Laughing Buddha(deb)

After the clear mandate, it’s time for performance

Sourav Majumdar

If there is one refreshing change in the thus-far dreary political landscape of Bengal, then it is the new-found hero the masses and industrialists have in Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the chief minister of the state who, it now seems, has finally broken out of Mr Jyoti Basu’s shadow. The people and the business community alike are now raving about this new, approachable face of the Left, whose earlier trademark was a jaded legend growing more stern and unapproachable with age and failing health. And Bengal has truly welcomed the New Left, epitomised by Mr Bhattacharya.

The mandate of 199 seats for the Left in Election 2001 has come as a shock for Ms Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool, which was hoping to wrest Writers’ Buildings from the Left this time round. But a deft strategic move by the leftists some months before the elections, of putting a fresh face at the helm after almost 24 years, has clearly worked wonders.

Over the past couple of years, Bengal had once again begun showing signs of slipping back into industrial decay despite a series of business summits hosted by the government. Episodes like the bashing up of the Bata boss and the prolonged suspension of work at Dunlop, both symbols of the state’s industrial activity, apart from the return of militant trade unionism, had begun turning into major embarrassments for the government.

But even as these were being addressed, Ms Banerjee’s growing popularity as a leader whom the man on the street could identify with in one word — didi — continued to cause serious problems for the Left. But now, Mr Bhattacharya, with his new-found charm and charisma, has changed all that.

In hindsight, ironically the best thing that could have happened to the Left in Bengal was the bowing out of Mr Basu, its best-known face. Ever since the new CM took office the first time round, it became clear that he was making efforts to break out of the old Left mould of dogmatism and arrogance. Once seen as someone comfortable only with literature, art and culture and the confines of Nandan, the state’s cultural headquarters, Mr Bhattacharya has now made it clear he means business, pun intended. An industrialist close to the Left in Bengal recently told me that Mr Bhattacharya’s approach was a refreshing change for the business community and the new chief minister was prompt in granting and keeping appointments and approached issues with an open mind.

The best thing that the fresh mandate has done for Mr Bhattacharya is that it has made him his own man. No longer will his existence be seen as an extension of the Basu regime. With fresh faces in the ministry like that of Mr Nirupam Sen, who has got the critical industries and planning portfolios, Mr Bhattacharya has his task cut out as far as bringing investments back to Bengal is concerned. I was also very pleasantly surprised to hear one of the country’s best-known industrialists speak highly of him when I met him recently in Mumbai.
The message has come across to Mumbai’s business echelons too: Mr Bhattacharya is speaking the right language. This is music to the ears of the business community. Add to that the new chief minister’s clean image and acceptability with Bengal’s urban population (he was instrumental in the Left holding on to the Kolkata constituencies as well) and you have the best recipe the Left has had for success in years.

The Left’s strategy of countering the pining for change in Bengal with an improved version of itself has been epitomised by the emergence of Mr Bhattacharya and his team. The Unnato Bam Front (Improved Left) is now a reality, and threatens to rob Ms Banerjee and her recently lost and more recently found Congress mates of their only popular plank: the need for change.

Having dealt a body blow to Ms Banerjee’s hopes of even coming near Writers’, Mr Bhattacharya, however, has a huge responsibility: ensuring that the Unnato Bam Front does not quietly turn into the same old formula in a new bottle.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) President Sanjiv Goenka, who is known to be close to the ruling Left in Bengal, could hardly stop smiling while he sat beside Mr Bhattacharya, since, having done business in Bengal while controlling a politically sensitive company like CESC Ltd, he knows only too well what the clear mandate for Mr Bhattacharya means for industry. They now have a chance to work together with a man who is eager to prove that he is different.

There’s lots of work to be done: infrastructure, new investments, and creating a work culture all over again. Having gone through the reinvention process, Buddhababu will now have to prove that his new avatar is just what the doctor ordered. And, as always, the proof of the pudding...sorry, payesh, will be in the eating.