Three Men And A Party

One can't quite call it the beginning of the end. But the formation of the Party for Social Democracy (PSD) by cpi(m) dissidents Subhas Chakravarty, ideologue Samir Putatunda and former MP Saifuddin Choudhury has given the Left Front a jolt of sorts on the eve of assembly polls in West Bengal.

It was a growing pocket of dissidence the party didn't take seriously. The trio had raised the banner of revolt but didn't yet constitute a coherent bloc. Each of them was driven by his own compulsions. And so, the cpi(m) leadership considered it sufficient to suspend Choudhury's membership (Marxspeak for expulsion) and at the same time continue a dialogue with the others.

Choudhury's grudge took root when he was sidelined for having proposed a tie-up with the Congress rather than V.P. Singh's National Front (of which the bjp was a constituent) in 1989-90, contrary to the Left Front's strategy. Out he went from the party central committee and later from Parliament as well. He expected an honourable rehabilitation when the cpi(m) gravitated towards the Congress at the Centre after the bjp came to power. But it didn't happen.

Chakravarty, cornered by lesser lights in North 24 Parganas, was denied his due importance in party and government, despite his following and abilities. Disgruntled, he mobilised dissidents at the grassroots before speaking out against the leadership, especially on economic issues. Hobnobbing with the Congress a bit too often, he seems to have invited his own exit.

Putatunda, whose book Egiye Chalar Pathe (As We Go Ahead) figured prominently in the party stalls at the 2000 book fair, admits his enduring faith in democracy. He and Choudhury felt the cpi(m) was practising social democracy in the garb of revolutionary rhetoric, and favoured a clearer policy statement in the post-Gorbachev period.

And so the ground was laid for the emergence of psd. What does its formation mean for the Left Front electorally? Senior cpi(m) leaders are dismissive of the new party, but alarm bells have begun ringing. In the 294-strong assembly, at least 30 seats are won by small margins of 500 to 2,000 votes. With their clout, if the pds candidates contest these seats in adjustment with the Congress, they can win five or six of them and perhaps affect the outcome in 20-25 others. Moreover, former party insiders attacking the functioning of the cpi(m) in poll campaigns will pack an extra punch.

So is there reason for Mamata Banerjee to celebrate? Not directly, maybe. The pds has announced it would never support the Trinamul/bjp. But the situation is obviously fluid. The pds might conceivably be willing to help the LF out of a hole in a post-election crunch. Alternately, indeed likelier, it could prove a source of discomfort for the Left—if it goes trucking with the Congress.

Retribution came first for Choudhury for a simple reason: he was the weakest of the trio; the mid-sized crowds at his Jana Chetana Manch rallies were mostly herded together for his benefit by Chakravarty. Despite public disclaimers, the trio had maintained contact. But even as the cpi(m) struck against Choudhury, it was wary of touching Chakravarty and Putatunda, given their strong mass base and nuisance potential. This invited ridicule from people, other parties as well as dissidents. Where men like politburo leader Nripen Chakravarty were thrown out simply because of criticising Jyoti Basu's ways, and others weren't even given a chance for self-defence, the Bengal cpi(m) remained stoically silent even as Chakravarty accused party members of being "half-literate men, much like cattle, goats or sheep", and the party of "never taking up the cause of unorganised labour".After Basu's exit, Chakravarty had openly breached party discipline and the cpi(m)'s double standards in dealing with indiscipline became a matter of public discussion.

Observer Charubrata Ray feels the cpi(m) went soft on the dissidents only for self-preservation. "Despite its national stature, the cpi(m) derives its strength from Bengal. Its leaders dread the possibility of losing in Bengal. Even if the leaders have to swallow insults, it can be explained as a necessary pre-electoral tactic. If the Left wins the 2001 elections, the position of the dissidents will be very vulnerable."

Putatunda, a district committee secretary, who on February 13 had assured Basu he wouldn't quit the cpi(m), broke his word a week later, eliciting taunts of being "a cia agent and a wrecker of party unity". "Even Basu couldn't save us from harassment," said his wife Anuradha, also a party member. Mrs Subir Choudhury, cpi(m) member, was asked to divorce her husband for joining the pds. Chakravarty's son, who isn't in politics, too is heckled regularly by cadres.

For the moment, clearly, the cpi(m)'s priority is to ensure that dissidence is contained, the rebels isolated and efforts made to lift the morale of the average party worker. In short, it's a task cut out for chief minister Buddhadeva Bhattacharya.