Out of sight, but not out of mind: For CPI(M), Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee still the go-to person
“Only Leftists can resist the anti-people, repressive, and undemocratic governments at the Centre and in our state,” read the message. “Our DYFI workers are fighting every day against all odds in this state. I salute you and wish you the best in your fight. Best wishes to all the delegates in this conference.”
This was former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s statement to the delegates of the 11th All India Conference of the CPI(M)’s youth wing DYFI, or the Democratic Youth Federation of India, on Saturday. The four-day conference began in Kolkata on May 12.
For a party that is now looking to gain a toehold in the state after over a decade of continuous electoral reverses, getting Bhattacharjee to address its youth workers is an interesting choice, given that the 78-year-old former chief minister has been ailing for the past few years and mostly stayed away from public limelight since leaving office in 2011. This is not the first time the party has relayed Bhattacharjee’s message to its cadre. It had played his audio message at the Brigade Parade Ground rally before the Assembly elections last year.
CPI(M) functionaries said the Left had always had mass leaders on account of its participation in various movements since Independence. Former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu was an iconic leader who towered over the state’s political landscape for three decades and after he stepped back from politics in 2000, Bhattacharjee emerged as the CPI(M)’s face. Under his leadership, the Left Front comfortably won the 2001 and 2006 Assembly elections.
“His visionary statements, simple life, a cultural background, and honest image helped him become the perfect substitute for Jyoti Basu,” said a veteran CPI(M) leader. “The party has had leaders like Anil Biswas, Biman Bose, Surjya Kanta Mishra, and Rabin Deb, but none with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s heft.”
Many in the CPI(M) leadership believe the party’s decline has been the result of its failure to find leaders with the mass appeal of Basu or Bhattacharjee. Said a party leader, “Not only does Buddha babu have the image of an ordinary and honest leader, he also delivered as a chief minister. During his time, Kolkata saw real industrialisation in the services and IT industry. The young generation expected that after the completion of Singur and other proposed industries, the scenario will change in Bengal. But, that did not happen. Still, a majority of Bengalis believe that Buddha babu had the vision and honesty to deliver. No other CPI(M) leader has that credibility.”
The party has been trying to push young leaders to the fore but without much success. In the Assembly elections last year, the youth comprised 60 per cent of the party’s candidates — including DYFI state secretary Minakshi Mukherjee in Nandigram against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari — but the party was trounced. The Left failed to win a single seat.
During the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the youth workers of the Left formed a group called “Red Volunteers” to help people facing emergencies. The group earned praise all over, especially on social media, but its efforts were not enough to translate into substantial votes for the Left in the civic polls that followed in the following months. According to a section of the CPI(M) leadership, this happened because the party does not have a popular and credible face in the state.
A youth leader said it was not enough to bring in fresh faces when there is no leader with the stature of someone like Bhattacharjee. “To increase the party’s credibility, we still need to show Buddha babu. After he refused the Padma Bhushan, his credibility as a Communist leader increased.”
The newly elected DYFI all-India general secretary Himaghnaraj Bhattacharya said, “We never forgot our heritage. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is our first all-India general secretary. In 1967, when four youth organisations merged to form the DYFI, he was our leader. So, we cannot forget him. He also made us see the vision of industrialisation and employment. No doubt that his message will give us extra power.”
For the Left’s rivals, bringing back the former CM to the political stage, if even through an audio message, is a sign of the CPI(M)’s political bankruptcy and shows they have no young leader who can take the party forward.
Senior Trinamool Congress leader and state minister Firhad Hakim said, “The CPI(M) has no iconic leader right now. Since its defeat in 2011, it has not had such a leader. The last iconic leader in the CPI(M) is Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. So, the CPI(M) thought if they could show Buddha babu’s message that will make a difference to their workers.”
BJP leader Samik Bhattacharya accused the CPI(M) of “playing a desperate partisan and communal role since the past year to capture the minority vote bank”. He added, “To suppress that image, they are using Buddha babu, who has a comparatively clean image and had an acceptance among middle-class, educated Bengalis. But, this has exposed their political bankruptcy.”
