Author: Editorial
Publication: The Statesman
Date: November 11, 2001
Introduction: Buddhadev takes some
positive steps
It took an international film festival
in Kolkata to bring the CPI-M and BJP on the same platform. The change
was evident in Buddhadev Bhattacharya's style before Sushma Swaraj arrived
in the city on Saturday. When Saugata Roy was stopped at the gates of Writers'
Buildings where he had gone to meet the chief minister, it was due to overreaction
of security staff. Buddhadev is more accessible as a BJP delegation discovered,
even sympathetic to the views of his adversaries. He has reversed the party's
rigid stand on sharing a dais with an opposition leader, as when Atal Behari
Vajpayee came to Kolkata to release a music album. Buddhadev was then the
cultural affairs minister and was obliged to abide by the party's directives.
Now with Basu gone, there are distinctly healthy signs that his ideas of
a "new Left'', spelt out in a party document, includes accommodating other
views. Ideological differences need not come in the way of giving the Left
a human face. Of course Mamata Banerjee may interpret this welcome change
as drawing a distinction between two members of the NDA in which the spirit
of bonhomie is applied to a party without roots in the state. Such a view
is unfair to the chief minister's genuine respect of views other than his
own. It needs to e said that the changes are due to Buddhadev's good manners
and deserve a welcome.
To drive home the point that he
proposes to allow full play to his personal reputation for honesty and
integrity and wanting to provide good government, he has also chosen to
appeal for Left unity. This is not only because the CPI-M alone is no longer
in an unassailable position. He needs a positive response from Left partners
to proceed with result-oriented programmes in departments under their control.
H His new effort is a healthy mixture of firmness and tact. No questions
need to be asked while uprooting encroachers in government hospitals. Nor
is anyone likely to complain when he tries to restrain ministers like Kalimuddin
Shams. The challenge is whether he can get his own party colleagues in
vital positions to perform and whether Alimuddin Street will understand
that his brave new style is not only the right thing to do but will also
reap dividends elsewhere. Buddhadev is right to first put his own house
in order. The basic challenge is to present a face that rises above a rigid
Left culture and the evils that have accumulated over the last 25 years.
It is a challenging task and, after one year in office, Buddhadev remains
a symbol of hope.
If Jyoti Basu will let him function
and not make last demands like not changing the Advocate-General for fear
that Chandan Basu will suffer, Buddhadev would make faster progress. Will
Basu please leave the government alone?
