Mamata would of course like to cover her anti-democratic campaign in the characteristic garb of TMC-style populism. But the limits of populism have also started showing. Her surprise visits to hospitals have brought no relief to the helpless people, who continue to suffer, and the conditions of the state’s crumbling healthcare sector continue to deteriorate. Her silence on the issue of corruption has been as eloquent as her shrill campaign against communists. And her threat to pull out of the UPA government at the Centre over the petrol price hike has been exposed to be only sound and fury, signifying nothing. Meanwhile, her government carries out every policy of the Centre that has been snatching away the livelihood and rights of the toiling masses.
Before the elections Mamata Banerjee had shrewdly dropped her original slogan ‘lal hatao’ and made all kinds of pro-Left overtures to broaden her base and neutralise her old anti-Left image. The SUCI, the Maoists and many left-leaning intellectuals fell for this trap and endorsed Mamata as the change that Bengal needed. Now that Mamata has chosen to take on the Maoists, the CPI(M) sees this as vindication of its own stand and would like to egg her on. Both Maoists and the CPI(M) have little concern about the real implications of Mamata’s systematic assault on democracy. Having once again demonstrated their utter political bankruptcy, Maoists would like to pretend it is business as usual by indulging in killings that would only strengthen Mamata’s anti-Maoist campaign, while the CPI(M) would seek to score points by making empty “We-told-you-so” boasts.
Revolutionary communists and committed democrats must never lose sight of the larger picture. Arrests of trade union leaders, attacks on trade union meetings and offices, eviction of sharecroppers and small peasants and agricultural labourers, and factional clashes among rival TMC groups in various parts of Bengal portend a grim situation that calls for consistent vigilance and determined opposition. The CPI(ML) must take all-out initiative at this juncture to defend the people of Bengal and their democratic rights in the face of this systematic assault. All sincere and fighting forces of the Left will have to be mobilised in this battle for defending democracy and rebuilding the Left.
