[A-List] India: Introspection Needed as Left Suffers Worst Setbackin 20 Years

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

The average national turnout is said to be about 56-7%, about the same
as the 2004 elections.  Besides, the turnouts in West Bengal and
Kerala are higher than the average:
<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/62-turnout-in-phase-5-overall-57-same-as-04/articleshow/4523144.cms>
<http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/17/stories/2009041760310900.htm>.  The
boycott apparently didn't make a dent.
Yoshie

On Sat, May 16, 2009 at 11:26 PM, Paul Wright
<pwright at prisonlegalnews.org> wrote:
> Interesting that this article ignores the armed left in India and the fact
> they called for a boycott of the elections and that they seem to be doing
> fairly well.
>
> Paul Wright, Editor
> Prison Legal News
> P.O. Box 2420
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: a-list-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu
> [mailto:a-list-bounces at lists.econ.utah.edu] On Behalf Of Yoshie Furuhashi
> Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2009 11:16 PM
> To: A-List; Rad-Green
> Subject: [A-List] India: Introspection Needed as Left Suffers Worst
> Setbackin 20 Years
>
> <http://www.livemint.com/2009/05/16234735/Introspection-needed-as-Left-s.htm
> l>
> Introspection needed as Left suffers worst setback in 20 years
> Handling of the Singur and Nandigram issues in West Bengal and
> internal squabbles in Kerala hurt the party
> Ruhi Tewari
>
> New Delhi: Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of
> India (Marxist), or CPM, had repeatedly said in the run-up to the 2009
> polls that the outcome of these elections would be different from that
> of the one in 2004, indicating that the Left won't back the Congress
> after the polls.
>
> The Left parties may stick to their stand, but Saturday's results show
> that the Congress and allies don't need their backing to form the next
> government.
>
> While the Congress-led coalition had won or was leading in 258 seats
> by 8pm on Saturday, the Left parties, led by the CPM-which won a
> record 61 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha in 2004-suffered the worst
> electoral setback in over two decades.
>
> As of 8pm, the Left had won or was leading in only 24 seats, with the
> CPM being reduced to a fringe player in both its bastions-Kerala and
> West Bengal.
>
> In the elections held five years ago, the CPM alone had won 44 Lok
> Sabha seats and in Kerala, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front had won
> 18 of the state's 20 Lok Sabha seats. The Left parties had won 35 of
> 42 seats from West Bengal.
>
> Back in 2004, some smart political strategizing by then CPM general
> secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet is widely believed to have brought
> the party and other Left allies to the national spotlight when it
> supported the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, or UPA, from
> outside. The Left later withdrew support to the government in July
> over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
>
> Also See Redrawn Lines (Graphic)
> <http://www.livemint.com/2009/05/16234735/906F7E14-4EAC-4483-827C-933E48BCBC
> DFArtVPF.pdf>
>
> In West Bengal, where the CPM has ruled for at least three decades,
> its controversial handling of the Nandigram and Singur issues as well
> as a weak organizational base worked to the advantage of the rival
> Congress-Trinamool Congress combine, say analysts. In Kerala, the
> party, plagued by internal squabbles, failed to retain its hold over
> its traditional bastion.
>
> In 2007, violent local protests over acquiring land in Nandigram to
> build a chemical industries complex had led to at least 14 deaths. The
> government later shelved the plan. Tata Motors Ltd had to shift its
> proposed factory for the world's cheapest car Nano to Gujarat from
> Singur in October following a campaign by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool
> Congress against land acquisition for the factory.
>
> "The debacle in West Bengal is a reaction to the CPM's land use policy
> in the state. Nandigram and Singur have been catalysts for this
> verdict and its traditional supporters have also voted against it. As
> far as Kerala is concerned, the party's internal problems led to its
> defeat...," said V. Krishna Ananth, Chennai-based political analyst
> and columnist.
> In West Bengal, the Left Front was taken by surprise. In Kolkata, its
> chairman Biman Bose said, "We will discuss and investigate why this
> happened and take steps for correction. I think, there was a
> pro-Congress wave like in 1971. This time it worked in favour of the
> party. Also, the Congress might have been seen as the only party that
> could provide a stable government at the Centre."
> CPM politburo member and Kerala's home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
> said the setback in Kerala was "beyond what we had expected." "We had
> expected to win some eight seats. But the wave at the national level
> was in favour of the Congress-led government."
>
> Meanwhile, a politburo statement read out by Karat said: "The CPM and
> the Left parties have suffered a major setback in these elections.
> This necessitates a serious examination of the reasons for the party's
> poor performance. The CPM will continue its cooperation with the
> non-Congress, non-BJP secular parties with whom we have been working."
>
> Karat is likely to face a lot of flak for the party's debacle in the
> polls. "Karat knew the intensity of the crisis in the party but didn't
> do much about it. He refused to address the party's ideological issue
> in these states and failed to clearly lay down what the development
> model would be. Now, with the Congress getting a clear verdict, they
> won't need the Left to form the government... Karat pushed the CPM
> into the parliamentary process and got busy with alliance making
> instead of solving its internal issues," Ananth said.
>
> The CPM, on its part, denied that this verdict is a setback to Karat's
> leadership. "It is absolutely incorrect. There was a wave in favour of
> the Congress at the national level. There are other reasons at the
> state levels. We will examine the reasons for an introspection," said
> S. Ramachandran Pillai, a senior politburo member of the party.
>
> The question that crops up now is where the CPM stands in terms of its
> political future. Some analysts say the CPM now has little option but
> to seriously review its party line. "The Left got discredited due to
> their extraordinary efforts to form the Third Front," said Sudha Pai,
> professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.
>
> The CPM politburo is scheduled to meet on 18 May and the central
> committee a day later. An all-Left meet is expected to take place on
> Sunday morning. A meeting of the Third Front had also been called on
> 18 May but following poll reversal, its fate remains undecided.
>
> Meanwhile, other Left parties such as the Communist Party of India, or
> CPI, too, conceded poll defeat on Saturday, claiming they would all
> need to rethink their political strategy. "All Left parties will sit
> together and discuss this verdict. we will review our tactics...
> Congress is now in a position to form the government so let them. We
> have sat in the opposition all our life and will continue to do so,"
> said A.B. Bardhan, general secretary, CPI.
>
> Graphics by Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint
> Liz Mathew, Ullekh N.P., Aveek Datta and Romita Datta contributed to this
> story.
>
> <http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4540394.cms>
> UPA won most seats from states of Third Front partners
> 16 May 2009, 2123 hrs IST, IANS
>
> NEW DELHI: The bulk of seats in the Congress-led United Progressive
> Alliance's stunning victory came mostly from the states where the
> Third Front partners had expected to do well and play kingmakers.
>
> The Congress gained mostly in the Left-ruled West Bengal and Kerala,
> Tamil Nadu where AIADMK-led grouping was hoping to do good, Andhra
> Pradesh where grand alliance of Telugu Desam Party's Chandrababu Naidu
> was expecting to cash in on an anti-incumbency factor and Uttar
> Pradesh where Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati was hoping to carry on
> her landslide victory in last assembly elections.
>
> The performance in Rajasthan, where the Congress bagged 19 out of the
> 25 seats, is in continuation of its victory in the November-December
> assembly elections.
>
> In West Bengal, the Congress in a strategic tie-up with Trinamool
> Congress' Mamata Banerjee humbled the Left front picking 25 out of
> total 42 seats. The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has been
> ruling the state for the last three decades.
>
> In Kerala, the home state of CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat,
> the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) took 16 out of 20
> seats. Many attribute this victory to the rumblings among factions led
> by senior communist leaders, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and
> Pinayari Vijayan supported by Karat.
>
> The incredible victory in Uttar Pradesh, where it was virtually
> non-existent with only nine MPs out of the total 80, the Congress won
> 21 seats and shocked the powerful regional satraps Mayawati and
> Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
>
> "It was clearly the anti-incumbency against the Mayawati government
> and disillusionment with the Samajwadi Party of whose rule the state
> has no fond memories," says political analyst and Uttar Pradesh expert
> Sudha Pai.
>
> "Another reason is the focussed party building work that Rahul Gandhi
> did in the state; after long, the party was trying real hard and it
> paid off," she told reporters.
>
> In Tamil Nadu, all the parties sympathetic to the Liberation Tigers of
> Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had to bite the dust as the UPA managed 28 out of
> 40 seats. Similarly, in Andhra Pradesh it walked with 32 out of 42
> seats.
>
> The party's performance in rural Andhra Pradesh areas is being
> attributed to its implementation of the National Rural Employment
> Guarantee Act (NREGA) where the Youth Congress members continuously
> monitored the scheme. The Congress also retained its rule in Andhra
> Pradesh.
>
>
>
>