MM
On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 12:56 PM, ravi <ravi at platosbeard.org> wrote:
>
> A very quick analysis/response (sent to me a few days ago) from a friend in
> India, regarding the election results and the CPI:
>
> So, first the performance in Kerela is not that shocking since Kerela has
>> a history of swinging from election to election between the UDF (cong+) and
>> the LDF (cpim+). However, even in Kerela there has been unprecedented
>> factionalism this time around which contributed to the results.
>>
>> Now for Bengal which has been the real shocker, we need to go into a
>> little bit of history. See, the left front came to power in 1977 and started
>> in earnest the land reforms. It is now universally accepted that the breadth
>> and depth of land reforms and support for local self govt (panchayati raj)
>> which was carried out in West Bengal still are without precedence anywhere
>> else in the country and this brought real improvements in standard of living
>> for the rural poor in West bengal. However, the benefits of those have now
>> become the norm for the rural poor in WB and as is to be expected they now
>> demand for a further improvement in their standard of living. Also, after 30
>> years, we are now in the 2nd or 3rd generation from the generation which got
>> the land and hence the plot per individual has now gone down to 1/4 to
>> 1/16th of the original plots allocated resulting in stagnation or lowering
>> of the standard of living of the rural poor. Hence, the left front realized
>> that in order to meet the aspirations of its base it needs to aggressively
>> start the process of industrialization of the state. Hence the courting of
>> Tatas, etc.
>>
>> However, this is where the problems begin. As you would expect, big
>> business would extract its pound of flesh in return for coming to the state,
>> especially when other states are falling one over the other to attract big
>> business, giving them all kinds of sops and expropriating land from the
>> politically disorganized rural and tribal people with full media support.
>> So, when the Tatas and other were courted they made many demands like being
>> close to Kolkatta, access to highways, project approval in 6 months, etc. At
>> that time, there was a faction within the CPIM which resisted these demands
>> saying this will antagonize the base and they should go slow. However, the
>> faction in control of the West Bengal unit overruled them and decided to
>> move ahead fast without launching an education program or getting enough
>> buyin from all sections of society.
>>
>> It was claimed that the price given for the land was a multiple of the
>> market rates. Also, even landless labourers/sharecroppers were given
>> compensation which was calculated as a percentage of what they would get if
>> they actually owned the land. The claim was that the level of compensation
>> given was unprecedented compared to other parts of India, many times above
>> the market rates and interest income from the lumpsum would actually be
>> equal to or more than the yield on the land. However, this was done in a
>> hurry without launching proper buyin programs from the people. Looking back
>> this is a historic blunder!!! A party claiming to be a revolutionary
>> people's party cannot and should not take unilateral decisions without
>> people's consent. Also, a section of well off farmers which can afford
>> industrialized and consolidated modern agriculture may actually stand to
>> lose due to this and they were at the forefront of the Nandigram movement
>> which was eventually hijacked by Mamata, the Naxalites and the press.
>>
>> Though the issues in two state are completely different, IMO there is a
>> common thread between the two. I think the previous generation in CPIM top
>> leadership used to be far more radical and militant - think about EMS,
>> Ranadive, Gopalan, Pramod Dasgupta, etc. The current generation has somehow
>> got lost in parliamentary politics and at least diluted the revolutionary
>> character. To say that Karat erred in pulling his support due to the nuclear
>> deal is wrong, if anything I would argue that the opposite is true - there
>> is a need to be far more militant. Also, the fact that a revisionists like
>> Somnath Chatterjee can rise so high in the party and the factionalism in the
>> Kerela unit points to deep problems within party. I think the party needs a
>> radical change in direction and purge the revisionist elements which over
>> time have crept into the party. That especially the latter is easier said
>> then done since this has become widespread especially in the West Bengal and
>> Kerela units. However, if there is hope then it is that large sections of
>> CPIM at least at the cadre level realize this and hopefully they can push
>> the leadership to take decisive action. The alternative is the party ceases
>> to be relevant and India loses its sole voice at the national level against
>> neo-liberalization.
>>
>
>
> --ravi
>
>
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