It is a rule of vendetta never witnessed before: Basu

No other state in the country can compete with West Bengal in turning political rivalry into such a fierce battle on the ground that  there is a complete division in the society and increased scale of violence.

This is because the stakes are very high. While Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not ready to lose her hard earned political power, the CPM, with a higher stake is trying to win back its bastion which it has been showcasing for over three decades.

Anil Sinha of Deccan Herald spoke to CPM’s Central Committee Member and former Rajya Sabha MP Nilotpal Basu on the governance of Mamata. Basu, a seasoned communist and ideological stalwart, says that she is ruling the state with vendetta never seen by the people before.  

Incidents in West Bengal have been attracting much media attention. There seems to be a sense of disappointment among the people over Mamata Banerjee’s governance. How do you see Mamata rule in West Bengal?

Disappointment is because of the total anti-climax that the two years of rule by the new TMC government has wrought and the results they have produced.
The central theme of the campaign for change or ‘Paribortan’ was that if she comes to power, democracy will be ‘restored’, there will be no partisanship and there will be change and not vendetta. But the last two years’ experience has been just the opposite.

Do you find any element of continuity in Mamata’s rule with that of
the Left Front’s ? Could we find any similarity? 

This is the most ridiculous question because if you compare the first two years of Jyoti Basu’s government after 1977 and the last two years of TMC rule, nothing could be more different from each other.

For example, during the first couple of years, in the first cabinet meeting the Jyoti Basu government decided to release all political prisoners - a political amnesty, including political activists and leaders who belonged to the Opposition, who belonged to the Congress and the naxalites, and  so on and so forth.

But now we find Opposition implicated in false cases and attacks on whomsoever is critical of her.

Her fight with the Election Commission has been widely reported in media. She has been very critical of its decision to hold panchayat elections. What’s your reaction to this tirade against the poll panel?

In 1978, Panchayats were established. Since then seven elections have been held. The Left Front has put forth a model of decentralisation which has been appreciated by all, including Rajiv Gandhi. Mamata Banerjee has put a full stop to the process of decentralisation. She has bureaucratized it. Officials have been given all the powers and they are ruling the panchayats. She delayed the elections. It has resulted in goons having a free run. Crimes against women have risen in West Bengal to the extent that it now has the highest number of such crimes among the states. This is a fact and has been recorded by the National Crime Record Bureau.

Mamata alleges that Maoists are being supported by the CPM. She also asserts that she alone is fighting against them. Your  take?

 One can only laugh at her claims. Maoists are fighting panchayat elections as Trinamool Congress candidates. They are the ones who have turned into Trinamool cadres. It is well known that her party was backed by Maoists.

The West Bengal Chief Minister has been taking on the Centre over
issues concerning the states. She is mobilising Chief Ministers on the issue of federalism. She also initiated a move of forming a federal front of regional parties. Will it have any impact on national politics?

She is completely clueless about national politics. Again, I will cite the example of Jyoti Basu. He never spoke only for West Bengal. He took up issues like devolution of powers to states. What is in Mamata Banerjee’s federalism?

But, she is approaching regional parties, including JDU, BJD and Jaganmohan’s party?

She seems to be desperately looking for an alliance at the national level. Don’t you think that it may have some political implication?

No one takes her seriously. BJP acted as the midwife during the birth of her party. She left BJP to join hands with Congress for assembly polls. Then,  she left Congress to join hands with BJP for Lok Sabha polls.

She again left it to join hands with the Congress. No one can depend on her. There is a resentment within her party. Her partymen have started criticising her.

Your take on the Supreme Court asking Tata  Motors to make its stand clear if Singur land should be returned to farmers? Do you see any political implication of this development?

How can I answer a hypothetical question? The Supreme Court has not given its verdict.

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