RED SHOOTS RISING
THE WEEK India|May 19, 2024
CPI(M) hopes its fiery young candidates will usher in a left renaissance in West Bengal
NILADRY SARKAR
RED SHOOTS RISING

Srijan Bhattacharya, the CPI(M)’s 31-year-old candidate in Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, is all fired up. “This will be the new left,” he says. “We will talk in today’s lingo, but we will not dilute our politics. The content remains the same, but the form is changing for good.”

Bollywood punchlines have been helping Bhattacharya connect with crowds at poll rallies. At a rally organised by the CPI(M)’s youth wing at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground, he borrowed a line from Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan. “Baap ko hath lagaane se pehle bete se bat kar (Talk to the son before touching the father),” he said, eliciting a thunderous response from the audience.

Bhattacharya is one of the eight candidates who are aged below 40 that the CPI(M) has fielded in West Bengal. Of the 30 candidates that the Left Front has fielded as INDIA bloc candidates in the state, 22 are from the CPI(M). Only four of them are above 60.

This appears to be a decisive shift from the party’s long tradition of favouring old hands in electoral politics. Perhaps, what held a mirror up to the party were the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly polls. On both occasions, the party had drawn a blank.

The CPI(M) had fielded a few young candidates in 2021, but none of them made a big impact. But, three years since, the young leaders have the ability and experience to make voters take notice of the left’s poll agenda.

この記事は THE WEEK India の May 19, 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は THE WEEK India の May 19, 2024 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

THE WEEK INDIAのその他の記事すべて表示
War Over Wounded Earth
THE WEEK India

War Over Wounded Earth

For the BJP andthe Congress, the ravaged farmlands of Vidarbha represent a cxitieal battleground in their larger struggle to win Maharashtra

time-read
9 分  |
November 10, 2024
Say no to continual elections
THE WEEK India

Say no to continual elections

Following the recommendations of a high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind to streamline the widely scattered schedule of national, state and local elections, the Union cabinet has reportedly approved two constitutional amendment bills for likely introduction in Parliament. Predictably, the return of the ‘one nation, one election’ issue to news has set off a flurry of objections by several opposition leaders.

time-read
2 分  |
November 10, 2024
Fabulously, fashionably funny
THE WEEK India

Fabulously, fashionably funny

The third season of the Karan Johar-produced Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives dropped on Netflix, but articles criticising the show appear in some news site or the other almost daily. If it is so bad, why keep writing about it? And if it is so bad, why would the superpowers at Netflix, who are harder to meet than the prime minister, commission the show season after season?

time-read
2 分  |
November 10, 2024
All in the family
THE WEEK India

All in the family

The Chitaras have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi through generations for more than 400 years now

time-read
6 分  |
November 10, 2024
Raise a toast to Vidya Balan
THE WEEK India

Raise a toast to Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan is a New Year baby. At 45, she is aglow in the most beautiful way, having won the hearts and admiration of countless fans across the world, who watched the supremely talented actor take a public tumble on stage at a high-profile promotional event recently, sharing the platform with no less a dancer than the eternally graceful Madhuri Dixit.

time-read
2 分  |
November 10, 2024
Death no bar
THE WEEK India

Death no bar

Being alive is not a legal requirement to be elected president of the United States

time-read
2 分  |
November 10, 2024
The Lotus POTUS
THE WEEK India

The Lotus POTUS

You should visit us one of these days— there is so much excitement in our USA! No, I don’t mean the famous USA—the Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association of Mumbai.

time-read
3 分  |
November 10, 2024
RAY OF HOPE
THE WEEK India

RAY OF HOPE

Actor and cancer survivor Lisa Ray talks to oncologist Dr Jame Abraham about inner strength and her surrogacy journey

time-read
5 分  |
November 10, 2024
LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK
THE WEEK India

LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK

AT THE WEEK Health Summit, Siddharth Bagga, head (retail, CPG and health care), Google Cloud, elaborated on the significant work that Google has been doing in health care through artificial intelligence (AI).

time-read
2 分  |
November 10, 2024
PRESSURE POINTS
THE WEEK India

PRESSURE POINTS

Author and MP Shashi Tharoor and motivational speaker Gaur Gopal Das on how to find healing and meaning in today's world

time-read
2 分  |
November 10, 2024