The Red Brigade’s electoral fortunes are linked with the steel industry’s performance
Special
Durgapur is riding the second steel wave. And the party, which seems to making most of it is the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Durgapur during the last election in 2001 was a town with downed shutters and laid off workers. Then the global steel boom began. The steel industry, the economic lynchpin of Durgapur, turned a money spinner. For the CPI (M), it became the biggest vote catcher. The electoral fortunes of the CPI (M) and health of Durgapur Steel Plant (DSP), a unit of the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), is almost co-terminus.
In the entire history of DSP, since its inception in the early sixties, the plant made profits in just six fiscal years —1965-66, 1977-78 and 1981-82. Significantly the next profits have come in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06. In between came pangs of shedding labour from levels of 26,000 to 16,000 at present and convincing the Centre to invest Rs5,000 crore.
“The biggest challenge for pulling DSP out from the dumps was to change the culture from a social organisation to a commercial organisation. The Left trade unions played a very responsible role in adapting to this change,” S Jayal, chief of communications, DSP, told DNA.
The change in the role of the unions was a ground level manifestation of the New Left ushered in by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.
“It was almost an andolan to convince the Centre that any investment in modernisation of DSP would not go down the drain in face of labour issues,” Mrinal Banerjee, state power minister and CPI (M) candidate from Durgapur One constituency told DNA.
Though Banerjee won by 10,000 votes in 2001, his margin was lower than in 1996 when he had won by over 17,000 votes. With the steel boom, the CPI (M) is hoping to improve its fortunes this time.
With DSP back on the rails, so too are 30 of its ancillary units and 138 small scale units. It is hardly surprising that Banerjee is sitting pretty, just days ahead of the assembly polls.
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