Value for money. W Bengal waits for wheel of history to turn

If the run-up to the Parliamentary elections was particularly violent in West Bengal, then what has followed is worse. Till early this week 15 people had died in post poll violence.

An ascendant BJP, emboldened by its massive electoral success, is determined to celebrate. The West Bengal government’s orders banning victory processions because of the violence feared seems not to have mattered. Politics in the State has descended into lawlessness, putting it next to UP, even as adjoining Bihar has so clearly left behind its poor past record. It is important to ask why in West Bengal things have gotten so much worse and seek a return to peaceful politics.

The BJP has done hugely well primarily by getting people to vote along religious lines, a dangerous development in a State with a history of communal politics which led to its partitioning.

Again, things had got better in the past before worsening. The partitioning of Bengal by the British in 1905 unified the people across the religious divide and the hugely popular movement against it forced the British to reverse their act. The movement, which came to be known as the Banga bhanga andolan , led to the efflorescence of some of the finest poems and songs which defined Bengali nationalism.

The tide turned swiftly thereafter and divisive politics and communal violence led to the second partition of Bengal along with independence. Again the positive historical forces reasserted themselves and the unique language movement in East Pakistan led to the creation of Bangladesh.

The roots of the present violent politics in West Bengal can be traced to the depredations of the Left cadre during three decades of Left Front rule. But the period was also marked by the total absence of communal violence, raising the hope that the communal mindset had been permanently overcome. These elections indicate that the virus was not killed but lay dormant.

Other than the religious appeal of the BJP, what swung votes was popular distaste over the way in which the last panchayat elections were managed by the Trinamool Congress. There was widespread intimidation of prospective opposition candidates who could not file their nominations, resulting in a large number of uncontested victories for Trinamool candidates.

With hindsight we know that this rankled with the electorate. The strength of feeling can be gauged from the fact that the Trinamool suffered this setback despite having initiated development work, particularly in the non-urban areas. The State’s past record of high turnout, reinforced in the Parliamentary elections, indicates that the people treasure their right to vote and will oppose with a vengeance those who seek to tamper with it.

Yet another pointer lies in the fact that the Trinamool polled fewer votes in the Singur Assembly segment, part of the Hooghly Parliamentary constituency which the BJP won. It was Mamata Banerjee’s agitation against the Nano project of the Tatas there that launched her on the road to victory in the 2011 Assembly elections.

The first hurdle in the path of West Bengal retracing its steps is the nature of the BJP in the State. Its cadre comes from the same stock as the Trinamool’s. The entire political grassroots knows only the politics of muscle power. What is more, the BJP leadership in the State is totally bereft of a respected face of any stature. The party has to find a leader who can not only lead it to victory but also wean the State’s politics away from violence.

To move away from the politics of violence the State has to move towards the politics of creating jobs, inviting investment. What is more, small businesses have to be able to function in peace, and not be harassed by local toughs.

The State government is now investment friendly and tries to increase the ease of doing business. But what often holds back prospective entrepreneurs is the demands of local gangs. Their rent seeking has come to such a pass that even to construct a little wall a house owner need must buy the masonry from “approved” vendors.

The Congress and Left Front have managed to virtually obliterate themselves from political reckoning. But Mamata Banerjee cannot be the only State leader left to carry the mantle of secular politics. Again, looking at Bihar, a Nitish Kumar is not created in a day, neither does a Lalu Prasad decline and disappear in a day. There is need to persevere and find hope in turnarounds in history.

The writer is a senior journalist

COMMENT NOW