Work In Progress

Even as it showcases its recent success at attracting investments, the ruling Left Front is trying to balance its pro-business stance with worker-friendly "election" meetings

PICTURE SPEAK

MASS APPEAL: Bhattacharya is getting up close and personal

Assembly elections this time around are a bit like the Bengali Durga Puja without the roll of drums. There are no loudspeakers because of the board exams, no public meetings, no graffiti, no banners and no posters. The polls might just be a formality to bring the Left Front back to power, but without the circus around them, they feel incomplete.

It is small consolation that the leaders have taken to holding small workers' meetings called karmi sabhas, instead of the mass gana sabhas. But a chief minister's meeting is anything but a small affair. The road to Bongaon, 130 km from Kolkata and 6 km from the Bangladesh border, sees no cordoning off or picketing. But enter Bongaon Stadium and the teeming thousands tell you that the state's biggest star (even Bengali cinema star Prosenjit is unable to draw such crowds), and the man who saw tomorrow, has arrived. The absence of banners and posters is adequately compensated for by red jackets, red caps, red umbrellas and faces with hammers, sickles and stars painted on them. The constituency, which earlier had a history of anti-incumbency victories, has turned comfortably red. Pankaj Ghosh is a two-time MLA from Bongaon and locals believe that nothing can stop him from winning for the third time.

INTERVIEW | B. BHATTACHARYA

"IBM and Frito Lay are already here" West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya appears confident of returning to power as he speaks to Senior Correspondent Swagata Sen about his party's performance and preparation. Q. You are seeking private and foreign investment for the state. So what is the seventh Left Front government going to look at? A. We announced our industrial policy in 1994 and are going ahead with it. We have proved that we are investment-friendly and it is showing. Last year, investment was at Rs 5,000 crore. As far as foreign investment is concerned, Japan is the biggest investor. The Americans are coming; in the it sector we have IBM, Microsoft and Cognizant. PepsiCo's sister-concern Frito Lay has come to manufacture potato chips here. Q. Given that the Opposition is in disarray, is it an easy election for you? A. I have no complaints against the Trinamool Congress. The Opposition is in the doldrums, but we don't depend on that. We depend on the strength of the people. People from rural constituencies are solidly behind us. The working class is supporting us. Q. In some parts of the state, the Maoists are gaining strength. How will you address the issue? A. Maoists are a new phenomenon in West Bengal. They have come from Andhra Pradesh and Orissa and penetrated our state through parts of Jharkhand where there are forests. So it is difficult to track them down. But they will not be able to win over our people. We have started development work in these areas. Our agricultural growth is the highest in the country. Therefore, we do not see this as a serious problem.

Most of those present have come from nearby villages, where the Left has a strong presence. Townfolk, however, seem relatively disillusioned. Says Subodh Kumar Mondal, a teacher who lives next to the stadium but stayed away from the meeting: "This is chiefly an agricultural area and the Left has the support of farmers. The town has hardly seen any development." In fact, Bongaon owes some of its development to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who, as railway minister, was instrumental in starting a goods train between India and Bangladesh through the Bongaon check post. The municipality in Bongaon is run by the Congress-Trinamool combine.

PICTURE SPEAK

MOBILE MESSAGES: Red jackets seeking votes have replaced banners

Local issues are briefly touched upon, even the fact that the booming potato chips industry in the state has given a fillip to potato farmers, a huge part of the constituency. A personal touch is not missed either. Rinku, a visually challenged girl, has the privilege of being treated by the chief minister's doctor. She is allowed to go past the dozen-odd security personnel to reach the stage and the chief minister promises her treatment and education.

Such a down-to-earth approach notwithstanding, local diehard communists fail to connect with this investment-talking chief minister. The criticism is veiled. "People these days do not understand the struggle we faced in the early 1970s. They have to be lured with potato chips," says a septuagenarian CPI(M) worker. Even senior party hardliners and allies are not convinced that the softening of the Left is a good idea.

But all said and done, what the chief minister says and does seem to have worked. In Habra, which at one time gave the BJP its first municipality in the state, the Left came to power in local elections in 2003. Bhattacharya himself believes that "the participation and enthusiasm of the people has been greater this time". He is not just posing as a worker. He has been working hard as well.