A Historic Anniversary

On the Occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the
Left Front Government of West BengalA Historic Anniversary

June 21, 2002 marks a historic anniversary. On this date, the Left Front government of West Bengal completes 25 years in office. The continuous rule by the Left Front in West Bengal and its outstanding record in terms of service to the people, protection of democratic rights, preservation of communal harmony and the struggle to implement alternative policies within the limitations of the existing set-up -- are an inspiring record. For any political party or coalition being in a state government continuously for 25 years would be a unique record. For a Communist Party and the Left parties to remain in office for so long in West Bengal winning a two-thirds majority in six successive elections is all the more remarkable.

Running a state government by the Left parties under a system where real power rests with the Centre and where the Congress, the BJP and other bourgeois-landlord parties have been in power, is no ordinary achievement. It was possible because the CPI(M) and the Left movement has a strong mass base and has struck deep roots among the people.

No other state government in India has tackled the land question so consistently, which is the foremost question for the bulk of the population which lives in the rural areas. No other government in India has done as much for the rural poor as the Left Front government of West Bengal.

The fact that 20 per cent of the total surplus land distributed in India is in West Bengal is a testimony to the way the state government has sincerely implemented land reform laws. Under `Operation Barga', 14 lakh (1.4 million) sharecroppers were registered for security of tenure.

The West Bengal set out the model for a democratic panchayati raj system much before the advent of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments which institutionalised the panchayati raj system. West Bengal from 1978 held five rounds of elections to the three-tier panchayat system and decentralised powers. The implementation of land reforms laid out the basis for the participation of the rural poor and the smaller peasants in the panchayat institutions.

Land reforms and the panchayati raj system has shaped the course of the rural development in West Bengal. The rural development policy of the Left Front government has been guided by philosophy of redistribution of assets before growth, to ensure growth with social justice.

The results of this policy are there for all to see. The rate of growth of agricultural production has registered a tremendous increase. In rice production, West Bengal stands first today. The living standards of the rural people had steadily gone up as a result.

The Left Front government has also shown the way for the country on the vital question of observing the secular principle of the State and maintaining communal harmony.

It is a remarkable achievement that a state, which saw communal violence and partition when a part of Bengal became East Pakistan, is today a bastion of communal peace under the Left Front government. West Bengal has a Muslim population of 25 per cent, one of the highest in the country. Yet, in the past 25 years, there were no major incidents of communal riots. This was strikingly illustrated in 1984, when anti-Sikh riots engulfed many of the cities of North India. Calcutta and West Bengal saw no such incidents.

Subsequently, when large-scale communal violence erupted all over the country during the infamous `ratha yatra' of the BJP and the demolition of the Babri Masjid, all attempts of communal mischief in West Bengal were put down with a firm hand.

Today, when the country is being ruled by the BJP-led combine from Delhi and the horrific events which took place in Gujarat are vivid in the minds of the people, the example of West Bengal where communal peace and harmony prevails is a source of inspiration to all democratic and secular-minded people.

The issue of social justice is given top priority by the Left Front government as part of its commitment to better the lot of the most oppressed sections. As far as women's rights are concerned, substantial advance has been made under the Left Front government. So far, 5.5 lakh women have been given joint or individual pattas. 55 per cent of the beneficiaries of the surplus land distributed has been scheduled caste and scheduled tribe families. It is well known that West Bengal is free from atrocities on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Incidents of which are regularly reported from many other states and recorded in the government reports.

The formation of the Left Front government in 1977 marked the end of a prolonged period of semi-fascist terror and authoritarian rule in West Bengal instituted by the Congress. Under the Left Front government, there has been restoration of democratic rights and an atmosphere where democratic political activities can take place unhindered.

The working class has been able to conduct its trade union activities and organised movements for its rights and demands. From the outset, it has been the policy of the Left Front government not to use the State machinery against the workers.

The Left Front government has, in the recent period, paid priority and special attention to the industrialisation of the state. In doing so, special attention is being paid to generate employment opportunities. This task is being undertaken in a situation where, for the last one decade, the overall policies of the Centre has been for liberalisation and privatisation. The Left Front government is fashioning policies to meet the new situation. As in the past, it will show that it is possible to implement pro-people policies, despite the policies of the Centre.

The existence of the Left Front government is a pillar for the Left and democratic movement in the country. At every crucial juncture in national politics, the Left Front government's role has been to project the Left and democratic viewpoint in a situation where major bourgeois parties are acting as agents of the big business, landlords and imperialist capital.

In the words of Jyoti Basu, who was the Chief Minister of West Bengal for 23 years: "We had a reasonable clear agenda before us when we started even though we had no model to guide us. We have been pursuing an arduous path in our efforts to consolidate the Left, democratic and secular forces. Our present experiments and experiences will help us in our longdrawn struggle to achieve the goal of people's democracy and socialism".

When we celebrate the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Left Front government, we salute the people of West Bengal and their political consciousness. 

All those who cherish the values of secularism democracy and look forward to socialism will greet the Left Front government and wish it all success in its future endeavours.

This booklet should help the reader understand the significant achievements of the Left Front government.

Harkishan Singh Surjeet

General Secretary

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

25 Years of Left Front in West Bengal

I

Rural Development

The struggles on the agrarian front have been crucial in the advancement of left movement in West Bengal. Implementation of land reforms was the priority of the governments formed under the leadership of the left in 1967 and 1969. Naturally, land reforms and rural development were on the top of the agenda when the Left Front came to power in 1977. The two most important changes brought about by the Left Front government in the countryside when it came to power were the implementation of land reforms and reorganisation of panchayats as democratic institutions of local government. These two – identified as the policy of walking on two legs – were closely inter-related and the success in one depended crucially on the success in the other. The most important

lesson learnt from the obstacles put by the central government, bureaucracy and judiciary in the attempts to implement the land reforms by the 1967 and 1969 United Front governments was that the implementation of land reforms required democratisation of local government and involvement of masses in the implementation of land reforms.

Implementation of Land Reforms

Implementation of land reforms has been one of the most important

achievements of the Left Front Government in West Bengal. It is because of the political will of the Left Front government that West Bengal, along with Kerala and Tripura, can boast of implementing land reforms most successfully in the country. The Land Reforms in West Bengal had two important components: tenancy reforms and redistribution of land. The Left Front government, with the support of Kisan Sabha and panchayats, organised a massive campaign popularly known as Operation Barga for registration of names of tenants in the land records. A constitutional amendment enacted by the Left Front government provided a permanent and heritable right to all registered tenants to cultivate the leased in land.

The second component of land reform comprised acquisition of ceiling surplus land and its redistribution among the poor and the landless. Following are some of the main features of land reforms implemented by the Left Front in West Bengal.

• Operation Barga involved registration of 1.4 million bargadars. Through Operation Barga, about 1.1 million acres of land was permanently brought under the control of bargadars and their right to cultivate the land was secured.

• In all, the government acquired about 1.37 million acres of land under the land reform legislation.

• About 1.04 million acres of the land vested by the State through the land reform legislation was redistributed among 2.5 million landless and marginal cultivator households.

• Homestead lands have been given to about 5 lakh households belonging to agricultural labour, fishing and artisan households.

• West Bengal accounts for only 3.5 per cent of agricultural land in the country. It is noteworthy that the land vested under land reform

legislation in West Bengal constitutes about 18 per cent of all land

vested in the country under land reform legislation. The land redistributed in West Bengal under land reform constitutes about 20 per cent of the total land redistributed in India.

• Dalits and adivasis were the major beneficiaries of land reforms. About 55 per cent of beneficiaries of land redistribution and 42 per cent of recorded bargadars came from these sections.

• Land reform in West Bengal was also an instrument of women’s empowerment. Over 5.5 lakh women have been given joint and individual pattas (land title deeds) under the programme.

• While the decade of 1990s saw undoing of whatever land reform

measures were undertaken in several States, West Bengal acquired an additional 95,000 acres of land under the land reform legislation and redistributed an additional 94,000 acres. These figures account for almost all the land acquired in the country in the 1990s and over 40 per cent of the land redistributed in the country in this period.

II

Reorganisation of Panchayats

Soon after coming to power, the Left Front government reorganised

the institutions of local government into a three-tier system of democratically elected bodies. This comprised grama panchayats at the anchal level, panchayat samities at the block level and zilla parishads at the district level. Seventeen years later this became a model for all States to adopt when 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments were enacted.

Following are some of the important features of the Panchayati Raj system in West Bengal.

• Since 1978, elections to the panchayati raj institutions have been

regularly held every five years. West Bengal holds the record of having the longest functioning democratic institutions of local government.

• The local bodies in West Bengal also have the distinction of having a large representation of income-poor and socially deprived sections. Dalits and adivasis have the largest and increasing representation  among all caste and social groups. Estimates of representation of landless, and marginal and small cultivators in the local bodies range from 75 to 90 per cent. Since 1995, one third of the seats and positions of chairpersons have been reserved for women.

• In the late 1990s, the Panchayat Raj system in West Bengal was further strengthened by introducing grama sansads, the general council of voters in every ward, that is required to meet twice a year with a minimum quorum of 10 per cent of voters to discuss the work done by the panchayats and utilisation of funds.

• The panchayats in West Bengal have been given a substantial share of resources and a range of responsibilities. The total divisible outlay meant for the districts reached 50 per cent of the State plan outlays in the 1990s.

• The role of panchayats in West Bengal in effectively implementing the poverty alleviation programmes has been recognised by official bodies like the Planning Commission.

The role of panchayats in changing the rural landscape in West Bengal after the Left Front government came to power cannot be exaggerated. Left Front consciously adopted the policy of using the panchayats as a platform for fighting rural vested interests and changing the correlation of class forces in favour of the working people. Panchayats played an important role in the implementation of land reforms. The local bodies in West Bengal perform civic duties and undertake developmental activities like construction and maintenance of hospitals, schools and libraries, promotion of agriculture, cooperatives and cottage industries, child welfare activities, etc. They play an important role in the local-level planning and implementation of government schemes. Panchayats in West Bengal have played an important role in activities like mobilising cooperation for improving agricultural production, management of local resources, and identification of beneficiaries for housing, poverty alleviation and social security programmes. This has made the panchayats a critical institution of local governance in the West Bengal countryside.

The fact that these institutions are democratic and have a large representation of the working people is an achievement that makes

everyone proud.

III

Rural Economic Development

Rural West Bengal was known for agricultural stagnation until the 1970s. Reports of several official committees as well as the Seventh Plan document noted the underutilisation of productive potential in rural West Bengal. Left Front's coming to power in the State was like a new dawn for rural West Bengal. The post-1977 period has seen a remarkable growth of rural economy. The change in the correlation of class forces in the favour of working people through implementation of land reforms and reorganisation of panchayats helped the State not only in overcoming the agrarian impasse but in achieving growth rates of agricultural production as were unmatched by any other State in the country. Some of the important achievements of development of agriculture and allied sectors during the period of Left Front government are as follows:

• In the post-1977 period, the foodgrain production in West Bengal grew at the rate of 6 per cent per annum, which was highest among

seventeen most populous States of India.

• West Bengal has emerged as the largest producer of rice and second largest producer of potato in the country.

• Cropping intensity in West Bengal has increased from about 136 per cent in 1980-81 to about 180 per cent in 2000-01, second highest in the country.

• Scholarly studies have reported that high agricultural growth was

characteristic of most crops and was widespread across districts.

• Economic conditions of agricultural workers have improved considerably as a result of land reforms and rise in wages. In the 1980s, the growth of agricultural wages in West Bengal was highest among all States of India. Agricultural growth in the post-1977 period also led to expansion of employment in agriculture.

• West Bengal has also improved production in other sectors of rural economy. It has the largest production of fish and fish seedlings among all India States. The development of agriculture and allied sectors has brought significant changes in the material conditions of life of people of West Bengal.

• West Bengal had the highest growth of per capita net state domestic product among all States in the country in the 1990s.

• The decline in rural poverty between 1977-78 and 1997 was highest in West Bengal among all States of India. In this period, the proportion of people below poverty line declined in rural West Bengal by 36 percentage points.

• Data show that the per capita calorie intake in rural West Bengal

increased by 184 kilocalories between 1987-88 and 1993-94. In the same period, the per capita calorie intake in rural India as a whole declined by 38 kilocalories.

• West Bengal was the only State in the country where monthly per

capita cereal consumption increased between 1972-73 and 1993-94. In all other States the consumption of cereals fell in absolute terms.

IV

Education and Health

Initiatives of the Left Front for the expansion of literacy and school

education have had to face severe obstacles. Despite these, the Government of West Bengal has undertaken several important initiatives for the expansion of literacy and primary education. The budgetary allocation for education has gone up from 12 per cent in 1976-77 to about 25 per cent in 2000-01. The number of primary schools increased from about 57 lakhs in 1978 to 1.23 crores in 1999. The government has also set up a large number of Child Education Centres. The average distance between schools and living settlements has gone down and that in opening new schools, the Left Front government has concentrated on areas having large population of dalits and adivasis. The number of teachers increased raising the average number of teachers per primary school to three in 1992. Left Front has also made every effort to improve the working conditions of teachers. The government made all school education free and started special schemes for providing textbooks to school children and uniforms to girl students. West Bengal, for example, introduced a system of no-detention or automatic promotion for the first five years of school. As a result of these, the school enrolments have gone up substantially. The Education Commission reported that the school enrolments increased by about 80 per cent between 1977 and 1992. The NSSO data show that in 1993-94 about 65 per cent of all children of age 5-14 attended school in rural West Bengal; the corresponding figure for India as a whole was 63 per cent. Rural West Bengal was particularly ahead in terms of attendance rates among girls: in West Bengal over 61 per cent girls attended school while the corresponding figure for India as a whole was only 55 per cent.

While these achievements are noteworthy, the Left Front is acutely

aware that there is much still to be desired in the area of expansion of education and has taken important steps in the recent years to attain the objectives of universal literacy and primary school education.

The government has given priority to improving the public health system of West Bengal in the recent years. Certain achievements in this sphere are of note:

1. West Bengal had the second lowest crude death rate in 1999 (7.1, the lowest being 6.4 for Kerala) among all States in India.

2. In 1999, West Bengal has the third lowest birth rate among all States of India.

3. Life expectancy at birth is about 72 years in West Bengal, which is next only to Kerala and Maharashtra.

4. Among all States, the public health system in West Bengal covers the largest proportion of the population (about 70 per cent).

It is clear that the achievements of Left Front government in the area of public health are substantial. The government seeks to build further on these achievements in the coming future.

V

Initiatives for the Socially Weaker Sections

Dalits and Adivasis

Dalits and adivasis have been the major beneficiaries of implementation of land reforms and reorganisation of local government.

As mentioned before, about 42 per cent of the recorded bargadars and 55 per cent of the beneficiaries of land redistribution were dalits and adivasis.of all social and caste groups, dalits and adivasis have had the largest representation in the panchayati raj institutions and their representation has been increasing over the years. These two major initiatives of the Left Front government have gone a long way in empowering dalits and adivasis in West Bengal.

There are also a large number of schemes designed specifically to

support dalits and adivasis. At present about 32,000 dalit students and 28,000 adivasi students are provided with expenses for living in hostels at the pre-secondary level. The government has also constructed about 240 hostels for primary and secondary students from dalit and adivasi communities and at present 7,200 students are living in these hostels. Day scholarships are provided to 1.1 lakh dalit students and 80,000 adivasi students.

Government has established a SC ST Development and Finance Corporation to support poor dalit and adivasi families by providing finance for household-based self-employment schemes. West Bengal Tribals Development Coperatives Corporation has helped form about 120 multipurpose and 2 women cooperatives. These cooperatives generated employment of the order of 80,000 labour days in 1999-2000 through organising collection of kendu leaves and shaal seeds.

Minorities

Providing social security and economic support to the minorities has been an important concern of the Left Front government. LFG has established a West Bengal Minorities Development Finance Corporation that provides loans for self-employment programmes and training to persons from minority communities to help them economically. West Bengal also provides scholarships to meritorious students from the minority communities.

Women

Women’s empowerment has been an important goal for the Left Front. The most important work done by the Left Front government

towards this end has been to give joint and individual pattas (land title deeds) to 5.5 lakh women. The State has also, in accordance with the 73rd and 74th amendments, reserved 33 per cent of the seats and posts of chairpersons in the panchayati raj institutions for women. It is, however, noteworthy that the actual representation of women exceeds one third as a number of women candidates also win in the general constituencies. At present, about 36 per cent of the gram panchayat members are women.

Also, 7 out of 17 zilla parishads have a woman sabhadhipati and 155 out of 351 panchayat samities have a woman sabhapati. Several other initiatives have been undertaken by the State for economic and social security and upliftment of women. About 50,000 women are covered under stipends for widows and aged women. About 1 lakh women have been supported through projects of the Society Welfare Board. There are a large number of cooperatives run by women: these include 210 dairy cooperatives, 66 industrial cooperatives, 29 credit societies and a large number of canteens and weaving cooperatives. In the recent years, there has been a large mobilisation of self-help groups, mainly of women, in some of the districts. Medinipur alone has about 21,000 such self-help groups.

VI

Safeguarding Democracy and Democratic Rights

The Left Front Government has made sustained and serious attempts to strengthen democratic institutions and guaranteed the democratic rights and civil liberties of the people of the state. This has been done with the understanding that deepening of democracy represents the essential precondition for advancing the interests of the toiling masses and ensuring that the fruits of development actually accrue to them.

The state had experienced 6 long years of semi-fascist terror unleashed by the Congress Central and State governments between 1971 and 1977 which was directed at liquidating the base of the C.P.I.(M) in particular and the Left in general. All democratic rights were trampled upon and any opposition to this murder of democracy was met with severe repression. 

The restoration of democratic rights was bound to a key agenda of the newly elected Left Front Government. Having been the victim of draconian laws, the Left Front Government has consistently refused to implement such laws like the NSA, TADA and POTA. Full trade union rights were restored and all sections of the people, including police personnel, regained their legitimate right to association and collective bargaining. Even more pertinent is the approach of the Government towards the struggles of the toilers. Common experience shows that in states ruled by parties of the bourgeois-landlord ruling classes, struggles of the working class, peasantry and other sections are often met with repression by the police. The Left Front Government has forbidden the police from interfering in legitimate struggles of different sections of the people. The Government has not satisfied itself with this alone and does not play the role of a bystander in the battles between the exploited and the exploiters. It brings its weight to bear in favour of the workers in negotiations and tripartite talks. Besides the strength of the trade union general democratic movement in the state, this role of the Left Front Government has also made a big contribution to significant gains made by workers and other toilers in the state over the past 25 years.

The Left Front Government has also strengthened democracy in the state by upholding the sanctity of different democratic institutions. West Bengal is one of the few states where elections to panchayats and other civic bodies have been held regularly every 5 years. West Bengal under the Left Front was the first state to reduce the voting age in elections to civic bodies from 21 years to 18 years. The thorough going land reforms carried out in the aegis of the Left Front Government have led to economic empowerment of the rural poor. This accompanied by devolution of greater powers to panchayats and the powerful mass movement led by the Left have provided the real basis for the deepening of democracy and exercise of democratic rights in West Bengal.

This burgeoning of democracy at the grassroots has not come without a price. Ruling class political parties like the Trinamul-BJP combine and the Congress as well as landlords and other rural rich have waged a relentless battle to roll back the gains made by the rural poor and done their level best to subvert the democratic process. Thousands of cadres of the Left Front parties have sacrificed their lives to foil these designs in the last twenty five years. Over 300 cadres of the Left were killed in 3 districts of the state between 1999 and 2001 while fighting the terror unleashed by goons of the Trinamul Congress.

The Left Front Government has also consistently championed anothercrucial aspect of Indian democracy. This concerns the devolution of greater financial, legislative and administrative powers to the states. The long stretch of Congress rule at the Centre saw the steady erosion of the powers of the states. This situation has deteriorated further with the coming into power at the Centre of a combination led by the BJP, a party which upholds a unitary form of government. The Left Front Government has repeatedly raised the issue of democratic restructuring of Centre-State relations in the past 25 years. In doing so it has not restricted itself to raising specific demands relating to the state alone but also tried to mobilise other state governments and parties around demands relating to strengthening of federal polity in general as well. It is this record of the Left Front Government which has led to West Bengal being justly called the advanced outpost and bastion of democracy in India today.

VII

In Defence of Communal Harmony and Rights of the Minorities

The extent to which communal harmony has been ensured in West Bengal during the 25 year rule of the Left Front can be fully understood only in the context of the escalation in communal tensions in India in the same period.This period, especially from the mid 1980s, has seen the rapid rise of communal forces, represented by the RSS-BJP and other outfits of the Hindu Right. This process has been accompanied by growing communal polarization and heightened attacks on the minorities in large parts of the country leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives. The recent State sponsored carnage of minorities in Gujarat epitomises the grave dangers inherent in the growth of communal forces. In contrast to this, West Bengal has presented a picture of communal amity and peace throughout this period. It is only the principled politics of the Left, backed by a strong secular movement among the people which has kept West Bengal away from the horrifying violence that has accompanied the growth of communalism. Maintenance of communal harmony and defence of the rights of the minorities would not have been possible without the Left Front being in power in Bengal during this trying period.

It is not as if communal forces and elements are absent in West Bengal.The opportunist role of the Congress vis-a-vis communal forces and the alliance of the Trinamul Congress with the BJP have provided scope for communal forces to extend their sphere of activities into West Bengal.

Attempts by such forces to create communal tensions and riots have not been lacking and continue till date. In the aftermath of the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi concerted attempts were made to unleash anti-Sikh riots. The late 1980s and early 1990s which saw the extensive hate campaign by the RSS-BJP and their associates, leading to widespread riots were other such occasions. In all these cases the designs of the communal forces were effectively thwarted by the firm intervention of the Left Front Government accompanied large scale mobilisation of cadres of the Left parties in defence of communal harmony and the minorities at the ground level. The continuous ideological campaign among the people for defence of secularism by both the state government and Left parties created the atmosphere in which attempts to disrupt communal harmony could be quickly and decisively defeated.

It is correctly said that protection of the interests of the minorities is the litmus test of democracy which is de facto majority rule. The Left Front has taken several steps to ensure that the minorities get their due share in development. The advance of secular and democratic practice under Left Front dispensation has provided equal opportunities for minorities, especially Muslims who constitute 24% of the state’s population. These opportunities have enabled them to launch struggles for better living standards, educational and other facilities and a life of dignity in general. Muslim peasants have received their due and proportionate share in the over one million acres of land distributed, without any discrimination. Similarly large number of Muslim peasants are among those one and a half million sharecroppers who have been registered under Operation Barga, thereby assuring them of their agricultural rights and freedom from rapacious exploitation by the landlords.

The Left Front Government has set up a specific department of Minorities Development and Welfare. Working under its aegis, the West Bengal Development and Finance Corporation has started several projects for giving loans on easy terms for self-employment to minorities. Rs. 1781lakhs were disbursed under such schemes in 2001-2002. This allocation for disbursement for the year 2002-2003 has been increased almost three times to Rs.5083 lakhs. The Government has provided financial assistance towards hostel accommodation for girls students from educationally backward sections of the minorities, besides providing similar assistance to technical/professional institutions run by organisations of educationally backward minorities and pre-examination coaching to these sections. It also sanctions stipends to minorities for training in different crafts and vocations.

The Left Front Government has made a conscious effort to promote the rights of linguistic minorities in the state. Urdu speaking Muslims constitute both a religious and linguistic minority. Keeping the cultural identity and needs of this section in mind the Left Front Government established the Urdu Academy at the same time as the establishment of the Bangla Academy. The Urdu Academy brings out a large number of publications besides providing text books at subsidised rates for students from the secondary to post-graduate stage. Effective steps have also been taken to promote the Nepali language. Another example of the Government’s commitment to meet the cultural requirements of the minorities is that of development and provision of the Alchiki script for the Santhali language.

At a time when communal forces control the levers of state power and are doing their best to promote communalism and impose their sectarian vision of a unitary form of culture, the Left Front Government stands out a worthy example of defence of secularism, communal harmony, the rights of religious minorities and the promotion of the cultural needs and aspirations of different linguistic minorities.

Left Front Govt: Bastion of Left Democratic Forces

by Prakash Karat

Published in The Marxist
Volume: 18, No. 02
April-June 2002

The existence of the Left Front government in West Bengal for 25 years is a remarkable record. The achievements during this long tenure in government is chronicled in the subsequent articles appearing in this issue. The focus of this introductory piece is to place the Left Front government in the context of the CPI(M)’s understanding on participation in state governments and its relationship with the strategy and tactics of the Party. This article also assesses the impact of the Left Front government on national politics over the last two and a half decades. The significance of the quarter century rule of a Left government which is headed by a Communist Party in a state with a population of over 80 million (the fourth largest in India) cannot be underestimated.

I

The CPI(M) has been participating in state governments for more than three decades. Prior to that, the first Communist ministry headed by E.M.S. Namboodiripad was formed in Kerala after the united CPI won a majority in the assembly elections in 1957. Based on the programmatic understanding provided in para 112 of the Party Programme, which was adopted in 1964, the Central Committee of the Party spelt out its understanding on joining the state governments in 1967 after the general elections. In its Political Report on `New situation and the new tasks before the Party’, the scope and the potential role of the state governments in which the CPI(M) would be involved were elaborated.

The Party Programme had stated that : "Even while keeping before the people the task of dislodging the present ruling classes and establishing a new democratic state and government based on the firm alliance of the working class and the peasantry, the Party will utilise the opportunities that present themselves of bringing into existence governments pledged to carry out a programme of giving immediate relief to the people. The formation of such governments will give great fillip to the revolutionary movement of the working people and thus help the process of building the democratic front."

It is this tactical direction provided in the Programme which was fleshed out by the 1967 report keeping in mind the then prevailing political situation. For the first time, the Congress party suffered a serious blow after the 1967 general assembly elections when it lost in nine states. Non-Congress state governments came into office in all these states. Of these, in two states – Kerala and West Bengal – the CPI(M) decided to participate in the united front governments which were formed.

The CPI(M) decided to participate in the united front governments in Kerala and West Bengal since the Left and democratic forces were in a predominant position. The CPI(M) decided not to join other non-Congress governments. The consideration was, whether the CPI(M) and other Left and democratic forces were in a position to influence the policies and the course of such governments. The Party did not want to tail the bourgeois parties in the non-Congress alliances, if its independent strength was minimal and inadequate.

Defining the scope of these governments, the report stated: “In a word, the UF governments that we have now are to be treated and understood as instruments of struggle in the hands of our people, more than as governments that actually possess adequate power, that can materially and substantially give relief to the people. In clear class terms, our Party’s participation in such governments is one specific form of struggle to win more and more people, and more and more allies for the proletariat and its allies as the struggle for the cause of people’s democracy and at a later stage for socialism.”

It was based on this understanding that the CPI(M) worked in the united front governments of West Bengal and Kerala. The life of these governments were relatively short. In West Bengal, the 1967 government existed for nine months followed by the 1969 mid-term elections, which saw its return and its continuation till 1970 when it was dismissed by the Central government. In Kerala, the 1967 ministry lasted till October 1969.

In this period, the Party gathered rich experience in running governments and utilising the stints in government to foster struggles and expand the class based movements. The best example is the land struggle unleashed in the 1967-1970 period when Jyoti Basu was the Home Minister and Harekrishna Konar was the Land Reforms Minister in the united front government. The struggle by the peasants to occupy the benami lands and the surplus land above the ceiling law led to nearly six lakh acres being taken over from the landlords. The ruling classes were alarmed by this development.

The Congress party which had weakened on the all-India plane after the 1967 general election hit back with renewed vigour under the leadership of Indira Gandhi after the split in the Congress in 1969. In Kerala too, the policy of "administration and struggle" saw the sharpening of the conflict with landlords and vested interests and this was reflected within the united front when an anti-CPI(M) combination, which included the CPI, arose.

It took the tumultuous years of 1970s which saw big struggles including the historic railway strike, the advent of the emergency and the defeat of authoritarianism for the reforging of Left unity to begin.

The 1967 report had talked of the role of the non-Congress governments and, in particular, the "democratic non-Congress governments" which were set-up in West Bengal and Kerala. The victory of the Left Front in June 1977 in West Bengal brought about a government comprising only the Left parties. It was not merely a democratic or non-Congress government. Further, the Left Front won a two-thirds majority getting 228 out of the 294 seats in the Assembly. The CPI(M), on its own, won an absolute majority with 177 seats.

The defeat of authoritarianism in the wake of the Emergency, the favourable national and international situation and the strength of the CPI(M) and the Left Front in the Assembly with a solid majority made it possible, for the first time, for a Left-led government to function in a stable manner in the state. These factors were the basis for a Left-led state government, for the first time, completing its full term of five years despite the severe limitations imposed on the state government under the Constitution.

The implications of the longevity of the Left Front government began to be realised gradually. The perspective set out in the 1967 report proved to be fruitful in dealing with the situation in which the united front governments functioned. These were governments with no majority for the Left and which had to face the brunt of a hostile centre and a gang up of anti-Communist forces within the two states. The formulation stated that these governments "are to be treated and understood as instruments of struggle in the hands of our people, more than as governments that actually possess adequate power that can materially and substantially give relief to the people". It correctly stressed the limitations of a state government within the constitutional structure and the necessity to use these governments as instruments of struggle. But the understanding was that these governments would be short lived. So while providing some immediate relief to the people, all efforts should be made to mobilise the people, the emphasis was on utilising the governments as instruments of struggle for winning more and more people to the side of the Party and the people's democracy. Underlying this approach was also the overall framework of the Party's understanding in the late 1960s that the struggle for people's democracy will progress rapidly given the favourable correlation of forces internationally -- an understanding which also permeated the Programme of the Party adopted in 1964.

Experience of the Left Front government in West Bengal over the years necessitated a reappraisal of this approach. This was mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the Party had to arrive at a correct conclusion about the longevity of the Left Front government. Secondly, the changed context of the international and national situation which came into being in the nineties.

Right from the outset, the twin policies of implementation of land reforms and revitalising and institutionalising the three-tier panchayat system were the basis for the advance of the CPI(M) and its political influence among the rural masses. By the end of the first term of the Left Front government, 8 lakh acres of surplus land had been distributed to the landless. In 1978, the first elections to the three-tier panchayat system were held which led to the Left Front winning 38,468 seats out of the 66,000 seats for which elections were held. The CPI(M) alone won 34,445 seats which was over 60 per cent of the seats.

Successive terms of the Left Front governments expanded and consolidated in these two areas. It is this unique record of the CPI(M) in advancing the interests of the rural poor which gave it a sound and stable mass base. The post-1977 period also proved to be different from the earlier period. The divisions in the ruling classes which were reflected in the conflicts between the bourgeois-landlord parties resulted in the Emergency, but they continued even after 1977.

The success of the Left Front in 1977 was widely seen as a victory for the democratic forces in the anti-authoritarian struggle. It was not possible for the ruling classes to isolate the CPI(M) and the emerging united Left in the manner in which it was done in the 1969-70 period. A far cry from the days when Atal Behari Vajpayee, the leader of the Jan Sangh, speaking in the Lok Sabha in 1971 demanded harsher measures against the Marxists in West Bengal, including the use of the Maintenance of Internal Security Act.

Not that there was any respite for the Left Front government from hostile attacks. Here again, it was the Congress party, which took the lead in 1980s. After the return of Ms. Gandhi to power in 1980, repeated efforts were made to create difficulties for the functioning of the state governments. The Rajiv Gandhi government from 1984 to 1989 continued with this hostile approach. Even the clearance for a petrochemical project in Haldia took nearly a decade.

Fighting the Communists provided the impetus for the Congress, the major bourgeois-landlord party, to support a variety of divisive forces. At a time when the Congress was professedly fighting such forces which threatened national unity in Punjab, Assam and elsewhere, it had no hesitation in giving tacit support to the Gorkhaland agitation which saw large scale violence and the killing of over 100 cadres and activists of the CPI(M).

The international dimension of the hostile maneouvres against the Left Front government was exposed by the air dropping of arms in Purulia in 1994 which marked a new stage in the conspiracies against the Left Front government. One of the main actors in the conspiracy, Peter Bleach, who is now serving a sentence in jail, has confirmed that the arms were meant for use against the Communist government in West Bengal. The immediate recipients being the fascistic Anand Marg which has international connections.

If the Congress Central governments and its party units in West Bengal were spearheading the anti-Communist campaign in the earlier phase, the durability of the Left Front government invited attacks from another source in the recent years. This has emanated from Trinamool Congress-BJP combine -- a formation which came into existence after the BJP assumed power at the Centre in 1998. The BJP with its visceral anti-Communism found the Trinamool an ideal instrument to rally the landlords and neo-rich elements to mount this attack.

The 1999-2000 period witnessed intense attacks, planned and sponsored by this combine. In the space of a few months in a triangular area covering parts of Midnapore and Hooghly districts, armed gangs spread terror and drove away scores of CPI(M) activists and cleansed large areas of Communist influence. This attack too was foiled and rolled back. A heavy price was paid with 300 CPI(M) and Left Front workers being killed. The assembly elections of May 2001 signalled the defeat of this latest round of conspiracy against the Left Front government.

The development of a strong base for the Communist movement in West Bengal is the best example of the creative application of Marxism to Indian conditions. Under the present set-up, State power resides in the Centre and the state governments have limited powers under the Constitution. Though called a Union of states, in practice, all the major powers of the Indian State vest with the Centre.

The innovative approach to participation in the state governments worked out by the CPI(M) on the basis of the experience gained from the time of the first Communist ministry, and of the United Front governments in the late sixties was further developed with experience of the Left Front government in West Bengal. Belying the earlier expectation, the Left Front government has lasted for two and a half decades. The formulation in the Programme adopted in 1964 that such government should provide "immediate relief" to the people cannot hold good any more. It has to be extended in the light of the achievements and progress made in various spheres. That is why, in the Programme which was updated in the year 2000, the section on the Party's participation in government talks about carrying out "a programme of providing relief to the people and strive to project and implement alternative policies within the existing limitations". Projecting and implementing alternative policies within the existing limitations has assumed greater importance given the longevity of the Left Front government of West Bengal.

A new course for rural development building upon the land reforms implemented, became essential. New social relations and aspirations existed in the rural areas. Industrialisation and urban development acquired a priority in the current phase. The small scale industries sector had made good progress but it was necessary to go into new areas with advanced technology. The democratisation of society through the strengthening of local bodies and decentralisation had to be carried forward. The quality of public education and health system had to be improved. It was not possible to run the government with makeshift policies, when the whole framework of Central policies had changed.

The context in which a more long term approach had to be devised was also different. A big change had taken place between the first fifteen years of the Left Front government and the subsequent decade. The entire world situation changed with the disappearance of the Soviet Union and the change in the correlation of forces in favour of imperialism. The impact of the imperialist driven globalisation was directly felt in India. The policies of liberalisation, accepting the neo-liberal framework set out by the IMF and the World Bank brought about a new environment in which the Left Front government had to operate.

The unfolding of this new phase of liberalisation and coping with its pernicious onslaught had to be squarely met. The CPI(M)'s framework for running the state government consisted of two aspects:

Firstly, the limited powers given under the states list of the Constitution are to be used effectively in areas like land reforms, school education, panchayat system and partially the police and labour machinery. Policies in these areas would help to expand the mass base of the Party and rally wider sections around the Left and democratic platform.

Secondly, in those areas where real power exists only with the Centre and these are the key levers of State power like the bureaucracy, financial resources, judiciary and economic policy, the state governments functions under severe limitations. Here the struggle for alternative policies have to be conducted in West Bengal as part of the all-India movement. The Central framework of policies cannot be altered, or, transcended in West Bengal alone. At the same time, policies had to be devised to protect the people's interests and livelihood.

With the advent of the liberalisation and abandonment of the old State-sponsored path of capitalist development, the policies of the Left Front government and the tactics of the mass movement had also to change. In December 1994, the Central Committee adopted a resolution on the "Role of the West Bengal Left Front government in the context of the new economic policies". The resolution stated: "Unlike in 1985, when the struggle was against the discrimination of the Centre, with its power of licensing and regulation of industry against West Bengal today with deregulation and delicensing it is upto the Left Front government to initiate steps to attract capital investment in West Bengal. This can be done only by allowing greater investment of private capital in various sectors. This is the basis on which the Left Front government has to adjust its policies in West Bengal to meet the new situation brought about by the Centre's policy of liberalisation….

"The Left Front government's policies should be in defence of the public sector in core areas, retaining the state intervention in the infrastructure development and in social infrastructure like health and education while actively canvassing for fresh capital investment in the sectors such as electronics, petrochemicals and other specialised areas which cannot be developed with government funds. In every forum where official policies are debated, the Left Front government must clearly set out the alternative policies possible in the present situation and in the long term and this should be the basis for our Party's propaganda and mobilisation among the masses."

After nearly a decade of the policies of liberalisation, the sixth Left Front government was elected in May 2001 once again with the two-thirds majority. A cabinet with Buddhadeb Bhattacharya as the Chief Minister took office. It became necessary for the Party to chalk out a more systematic approach on how to deal with the situation wherein the state government has to work within the liberalisation framework of the Central government. The steps to dismantle the public sector, reduction of public investment, cutbacks of public expenditure on public services and the social sector were all creating serious difficulties for the state government. Further, the Centre was making it contingent on the state government to implement its policies for receiving funds. The adverse consequences were being felt by the state government with the deepening fiscal crisis and the limited capacity of the state government to intervene in economic matters.

It was in this context that the state conference of the West Bengal unit of the CPI(M) held in February 2002 discussed this issue thoroughly and adopted a resolution on "Left Front government and our tasks". Streamlining government's expenditure; securing investment for new industrial projects; provision of adequate facilities for small and marginal farmers to sustain agricultural production; innovative schemes for generating employment and improvement of health and education facilities constituted some of the directives.

The Party was also enjoined with certain responsibilities to mobilise the people for effective implementation of government schemes and ensuring proper coordination between the people and the administration. A set of demands to the Central government, to ensure that the commitments made to the people were fulfilled, constituted an important part of the resolution which will form the basis for popular mobilisation and rallying other states on common demands.
Noting the circumstances in which the Left-led governments have to function, the Political Resolution of the 17th Congress of the Party stated: "Both the West Bengal and Tripura governments have to work under the severe constraints imposed by the economic policies of the Centre and the withdrawal of the State from economic activities. We should explain to the people frankly the situation and devise measures which can effectively fulfill our commitments to them."

The record of the 25 years generates the confidence that this challenge too will be met successfully by the West Bengal government. The CPI(M) is committed to the basic postulates set out in the Programme regarding the state government that it leads: Such a government will stand with the people and provide whatever relief is possible within the existing limitations; it should formulate and implement policies in a manner which is different from that of the bourgeois-landlord state governments; it will continue to mobilise the people in the struggle to implement alternative policies.

The Left Front government of West Bengal by its policies and performance can aid the struggle against the BJP-led government's policies in a big way. The Left Front government's role will immensely strengthen the all-India struggle not only against the economic policies but also in building the Left and democratic front which is essential to bring about a change in the correlation of forces.

II

The vital importance of the Left Front rule for the Communist movement in India cannot be overemphasised. When the CPI(M)-led Front won the elections for the first time in 1977, the international situation was favourable for the progressive forces in general. The national liberation struggles were at a high pitch. Vietnam has been liberated and re-unified after an epochal struggle, two years earlier in 1977. The liberation struggles in southern Africa, in Angola and in Mozambique were advancing. The socialist bloc seemed capable of thwarting the maneouvres of imperialism. From that time to now, there has been a drastic change. The Left Front government went through this whole period and witnessed the transition to a more hostile environment in 1990s. In the last decade, when the Left has been under siege internationally, the Left Front fought three state assembly elections -- in 1991, 1996 and 2001 -- and won decisively. Similarly, the Left emerged victorious in two rounds of panchayat elections involving the entire rural population held in 1993 and 1998.

At the national level, the 25 years have seen seven successive governments at the Centre and nine Prime Ministers. When Jyoti Basu first became the Chief Minister, there was the Janata Party-led coalition government headed by Morarji Desai. It was followed by the return of the Indira Gandhi led Congress government, the Rajiv Gandhi government, the V.P. Singh led National Front government (an interim six-month Chandrashekhar regime), the Narasimha Rao led Congress government, the United Front governments under Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral and finally, the BJP-led Vajpayee government since 1998.

When the country as a whole is faced with the offensive of the communal forces led by the RSS combine, West Bengal has maintained communal harmony. It is a state with a substantial Muslim minority population of 24 per cent. The Left Front government while firmly defending the rights of the minorities has also refused to compromise with fundamentalist forces for short-term gains.

It is the uninterrupted presence of a Left Front government in West Bengal that provided a constant base for the projection of a Left and democratic alternative at the national level. On every major issue -- political, economic and social -- which arose in this period, the intervention of the Left has been enhanced by the stance of the Left Front government.

The strength of the CPI(M) and the Left in West Bengal has boosted the Left profile in national politics. The bulk of the Left MPs in Parliament have come from West Bengal. The state has contributed 70 to 75 per cent of the Left members in both Houses of Parliament. It is the mainstay for the parliamentary representation of the Left.

The Left and democratic alternative policies include the implementation of land reform, decentralisation of powers at all levels, stepped up adequate State expenditure on education and health and expansion of these sectors, strengthening the public distribution system, stepped up public investment in agriculture and strengthening of the public sector in key sectors, regulating foreign finance capital flows and determining foreign direct investment according to the national priorities. In all these areas, the policies of the Left Front government working under limitations have added to the credibility of the Left's fight against the IMF-World Bank dictated path of development.

The Left Front government's firm stand in defence of secularism and refusal to compromise with the communal forces in contrast to the dubious record of various other state governments have provided teeth to the Left's consistent opposition to communal ideology and politics. In particular, the Left Front government has firmly dealt with the activities of the Hindutva forces whatever they sought to create communal tensions and threaten peace and harmony. West Bengal was able to show how communalism of various varieties can be kept in check if there is a government of firm political will to defend secularism. This is a significant achievement given the history of communal politics in the undivided Bengal before independence.

The consistent advocacy of the rights of States by the Left Front government of West Bengal has played a major role in putting the restructuring of Centre-State relations on to the national agenda. Chief Minister Jyoti Basu and his Finance Minister played an important role in the Srinagar conference on Centre-State relations held in 1983 which provided a sound basis for a federal structure. The convening, for the first time, of the Inter-States Council in 1989 by the V.P. Singh government was a concrete step in this continuing effort. The voice of the states for adequate devolution of financial resources, to halt the encroachment on states' rights was heard more effectively due to the able championing by the representatives of Left Front government in all national forums.

Time and again, it is the principled stance adopted by the Left Front government in defence of the rights of the working people which has checked the hand of the Central government when it sought to embark on legislation and policy decisions harmful to the working class and the common people. The Left Front of West Bengal has never seen itself as only the custodian of the rights of the working people of West Bengal, but of the entire country when it comes to all-India policy matters. On the rights of States, on protecting democratic rights of citizens, on decentralisation of powers upto the village level, on protecting the rights of minorities, on strengthening national sovereignty and self-reliance -- the Left Front government always spoken of on all these issues lending weight to the stand taken by the Left and democratic forces in the country.

West Bengal, under the Left Front government, also showed it is possible to take up social policies in the interests of the dalits and adivasis in such a manner as to render substantial gains to them without creating caste and social divisions. The steady advances made by the scheduled castes have not led to any upper caste backlash, nor are there atrocities against the socially oppressed sections. The polarisation created by the implementation of the Mandal Commission report and the caste based mobilisation common in other parts of the country have not affected the state. The steps taken to provide joint pattas to women and enlarge their participation in economic activities and local bodies are also noteworthy.

Another area in which the Left Front government has enhanced the prestige of the Communists and the Left forces is in the setting of high standards of integrity and probity in public life. All the ministers and the elected representatives of the Left in the state legislature as public servants have shown what needs to be done to be committed to public service. The salaries of the ministers in the West Bengal Cabinet are the lowest in the country (apart from Tripura). The salaries, allowances and perks of the legislators are the least in West Bengal. Incidentally, an MLA in Bihar receives two to three times the salary and allowances available to a West Bengal legislator. The ministers and legislators of the CPI(M) pay levy to the Party on their salaries which leaves them with incomes not much higher than that of other Party cadres. Whenever a few cases of misuse of funds by elected representatives in the panchayat system have come to light, the Party has taken firm action by removing such persons from the membership of the Party. There is no loot of public funds by the elected representatives of the Left as is normal among ruling parties in other states.

III

The key to the Left Front government's success cannot be only its policies and the performance. The record of the performance is modest in certain spheres. There is still a high degree of bureaucratic sloth which thwarts many worthwhile governmental and private initiatives. The secret of its longevity and the tenacity of the popular support for a state government severely hampered by the bourgeois-landlord system lies elsewhere. It is in the realm of people's consciousness.

No other state government has aroused such hostility in the dominant bourgeois media. The vicious campaign conducted through the years by the Ananda Bazar Patrika and similar newspapers displayed the naked class hostility under the cover of media criticism. The inflammatory campaign which involved a mix of lies and distortions was reminiscent of the way the El Mercurio and other right-wing papers in Chile conducted propaganda against the Allende government in 1972-1973.

It is a tribute to the organisation of the CPI(M) and the popular consciousness generated by the Party and the Left Front government that they could withstand the barrage of propaganda conducted by the dominant media in the state. West Bengal would be one of the few exceptions where the power of the modern bourgeois media was, to an extent, effectively neutralised. This by itself would merit a separate study.

Despite the most powerful and lethal anti-Communist propaganda, the people who remained loyal to the Left has been steady. In no assembly election has the Left polled less than 48 to 49 per cent of the vote. To be able to retain such a base through the ups and downs of the political situation in the country and the hostile international environment testifies to the political consciousness of the people.

The role of the Communist Party in creating this consciousness has been crucial. More than 30,000 Party cadres and activists are involved in running various aspects of the government administration and local bodies. Tens of thousands are in daily contact with the people, explaining the political situation, dealing with urgent problems of the people and leading them in different forms of struggle. This is a tribute to the Leninist principles of organisation, which have been so well mastered by the West Bengal unit of the CPI(M).

The critics from the Left often maintain that the existence of the Left Front government has actually acted as a dampner on class struggle in West Bengal. Nothing can be farther from the reality. The building up of a powerful peasant movement (the Kisan Sabha has a membership of one crore ten lakhs) is a result of ceaseless class struggles. The trade union movement in the state is the strongest contingent of the working class movement in the country. Every all-India action of different sections of the working class evokes the most widespread participation of the workers of the state.

The struggle to defend the Left Front government is itself a manifestation of the class struggle which has reached higher levels in the state than elsewhere. The 3,400 cadres and activists of the CPI(M) who were killed in the past 25 years under Left Front rule were part of this class struggle. The CPI(M) and the Left Front have not used the police and administrative machinery to suppress political opponents. Rather it is the reliance on political struggle and mass mobilisation which has enabled West Bengal to be free of the anti-democratic exercises so common in the states run by bourgeois parties. This again is not due to the CPI(M) and the Left parties alone, but stems from the higher level of democratic consciousness which has been created amongst the people.

The country as a whole has witnessed a rightward shift in the past one decade. The existence of a rightwing communal regime at the Centre and the recent events in Gujarat are pointers to the possibilities of an authoritarianism tinged with fascism. The existence of a Left Front government in West Bengal stands as an open challenge to these dark forces. That by itself makes the 25th anniversary of this popular government an occasion invested with great meaning.