Author: Editorial
Publication: The Statesman
Date: January 22, 2002
Introduction: Basu merely points
the finger at himself
When Jyoti Basu speaks of the culture
of corruption having taken a stranglehold on the CPI-M, he wants to appear
as a patriarch the party is obliged to respect. The point to bear in mind
is that he makes these observations after having ignored and indeed encouraged
what he now says is unacceptable. Another name of the phenomenon is hypocrisy.
Knowing our former chief minister as we do he may well intend to suggest
that things have deteriorated recently - read under Buddhadev. Note the
fact that Alimuddin Street chooses to maintain a discreet silence. Buddhadev
Bhattacharya was away in North Bengal speaking of steps needed to be taken
against unaffiliated madrasas operating in the border areas in the context
of persistent reports of ISI activities which Basu always brushed aside.
Nor could Anil Biswas and Biman Bose, present at the conference, dare to
upset the veteran by suggesting that the vices can be traced to days when
he was the boss. Basu, it must be noted, has for quite some time been engaging
in the task of running down Buddhadev's effort to turn over a new leaf.
The CAB apparently needs Basu's good will for reasons other than cricket
hence the sight of Basu handing over the match winner's trophy to Saurav
Ganguly at the Eden Gardens on Saturday night. He could also spend some
time inaugurating functions organised by entrepreneurs known to be close
to him or the Basu parivar. For more important gatherings like the CPI-M's
Kolkata district plenary his absence would not be noticed.
The moment Basu speaks of a process
of introspection, he cannot escape responsibility for many of the evils
that refuse to go away. Would the North 24 Parganas and Kolkata district
units of the party have suffered a serious loss of coherence had it not
been for certain land developers and speculators actively encouraged to
run amuck - no doubt for a price? Senbo has grabbed prize contracts for
flyovers edging out experienced people in the field both at Gariahat and
Esplanade by virtue of its dubious contacts which seem to persist. The
desperate efforts to woo investors came a cropper when Citu-led workers
refused to change their style with Basu hardly a helpless spectator. He
is actively engaged in trying to destabilise Buddhadev to force him to
listen to his demands.
The time has come for someone to
pluck up the courage to tell him that it does not lie in his mouth to talk
of corruption and other evils when the party is desperately wanting to
remove the poison of the past. The Kolkata district plenary might have
addressed more immediate and urgent issues like the ongoing power crisis,
the delayed development projects and the unending tussle over hawker evictions.
That may have helped to check Basu and also meet Trinamul's challenge.
