Successive election debacles in the state and political isolation at the national level over the N-deal has put the CPI(M) in West Bengal in a quandary
KOLKATA: Successive election debacles in the state and political isolation at the national level over the N-deal has put the CPI(M) in West Bengal in a quandary on whether to pursue with its aggressive industrialisation campaign or not.
A majority of CPI(M) leaders in Bengal prefers the party to maintain a low key on the industrialisation issue for the time being.
A senior state committee leader admitted that the party failed to preempt the adverse sentiment that has developed over the acquisition of land for industry. “In most cases, the opposition had been able to mislead the people, the impact of which was felt in the polls. Our failure was that we could not preempt the negative sentiment that the opposition has been able to develop in the minds of the people. So we should be cautious and accelerate our public relations exercise further rather than going for aggressive campaigning on particular issue. We should urgently consider the present trend as the probable deciding factor in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
He admitted that the leadership also failed to estimate the extent to which the minority community was misled by the opposition, and their votes became a major deciding factor both in panchayat and municipality elections.
The national-level isolation of the CPI(M) over the Indo-US nuclear deal also has the pro-industry lobby in the party on its toes. Deteriorating relations with the Union government might spell uncertainty for many industrial projects which are awaiting final clearance from it.
The immediate impact would be on the proposed chemical hub at Nayachar in east Midnapore. The original site for the chemical hub was Nandigram, which was later changed to Nayachar, following protests.
r_sumanta@dnaindia.net
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