Question: Polling has begun for the Lok Sabha elections. The first two phases passed off presenting a relatively peaceful poll, but only to be challenged during the third phase. Do you see indications of the tension and violence escalating as polling moves towards South Bengal?
Answer: In the first two phases of the elections in West Bengal, apart from one or two constituencies, nowhere was there a face to face battle between the TMC and the Left Front. In most of the constituencies where voting has already taken place in the first two phases, the TMC will come third. In the remaining constituencies, almost everywhere, there is a straightforward contest between the two. It is now obvious that if the polling continued to be peaceful as in the first two phases, that is - if people are allowed to vote, the people’s mandate will go against the TMC. In the third phase, we have seen how the TMC blatantly disregarded law and order by perpetrating violence and capturing booths. The Election Commission’s proposals were not carried out. The central forces not only were less in numbers but were not deployed. In more than one instance, the state police seem to favour the ruling party. In the last few days three people have been murdered. Despite all these, people are defying the terror attacks to go out and vote. The public mood is discernible from the spontaneous mass participation in the local campaign programs, meetings and rallies organized by the left. This has induced the fear of defeat in TMC. The Chief Minister has lost confidence in herself; she cannot attend meetings without the backing of stars and superstars. The paranoia of defeat is making the TMC desperate, and they are increasing their offensive on the opposition, especially the Left. The TMC miscreants are not even sparing the Election Commission. On the other hand, we have also noticed that attacks are also being resisted by the people. While it is true that the desperate ruling party increases its attack, the people are becoming more determined to defend their right to vote. No one can stop the people. More they are attacked, stronger will be the resistance of the people.
Question: Are you hoping that the experience of the Panchayat elections one year ago won’t repeat itself?
Answer: No. An exact repeat of that experience is impossible. In the Panchayat elections there were numerous reports of obstruction to the campaign, preventing the filing of nomination papers, booth captures, malpractices in the counting, and even killing of elected representatives and officials. In every phase the attack went unabated. But in this election the main challenge has been to ensure that each person can cast her vote. It is true that the Central Election Commission’s powers surpass that of the State EC by far. The State Government cannot flout the CEC in the Lok Sabha elections like it did with the State EC during the Panchayat elections. However, we Leftists have no illusions about the CEC’s powers either. In the end, all depends on people’s organization and struggles. There is this new energy and that is what counts.
Question: You speak of relying on people, but TMC leaders like Anubrata Mondal, and even their Ministers are issuing direct threats. Will this not affect voting? Are you satisfied with the EC’s role in controlling this?
Answer: The statements and threats that you refer to have been issued by TMC leaders out of their recklessness originating from their growing despair. They are scared and are resorting to threats. But people cannot be suppressed by mere threats. We are lodging complaints with the EC on every issue, but I cannot for sure say that they are taking corrective steps in all cases. A mockery was staged in the name of elections in more than a thousand booths in the third phase. No action came about even after informing the Special Observers. It is still not clear what the decision of the EC will be regarding the booths where we have demanded re-polling. But one lesson must be learnt from this - to efficiently report complaints with supportive evidence to the EC, and to organize protest and resistance among the people of the locality concerned. This is our main task.
Question: The Chief Minister herself has brought allegations of conspiracy against the EC. She has repeatedly been clubbing the EC along with her political opponents; she claims that you people have been collaborating with the EC to organize a conspiracy against her.
Answer: This is a fascist tendency. One of the main markers of such a fascist trait is to create a non-existent power to orient its wrath at, combined with constant conspiracy theories against a unified and all powerful opposition. We have been noticing this trait in our present CM, continuously. She has specifically named and attacked individual media persons. She has at various times accused the Human Rights Commission, the National Women’s Commission and State Election Commission of conspiracy, just like fascists who choose different targets at different points of time. History also tells us how fascism always chooses its own leadership from a character who is excessively suspicious of everyone and everything – a person who is scared of treading his/her own shadow. They are often victims of megalomania. Notably, the person who the Sangh Parivar has chosen as its leader for the entire country actually represent similar tendencies like the CM of West Bengal in this regard.
Question: Recently the CM has highlighted certain incidents like smoke coming out of the AC in her hotel room and an “explosive” found on the road to Birbhum as conspiracies to kill her. Would you also call these fascist delusions?
Answer: Of course. She was in a room of her choice in Maldah. She’s scared even of the smoke from an AC in a hotel she herself favours. More importantly, by making these irresponsible statements she directly instigated the murder of Comrade S K Hiralal by TMC workers. This is where the danger lies.
Question: You have repeatedly complained of the TMC and the State Government’s role in the Chit Funds. Recently the Enforcement Directorate of the Central Government has sent notices to certain TMC leaders and questioned them. Will this affect the election?
Answer: We have been warning people of the dangers of Chit Funds long before, for almost 3 years now. We issued warnings much before the fund collapsed. Right after the last assembly elections we sent letters on behalf of the Left Front informing the Prime Minister, the President and the Union Finance Minister, of this danger. Finally, after being reprimanded by the Supreme Court the concerned departments are now waking up to the issue. The Chief Minister, however, seems even more desperate to hush up the entire issue. She is evidently more concerned in protecting the interests of the accused rather than the victims of the scam. She is being earnest to get rid of the evidence relating to the case. This was totally obvious in the incident concerning the Saradha bank locker. The Police are being used maliciously to take revenge on Gautam Deb and Sujan Chakraborty. All this won’t do her any good – the people are watching everything, and it is wrong to underestimate their intelligence. We will in time find out what the results of the Saradha case in the Supreme Court will be. But we are confident that the ‘people’s supreme court’ will rule against the culprits.
Question: Even Narendra Modi is speaking against the TMC on the Saradha issue now…
Answer: The people of West Bengal have no need of Narendra Modi. It’s taken him so long to hear of the Saradha scam! Didn’t he know when he came to the Brigade ground four months ago? Then he was busy tempting people with laddus. The Leftists will have to fight against the Saradha scam in Bengal; Modi will do better to try to manage the corruption practiced by his party’s Yeddyurappa.
Question: Has the autocracy, corruption and other failings of the TMC government become the central focus of the Left Front’s campaign in Bengal? This being a Lok Sabha election, aren’t national issues more important than the issues of the state?
Answer: In the Left campaign the national and state issues are not seen as completely distinct. These two are fundamentally linked to each other. We are telling people to reject the anti-people policies of the Congress and the dangerous communalism propagated by the BJP, and we have given a call to build a non-Congress non-BJP secular democratic pro-people alternative. We have outlined a ten point alternative program. But if the Left is not strengthened how will any alternative remain committed to protect the interests of the common people? The strength of the Left is going to determine how much importance the new government would assign to these alternative policies, and how far it will take remain pro-people. And to reinforce the strength of the Left we must fight the TMC misrule in Bengal and deliver a decisive blow to send the maximum possible number of Left candidates to the Parliament. Only then can the Left truly become the third power. West Bengal is a fortress of the Leftist movement, it also has a large share of Lok Sabha Seats and so Bengal has a great responsibility to strengthen the Left throughout the country. This is how we are moving ahead with our campaign.
Question: At the beginning of this year before the TMC’s brigade you had challenged Mamata Banerjee to clarify her stand against the BJP. In that meeting she had said nothing against the BJP. At that time Narendra Modi had also held a meeting at the Brigade where he said nothing against the TMC. But what will you say now - now that the CM has also started speaking against the BJP?
Answer: The Chief Minister is actually somewhat compelled to say whatever she has been saying against the BJP recently, at the very end of the election campaign. This is her way of playing to the gallery, trying to confuse the people. She brought the BJP to West Bengal in the first place. She sent flowers to the same Narendra Modi who she recently called ‘Haridas Pal’. It must be noted that she has not once expressed regret on her previous stand. She has not once committed herself not to support the RSS or the BJP in the future. Narendra Modi notoriously has never regretted the mass homicide in Gujarat under his own leadership. His stand is somewhat as follows – “Let the court hang me, but I will not apologise.” Here our CM’s stand is exactly like that of Modi. They are both equally adamant about not admitting to their wrongdoings.
1st May 2014