Marxists caught in time-warp as Mamata juggernaut rolls by

One visit to the CPI(M) state headquarters at Alimuddin Street in Kolkata and the puzzle begins to fall in place. The view from inside the Marxist den helps one understand why the party appears completely clueless when it comes to combating Mamata Banerjee’s slogan of paribartan, or change.

Climbing up the couple of flights of stairs before settling down to wait for Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in an oversized and a not-too-brightly lit large hall with chairs that take you back to examination season in school, the feeling is one of watching a black and white classic in an old, run down cinema hall of the same era.

One looks around and the sense of the surreal only heightens. Neatly arranged on the walls, with little space to separate them, are pictures of Communist stalwarts of the bygone era.

They are all there. Karl Marx, Lenin, Stalin, chairman Mao, Ho Chi Minh. There are also pictures of homegrown idols: national, state and district level CPI(M) leaders and revolutionaries.

There’s a small problem though. The prints are all Chinese, so it’s difficult to figure out the names. It must be a problem only for the uninitiated though. The regulars must be familiar with both; the faces on the portraits as well as the language!

A large map in the room has also dug in its heels against the advancing capitalist troops.

It predates glasnost and the division of the USSR. It’s like being in a Time Machine which stopped ticking decades back.

And one begins to understand how the party is just so helpless in even coming up with a good reply to the paribartan slogan which has almost become the buzzword of these elections.

And as the embattled but still quite enigmatic West Bengal Chief Minister steps into the room and begins to engage with our group of editors from Delhi, it’s difficult to not to notice his defensive - almost apologetic - body language.

“We know there has been some erosion in people’s confidence in us. We are trying our best to win their trust back,” he told us. According to him, a section of the middle class, particularly the young and the more affluent amongst them, no longer identifies with the policies of the Left Front. “They think we are not intelligent and modern enough to fulfill their aspirations.

He then looks at us in a manner almost seeking our understanding of his plight. Of how he wanted to bring in reforms and a fresh approach to polity and governance in the state but was systematically done in.

The first cues were provided by the central leadership of the CPI(M). Mamata’s Tranamool Congress (TMC) joined the party to embarrass and corner Buddha babu much later.

It’s no secret that the Bengal unit of the CPI(M) – and the Chief Minister in particular - were vehemently opposed to the central leadership’s decision to withdraw support from the UPA government over the nuclear deal issue. If that advice had been heeded there would not have been an alliance between the Congress and the TMC and the political landscape of West Bengal may have been much different today.

For the record, the Chief Minister has little choice but to say that he has no differences with anyone within the party, and especially general secretary Prakash Karat. He also presents a brave front and says the rural poor still support them. “They know what we have done for them.”

But a journey these last few days through some of the poorest and most backward areas of the state like Durgapur, Purulia and Midnapore indicates that eventhis fortress of poverty - so assiduously nurtured by the Communists during their 34-year uninterrupted rule - now looks vulnerable to the seemingly unstoppable Mamata juggernaut. Unless the CPI(M) cadre and their legendary organisational prowess pulls off an unlikely miracle, it’s difficult to see them combating the slogan of paribartan.

Buddhadeb accepts there’s a romance in the slogan of change which is drawing big crowds to Mamsta Banerjee’s public meetings. “But rallies and public meetings don’t win elections.

Elections are won or lost on organisational abilities and finally the mood of the people.”

But as he reels out what he had done for his people - land reforms – he realises that the party also goofed up in the same area when the Singur land acquisition issue blew up in his face and the Tata Nano project moved out. “We should have been more cautious on the issue of land acquisition. There needs to be a uniform model which ensures that fertile land is not taken, a consensus is evolved both on area as well as remunerative prices and a comprehensive rehabilitation package is drawn up.”

He also admits to differences in the party about what is the best way forward. “Some advocate a back to the basics approach with concentration on agriculture, health and education in rural areas. Others want a more pragmatic approach with industrialization also being a cornerstone of policy.”

But there will be a lot of time to sort those issue out, for the betting is that Buddha babu won’t be around after the May 13 elections. The Chief Minister still talks of pulling off an unlikely win, but his body language gives away his false bravado.

He looks like a man who knows that this could well turn out to be the last time he takes a bow on the big stage.