The Left Swings Right

With the party in the doldrums, the CPI(M) cadre turn to the BJP to take on a marauding TMC

- Romita Datta

For many years now, in Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal, it’s been a crime to be a communist. Even a slight leftward tilt can have an unthinkable backlash—Jagannath Mahato in West Midnapore wasn’t allowed to till his farm; Santan Basuli, a marginal cultivator here, was warned against harvesting his sesame crop; another farmer had to pay Rs 35,000 to get back the keys to his own house.

Their only fault was that they professed to being Leftists, says CPI(M) area committee member Mahasish Mahato, who recently supported the BJP candidate in wresting the Manickpara panchayat in West Midnapore from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). It’s not the official CPI(M) line, he admits, but a welling hatred of the TMC among the Left cadre overrules all else. For five long years since the 2013 panchayat polls, Left supporters have been denied any benefits from central schemes. They’ve even lost their ration cards, says ex-party MP from Jhargram, Pulin Behari Baskey.