PICTURE SPEAK

DIFFERENT STROKES: CPI(M) leaders say there are no contradictions

After the party's three-hour Politburo meeting in Delhi on May 13, Bhattacharya told the media that Indian Marxists had no option but to change. He even appeared to disapprove of what he called the dogmatic outlook of "old" Communists. Bhattacharya's remarks haven't gone down well with certain Politburo seniors but nobody is openly checking him. After all, over 50 per cent of the votes cast in Bengal went to the Left Front and Bengal's urban voters are understood to have contributed a fair share, fuelled by Bhattacharya's promises of change.

PICTURE SPEAK

PLAINSPEAK: Party bosses frown but Bhattacharya is determined

The strategy at the party headquarters in Delhi is to permit both the chief ministers to carry on with their individual styles of applying Marxism in their respective states. It is only natural that after 28 years, a Bengal model of Communism should emerge and by changing the queer system of alternating governments with the UDF, the LDF in Kerala might also be able to create its own model of Communism. The CPI(M) central leaders can be expected to use the same strategy in dealing with the UPA Government as well. So in the end, Bhattacharya is free to chase private investment, Achuthanandan, to boost conventional industries and Karat, while balancing the two sides within his own party, will continue to support the UPA, even as it opposes the Centre on key domestic and international issues. In other words, the best of both worlds.

WEST BENGAL
State Express
Bhattacharya's emphasis on investment and growth rattles his party but that doesn't deter him from pursuing his goals

Nothing probably excited West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya more than the fax message he received from Ratan Tata congratulating him on his victory. In fact, in almost every post-result interview, the triumphant chief minister couldn't stop talking about the fact that the Tatas will be rolling out their Rs 1-lakh car from an assembly plant in West Bengal. And that should say enough about where his priorities lie.

PICTURE SPEAK

CADRES' PRIDE: Achuthanandan

That is the general sense of euphoria that pervades a state, which, when Bhattacharya took over six years ago, was reeling under strikes, lockouts and unemployment. Cut to 2006. Cognizant, Wipro and IBM have all set up shop in the city. Pepsi-owned Frito Lay has even set up a potato chips factory. The comrades at AKG Bhavan in Delhi may frown, but it doesn't seem to deter Bhattacharya.

Recently, he again had his comrades squirming in their seats when he reminded them, "We are working within a capitalist system-how can I forget that?" He is likely to rub his party bosses the wrong way again. He has already written to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel requesting the Government to modernise the Kolkata airport on the lines of Delhi and Mumbai, both of which his party bosses in Delhi had opposed. CPI State Secretary Manjukumar Majumdar, an ally, indulges in typical Leftspeak when he says, "Capitalism is not the last word." But ask him about Bhattacharya and his reply is: "Buddha is trying." Even capitalists will agree.

-By Swagata Sen

KERALA
Battle Within
Internal squabbles take some of the sheen away from the CPI(M)'s landslide victory as intra-party rivals succeed in clipping its wings

Having fought and defeated its common enemy, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), the Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the CPI(M) should have been celebrating its most spectacular victory ever in the Kerala Assembly elections. Instead, its members are now busy fighting each other. Quite uncharacteristically for the LDF and the CPI(M), it is the distribution of ministerial berths and the allocation of portfolios that triggered the unprecedented wrangling. The public bickering has certainly robbed the sheen of not just the landslide victory but also the assumption of power of the new ministry led by the 83-year-old V.S. Achuthanandan, popularly known as just VS.

PICTURE SPEAK

TACIT SUPPORT: Vijayan (fourth from left) has the Politburo's backing

It is not just the chief minister's followers who are livid. Smaller constituents of the LDF are furious at Big Brother's attempts to grab all the plum posts. The CPI is sulking after being denied key portfolios that it had held in the last LDF government, led by the CPI(M)'s charismatic leader E.K. Nayanar. The Janata Dal (S) and Kerala Congress (J) are fuming that their ministerial quotas have been reduced. Other smaller parties have been denied even a token representation in the Cabinet.

This is, of course, not to suggest that the marriage has soured even before the honeymoon has begun. But the question that a lot of people in the state are asking is: Would Achuthanandan, arguably the most popular Marxist politician in the state since the late Nayanar, squander away so much of goodwill in so short a time? Not likely. On the contrary, it was a carefully crafted strategy by his rivals within the party who are yet to come to terms with the fact that Achuthanandan's climb to the top was relatively easy. The strategy, which had the stamp of approval of the Politburo, was to let him have the top post while denying him the powers that go with it. The first step in this plan was to deprive Achuthanandan of the crucial Home portfolio. Not surprisingly, it was given to a Vijayan lieutenant, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Other key portfolios like Education and Industry went to the same camp.

While Achuthanandan remained characteristically tightlipped, revolt was instant amongst his vast army of supporters across the state. Especially offended are women's organisations, environmentalists and public service groups, whose causes Achuthanandan has tirelessly championed. "This is a blatant attempt to clip Achuthanandan's wings. Having won the assembly polls riding on his popularity, the party is now trying to shield vested interests and various offenders whom he would have otherwise booked", said K. Ajitha, former Naxalite leader and women's rights activist. She referred to the campaigns that Achuthanandan had led as an Opposition leader against a multinational cola company that was depriving the citizens of their drinking water in north Kerala and of a large hotel chain that had grabbed public land in the picturesque Kovalam beach. Others referred to the sustained battle he had fought to bring to book, among others, those allegedly involved, including some UDF leaders, in sex scandals, forest encroachment cases and sleaze in high places. At least one of the accused in the infamous ice-cream parlour sex scandal-a minister in the UDF Government who was trounced in the election this time-had close personal ties with Vijayan. "The official group in the CPI(M) has always been hand in glove with these offenders and they will continue with their ways if Achuthanandan is deprived of the Home portfolio," Ajitha added.

There could be another plausible reason the chief minister was denied even the prerogative of picking his portfolio, not to speak of choosing his Cabinet colleagues. One of the last acts of the outgoing UDF government was to request the CBI to probe the Rs 350-crore SNC Lavlin scam that had rocked the state about seven years ago. It was related to the granting of contracts for renovation of three hydro-power projects during the tenure of the LDF government between 1996 and 2001 when Vijayan was the power minister.

Achuthanandan is too shrewd to be unaware of the machinations. "I don't need the Home portfolio to catch thieves," he said in a statement. But sensing the potential damage to the image of the new government, he has been granted the Anti-Corruption and Vigilance portfolios which earlier were attached to the Home portfolio. The gritty 83-year-old would have managed without these too.

-By M.G. Radhakrishnan

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