Elections for the West Bengal assembly end today. The most striking feature of the run-up to the pole was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee shaking hands and hoping that the alliance between the CPIM and the Congress in the state will win the elections. Bhattacharjee is no longer a part of his party’s central leadership. CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury seemed a bit uninterested. The two parties however held joint rallies under CPI(M ) leader Suryakanta Mishra and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhury. The CPI (M) central leadership is ambivalent because of the Kerala poll scenario. It is a bit incongruous- Congress being an ally in West Bengal and a main adversary in Kerala. What is the difference between seat adjustments and an alliance? In West Bengal, some party leaders of the CPIM have indeed showed reluctance to be ‘bhai-bhai’ with old enemies- the Congress.
The alliance is of course a marriage of convenience prompted by recognition of the fact that neither party can take on the Trinamool Congress on its own. The lesson of the Bihar Mahajot against the BJP had sunk into West Bengal also. Even the other day party leaders like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Biman Bose were against an alliance as the rivalry went back decades. On the other hand, the Trinamool Congress had worked in alliance with the Congress in the recent past. Whether the Trinamool or the CPI (M) Congress alliance wins- the former seems unlikely- it is clear that defeat will split the alliance. Only victory can produce something like a minimum common economic programme.
