall in Berhampore, district headquarters of Murshidabad district in central West Bengal. He, like many, is angry over the ruling Trinamool Congress for not allowing people to cast their votes during the panchayat elections last year.

“They (TMC cadres) did not let anyone vote in panchayat election. Why will people vote for them now?” Banerjee questioned. Banerjee, a central government employee, believes Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had worked for the development of the area despite Congress’s organisational breakdown.

With less than a month for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, The Wire went on a trip to Murshidabad, West Bengal to gauge the mood of the people and check the preparedness of the political parties.

Murshidabad district, located around 200 km north of Kolkata, comprises of three Lok Sabha constituencies with a predominantly Muslim population of over 70%.

The district is a Congress stronghold. Currently, the Lok Sabha constituencies of Berhampore and Jangipur have Congress representatives, while CPI(M) holds the Murshidabad constituency. In the 2016 assembly elections, Congress won 14 of 22 assembly seats from Murshidabad, while TMC and CPI(M) won four seats each.

Also Read: Explainer: The Defection Story Playing Out in West Bengal

Adhir Chowdhury, the most notable leader of the Congress in the state and a former central minister is seeking re-election for the fifth time from Berhampore.

Voices at TMC rally

The TMC organised a rally on March 16, in YMA ground at Berhampore. The party’s strongman in rural Bengal, Anubrata Mondal and the party’s de-facto number two, Suvendu Adhikari, addressed the rally.

However, the crowd did not look interested, and the turnout was limited to only a few thousand. There was hardly any cheering when Suvendu Adhikari, the Transport Minister of West Bengal, said, “I am taking the responsibility of Berhampore seat. Trinamool will win from here.”

Transport Minister, West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari addressing the rally Berhampore. Credit: Himadri Ghosh

Rafiq Mondal, a 43-year-old rice mill worker, came to attend the rally from Rejinagar, 30 km away. Mondal believes that the people are happy with the work done by Adhir Chowdhury.

“I don’t think TMC is going to win here (Berhampore). I came here because I like Mamata Banerjee,” said Mondal. The mill worker opined that Congress’s organisational strength is far superior to the TMC’s in Murshidabad.

At the side of the rally, The Wire sat for a quick chat with Apurba Sarkar, a recent Congress defector, and TMC candidate in Berhampore.

The former Congress MLA complained that he didn’t get “minimum respect” from the party leadership. “Adhir Chowdhury acted as an obstacle while I doing my duty as an MLA. Hence, I switched to TMC,” A confident Sarkar said, “There should not be any problem in winning this seat,” he added.

However, many believe he is unknown outside Kandi and that could be a major roadblock for him.

TMC leader Anubrata Mondal and Minister of Urban Development of West Bengal Firadh Hakim at the rally in Berhampore. Credit: Himadri Ghosh

Anjan Pattanayak, a retired government doctor, once a neighbour of Sarkar, said, “Apurba stands no chance of winning the election. His name is confined to Kandi, the rest of Berhampore doesn’t even know him.”

Visiting the Congress Camp

Most of the Congress workers are busy erecting hoardings at prominent junctions of Berhampore town and chalking out plans to conduct rallies in different areas.

Even before the Congress leadership could announce the names of candidates in Bengal, walls across Berhampore were painted with Adhir Chowdhury’s name on it.

Berhampore Town Congress Secretary, Karthik Chandra Saha told The Wire that, many of those who were in the Congress party a week back, have now switched to the TMC to get an election ticket.

Also Read: Repressed Histories Shed Light on the Right-Wing’s Growth in Bengal

Attacking the TMC candidate from Berhampore, Saha said he is an “opportunist”. “He [Apurba Sarkar] switched to fulfil his personal ambition. People will reject him,” Saha said.

Saha also pointed out that Chowdhury’s constant pressurisation of rail ministry made the double line railway track to Berhampore a reality. He also said that the lawmaker had sanctioned huge amounts from MPLADS funds to stop riverbank erosion, which is an important issue in West Bengal. A report published by the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), last year said that West Bengal had recorded maximum erosion of 63% in the country.

A Trinamool supporter sporting a party T-shirt at the rally in Berhampore. Credit: Himadri Ghosh

Congress workers, who had gathered at the Gora Bazar area, and had worked for Adhir Chowdhury for years said, “Dada (Adhir Chowdhury) helps everyone, even people from the rival party. His popularity in Berhampore is unparalleled.”

Congress’s advantage in Murshidabad

CPI(M)’s Badaruddoza Khan is the sitting MP from Murshidabad. Political observers believe that Khan won the Congress bastion in 2014 general elections, as there was a triangular fight between the Congress, CPI(M) and TMC. And many are of the opinion that it’s going to be difficult for him to win this time.

However, the 64-year Badaruddoza Khan said, “Response from the people is better than 2014 and I am hopeful of winning this seat.” Khan, however, also said that a Congress-CPI(M) alliance would have benefited both the parties.

Salim Mondal, who runs a tailor shop in Lalbagh said, “Khan failed to deliver on his promises and it will be difficult for him to win this time.”

Also Read: CPI(M) Likely to Contest Just 20 Lok Sabha Seats From West Bengal

Debotosh Dasgupta, the Congress vice-president in the district, believes that even if the Congress-CPI(M) alliance is agreed upon, the Left candidates won’t get Congress votes in Murshidabad. He explained that in the 2016 assembly elections, Congress managed to get some Left votes, but the opposite didn’t happen.

Congress MLA Abu Taher Khan, who recently switched to the TMC and is popular amongst minority voters, has been offered a Lok Sabha ticket from Murshidabad. However, The Wire has learnt that his popularity is confined to Berhampore.

“Abu Taher is an outsider, people of Murshidabad don’t know him,” said Badaruddoza Khan.

When asked why he changed camps, Taher Khan told The Wire, “No one other than Mamata Banerjee can protect and work for the development of minorities.”

Taher Khan also explained that the Congress lost its ground in Bengal due to infighting and hence, he believes it is imperative for him to join TMC. When asked about his chances of winning the Murshidabad seat, he sounded optimistic and said, “100% TMC will win from Murshidabad.”

Himadri Ghosh is a Kolkata-based journalist.

After Abduction of Labhpur BJP Leader’s Daughter, Mob Vandalises TMC MLA’s Car

Days after the daughter of BJP leader Suprabhat Batyabyal was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint, a mob resorted to vandalism in the area as she remained untraceable.

Labhpur: Tension gripped Labhpur area in West Bengal’s Birbhum district on Saturday as a mob smashed local TMC MLA Manirul Islam’s vehicle and chased him, forcing him to take refuge in the local police station, police said.

The incident comes days after the daughter of BJP leader Suprabhat Batyabyal was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint here. The girl’s mother lodged a complaint at Labhpur police station after the alleged kidnapping on Thursday.

Protesting against the incident and demanding immediate rescue of the girl, an angry mob resorted to vandalism in and around the area as she remained untraceable.

At around 3 pm, the mob gheraoed Islam’s vehicle at Indus village and pelted stones at it. The MLA was rushed to safety by his security guards, the police said.

“When he reached the Labhpur police station, there too a mob started pelting stones,” a police officer said.

Police resorted to mild lathicharge to disperse the mob, he added.

Later, Islam visited the girl’s house and spoke to her family. “I talked to the family members and assured that police are trying to find their daughter. We have already told police to act fast,” he told PTI.

Meanwhile, protesters continued to block the Suri-Katwa road for the third day on Saturday. BJP supporters demonstrated in front of the police station. Additional force has been deployed in the area, the police said.

One suspect was detained on Friday for questioning in connection with the alleged kidnapping, superintendent of police, Birbhum, Shyam Singh, said. Police haven’t found any political motive behind the incident so far, he said.

Batyabyal, who switched to the BJP from the TMC around five months ago, was not at home when the miscreants broke into his house in Labhpur and kidnapped his 22-year-old daughter.

Before joining the TMC, Batyabal was a district committee member of the CPI(M).

“Five miscreants barged into the house around 8 pm on Thursday night on finding out that Suprabhat was not home,” the BJP leader’s brother, Sujit Batyabyal, had said on Friday.

“First, they confined us in a room and locked it from outside. Then they dragged my niece out at gunpoint and forced her into a car, which was parked near our home, and drove off,” he said.

The BJP’s district leadership alleged that the miscreants were TMC-backed goons.

The TMC has been threatening Suprabhat since he joined our party, a BJP leader said. “The police was informed immediately but they did nothing effective,” he alleged.

Ritabrata Bandhopadhyay Is Only a Symptom of the Disarray Within CPI(M)

The upheaval the CPI(M) is going through in West Bengal can be attributed to a split in the central and state party lines. Unless resolved, this could lead to further outbursts from party members.

Ritabrata Bandopadhyay (left), Sitaram Yechury (right). Credit: Youtube, Reuters,PTI

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal has been making headlines for the wrong reasons once again – this time over the outbursts of Rajya Sabha MP Ritabrata Bandopadhyay against the party leadership in TV interviews, which has led to his expulsion from the party.

A CPI(M) statement issued by its West Bengal state secretary on September 17, 2017, said that the concerned MP has faced an internal party enquiry following allegations of:

(i) continuous leakage of internal party matters and discussions to the media,
(ii) moral degeneration in relation to women,
(iii) serious inconsistencies between his income and expenditure,
(iv) lavish life-style incompatible with the (sic) member of the Party.

“In its report the enquiry commission found him outright guilty,” the statement continues.

The party statement also mentions that while the state committee had initially recommended a milder punishment for Bandopadhyay, his attacks against the party in a TV interview “in tune with the tirade of the enemies” has precipitated the summary expulsion.

The nature of Bandopadhyay’s outbursts against the party leadership in the interview to ABP Ananda on September 11 made it clear that he wanted to part ways with the CPI(M). His personal attacks against the chairperson of the enquiry committee that probed the charges against him had communal overtones and were in very poor taste. His allegations regarding the harassment of Bengali leaders at the hands of the central leadership also appear unconvincing, since it was the party’s state committee that received allegations against him and instituted an inquiry, later suspending him from the state committee for three months. Most importantly, his simultaneous overtures towards the party ruling at the Centre point towards a possible ideological-political defection to the right-wing camp.

The CPI(M), however, has not handled matters involving the MP in a fair and transparent manner. Complaints against Bandopadhyay have accumulated over the last few years, from disrupting the student movement in the aftermath of SFI activist Sudipto Gupta’s death in police custody in April 2013, to his vindictive efforts to get a party member dismissed from his job at a Bengaluru-based firm for making sarcastic posts about his Apple watch and Mont Blanc pen on social media in February 2017. But the most serious of these charges appears to be those made against him by women.

Curiously, the CPI(M) did not include any woman member in the internal enquiry committee that probed charges against Bandopadhyay made by women – going against the standard norm in such cases following the Vishakha judgment of the Supreme Court. The nature of these charges have remained a mystery, with the party choosing to term them as “moral degeneration in relation to women”. Does this ensure justice for the women who complained against him? On the contrary, it appears as though those cases have been buried in the cacophony surrounding the MP’s expulsion. For a party which says it is committed to fight for gender equality and women’s rights, this is a very bad example to set.

CPI(M)’s handling of the affair is marked by the same factional trends which have dogged the party for a while now. The personal attacks that Bandopadhyay launched against the former general secretary of the CPI(M) were on lines similar to those recently made by another central committee and state secretariat member from Bengal, Gautam Deb.

Deb, in an interview to ABP Ananda on July 28, accused some party leaders of being jealous of Sitaram Yechury’s popularity and alleged that this was the reason behind the central committee’s decision not to nominate him as a Rajya Sabha candidate from West Bengal. This amounts to a serious breach of party discipline, but no action was taken against the central committee member. This inaction must have encouraged a junior functionary like Bandopadhyay to shoot his mouth off.

The charge against Bandopadhyay of “leakage” of internal party matters to the media may be true, but it is inconceivable that the torrent of such media leaks in recent years – regarding the meetings of the polit bureau, central committee and state secretariat – were his handiwork, since Bandopadhyay was only a West Bengal state committee member. There are obviously other senior functionaries of the CPI(M), both at the Centre and in West Bengal, who regularly “leak” inner-party information to the media to pursue their own factional interests. Bandopadhyay would have learnt such practises from them and thought it was fair game. Would punishing Bandopadhyay cure other party leaders of this disease?

The short point is that the central and state leadership of the CPI(M) cannot wash their hands when a Rajya Sabha MP from the party, who also held the important position of the general secretary of its student front, goes rogue. Given the fact that Bandopadhyay’s elevation to a Rajya Sabha MP from the party was contentious from the very beginning, with many party members opposing it (often publicly), those in the leadership who backed him till date must claim some responsibility.

It is well known by now that the West Bengal state unit of the CPI(M) does not agree with or follow the political line adopted by the party congress of the CPI(M), which a majority of the CPI(M) central committee pursues. This was evident when the CPI(M) in West Bengal opted for an open electoral alliance with the Congress party against the Trinamool Congress in the 2016 state assembly elections, even as the party was fighting the elections against the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala.

After the CPI(M)’s humiliating defeat in Bengal, the central committee of the CPI(M) found the electoral tactics pursued by the West Bengal state committee to be “not congruent” with the political line of the party and directed it to “rectify” its error. The state committee however, has continued to ally with the Congress, as was seen in the latest round of civic polls held in August 2017. It is also worth noting that the CPI(M)-Congress alliance in Bengal has been unable to check the erosion of the Left’s electoral base, significant sections of which have continued to shift to the BJP.

The CPI(M)’s position as an all-India party has already become untenable in Bengal because no party can run with two different political lines. If the West Bengal state committee continues to defy the central line of the party, it could ultimately lead to a split – and the convulsions that the CPI(M) is undergoing in Bengal right now can be attributed to this tussle. Unless this debate over the political direction of the party is resolved, occasional public outbursts by individual functionaries and their expulsions will recur. They are mere symptoms of the disarray at the very top.

Subhanil Chowdhury is an economist who was formerly associated with the CPI(M).