New Delhi, Apr 4 (PTI) The upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal could see a “revival” of the Left, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said on Saturday, adding that he would not speculate about outcomes.
As his party gears up for polls along with the Left Front in the state, Bhattacharya told PTI in an interview that he expected the vote share of the Left to go up, while dismissing concerns over the Congress’ decision to fight separately.
“We are looking at some prospects of Left revival in Bengal. I am not going to speculate about any number of seats,” he said. “But first of all, in terms of vote share, because the Left vote share is now in single digit, it has come down to below 10. If you have to check the BJP’s growth in Bengal, the Left will have to recover.” Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation [CPI(ML) Liberation] is contesting 10 constituencies across West Bengal with support from the Left Front.
Highlighting the significance of the arrangement with the Left Front, Bhattacharya said ideological differences with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] remain, but cooperation has become necessary.
“We have a lot of differences with the CPI(M); that’s why we are not part of the Left Front. We are an independent communist party. But we are cooperating with them for this common purpose of bringing about some Left revival in West Bengal,” he said.
Referring to the historically fraught relationship between the two parties, he said it is improving. “There was a by-election before this where the CPI(M) for the first time had supported us. This time around, it will be on a slightly larger scale. My reports are that the level of understanding, participation and mutual cooperation are probably better; it’s improving,” Bhattacharya said.
“Let’s hope that just as we cooperate in many other forms of struggle for many issues, we can also cooperate in the electoral arena,” he said.
On the BJP’s prospects in the state, Bhattacharya said the party is making an aggressive bid for power.
“BJP is really very, very desperate to grab power in Bengal. It is not just psychological warfare, they are actually making a serious bid to grab power,” he said, while expressing hope that voters would “once again be able to reject” the saffron party’s attempt. He also raised concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that the process could disenfranchise eligible voters.
“SIR in Bengal looks way worse than it was in Bihar… A lot of new categories, for example, this whole logical discrepancy, this under-adjudication, now things being sent to a tribunal, and even the way the Supreme Court is saying that even if somebody can’t vote in this election, they can vote in future elections…,” he said.
“Voting right cannot be deferred. There is no question of people’s voting right being kept in some kind of a bank locker; this is for immediate exercise,” he asserted.
The CPI(ML) leader further called it a mockery of democracy.
“This is definitely something new, it has never before happened in any election in India,” he added.
On the Congress choosing to fight separately, Bhattacharya said he was unsure about the extent of its impact on the Left’s prospects. “I am not too sure whether the votes actually get transferred. The Congress has its own pockets of influence, so let’s see how it shows up,” he said.
Outlining the party’s strategy in other poll-bound states, Bhattacharya said CPI(ML) will contest selectively in Kerala. “We are just contesting three seats. Elsewhere, we are extending general support to the LDF,” he said, adding that candidates include grassroots activists, including those involved in land struggles.
In Tamil Nadu, he said the party is planning to contest around 14 seats.
“Again, this is on the basis of our trade union struggles; and where we are not contesting, we are extending general support to the DMK-led coalition,” he said.
On Assam, Bhattacharya described the electoral environment in the state as highly polarised and expressed apprehension about the nature of the conduct of the polls.
“Assam — it is not going to be a free and fair election,” he said.
Citing the impact of administrative processes and earlier exercises, he said, “Even though there has been no SIR as such, the impact of NRC and whatever review has taken place has clearly left a lot of people exclude. There have been demolitions, terror and hate campaign.” He said he hoped voters would vote out the government led by Himanta Biswa Sarma. “I am still hoping that the people are able to get rid of this government because in Assam, communal hate as well as corporate loot — both are rampant,” he alleged, adding that the outcome would depend on whether people can overcome the prevailing polarisation. PTI AO PRK
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