25

Mar

1:42pm
Akash Chatterjee India
Assembly 2021:  Can the Left become the proverbial dark horse in West Bengal?

Assembly 2021: Can the Left become the proverbial dark horse in West Bengal?

Akash Chatterjee India//1:42pm, Mar 25th '21

The state of West Bengal is heading towards one of the most crucial assembly elections in recent year. Earlier, it was presumed that this election would be quite a bi-polar election, where two main forces, the ruling Trinamool Congress and the anti-incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party, would be at the centre of political actions. However as the state nears the election, left forces have emerged as a third political option in the state and many people are hoping to witness a triangular electoral battle.

In the upcoming election, the Left Front will not fight alone. Keeping electoral arithmetics in mind, the Left Front has joined forces with the Indian National Congress and the newborn Indian Secular Front founded by a Muslim cleric turned politician, Peerjada Abbas Siddiqui. This newly formed coalition can be vital in the upcoming election. The people of Bengal have witnessed the tenure of Mamata Banerjee for the last 10 years. Tired of severe corruption by her administration, they are seeking a better option in the upcoming election. This thrust towards betterment led them to vote for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. However, the situation has undergone a major shift within one year. Many corrupt leaders from the ruling Trinamool Congress have defected to the anti-incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party. The latter has provided them with electoral seats which led to political clashes and violence among their party members. The unusual hike in the price of necessary commodities and other products have also infuriated the people of Bengal. During lockdown, the leftists took to the streets to combat the economic impact of the pandemic. They undertook initiatives such as 'Sramajibi Canteens', where the poor could have meals at a very nominal price. During the time of the Cyclone Amphan, the left forces brought the people necessary relief. They have been vocal about the economic conditions of the middle class as well as the working class and migrant labourers. Sephologists are of the opinion that these actions can benefit the left in the upcoming election.

The candidates' list of the left has also surprised many. In West Bengal, the Left Front was often criticised for not promoting young and new faces in the frontline. But this election seems to be an exception. The left has a lot of young faces, active in student and youth politics, having excellent oratory skills to bout. These faces can be the trump card for the left in this election. Shuvam Banerjee, the national president of the AISF, the student wing of the Communist Party Of India, is one of the many prominent faces. Shuvam has multiple identities. He is a staunch orator, a brilliant student of Calcutta University, but above all, he is an excellent organiser of his party. This election, he is fighting from the Sonarpur South assembly, a place he is well acquainted with. He was the person who took care of community kitchens in some areas of South 24 Parganas. He provided emergency relief to many Amphan devastated areas in the district. Shuvam was the first person to introduce red flags in the state of Arunachal. This person can be one of the dark horses for the left in the upcoming election. Besides Shuvam, the ex-president of the JNU student union Aishi Ghosh will fight from Jamuria. Another JNU activist Dipsita Dhar, Jadavpur alumni Srijan Bhattacharya, Pritha Taa, the daughter of the martyr CPIM worker Pradip Taa will also contest this election from the CPIM.

If the new faces of the Left Front bring hope, the recent nationwide performance of the left in elections offer more optimism for the leftists. The popularity, both the CPI and CPIM are gaining from the national field, will surely help them contest this election.In recent times, CPI won 12 out of 13 seats in Moga Municipality in Punjab. Winning an entire municipality in a state, where leftists are not a primary force will boost their confidence in the Bengal election. Along with Bengal, the CPI has a good organisational hold in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. In Kerala, the party is a determining factor in the Left Democratic Government with 19 seats, the second largest in the state. In Tamil Nadu, CPI has 2 MPs in the Lok Sabha. In the BJP ruled Karnataka, the party has won 56 Panchayats in recent times. The CPIM has also defeated their opponents in the recent Panchayat and Municipality election in Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan led Left Democratic Front government is seeking to win political power in the state once again. In Karnataka, the party has won 231 Panchayat seats. It can therefore be said, the left forces are on the rise again, in both regional and national politics. The Bengal election, as well as the election in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, will be their litmus test.

Myth and reality of the trade war with China
Jerry Grey China//11:03pm, Aug 5th '23

Myth and reality of the trade war with China

Trade War: What Trade War?We're all buying into the myth of a trade war with China, or China is isolated from the global community but it just isn’t true, no matter what the headlines say, the truth....

Read More
On Dialectical and Historical Materialism: Part 3
Turner Roth USA//12:22am, Apr 25th '23

On Dialectical and Historical Materialism: Part 3

Lessons learnt from practical applicationRead the part 1 and part 2 of this article.StalinLet us turn now briefly to consider a text written almost a hundred years after the Communist Manifesto first appeared:....

Read More
A Military Theory of the Ukranian Army, Its History, Strengths, And Weaknesses During the ‘‘SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION’’ of 2022
Luis Lazaro Tijerina USA//12:12am, Jun 25th '22

A Military Theory of the Ukranian Army, Its History, Strengths, And Weaknesses During the ‘‘SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION’’ of 2022

Part 2 ...link to Part 1 III. Observations on the Red Army and the Relationship between Soviet Russia and UkraineAccording to the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine, during the Second World War, 4.5 million....

Read More
Desmond Tutu's timeless wisdom- on oppression and solidarity
Sumedha Chatterjee Ireland//4:11pm, Dec 27th '21

Desmond Tutu's timeless wisdom- on oppression and solidarity

“I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place.....

Read More
Most of The Canadian Left Smears China to Deflect from our Colonial History of Genocide
Aidan Jonah.Canada //3:35pm, Jan 24th '21

Most of The Canadian Left Smears China to Deflect from our Colonial History of Genocide

The dominant image of China pushed by Canadian media figures is that of an evil imperialist nation. If you had of asked me what I thought of China when I was first starting up The Canada Files, I would’ve....

Read More
An Analysis of the US Presidential Election and the Question of Foreign Policy
Luis Lazaro Tijerina USA//11:50pm, Dec 4th '24

An Analysis of the US Presidential Election and the Question of Foreign Policy

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.— Turkish Proverb I. The Majority Defines the National Character Americans are an odd and dangerous people.....

Read More