One runs into 16 pages, the other 55, but that?s not the only difference between the manifestos of the Left Front?seeking a record eighth term in power?and of the Trinamool Congress?aiming to unseat the Left after its three decades of rule in West Bengal. Typically, the Left Front?s manifesto launches an attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his silence on corruption, ex-telecom minister A Raja, black money stashed in foreign banks and many other issues. ?The Prime Minister cannot deny his responsibility regarding the issues of corruption on why was he silent for the last two years. This government has created an all-time record in corruption,? it said. The Left is free to voice its opinion, and there have been concerns around corruption in public life, but this is a crucial election for the Left Front, and surely the PM?s issue could have been discussed on another platform.

The Left Front chairman Biman Bose took it a step further at his press conference, saying the UPA government had succumbed to US imperialism. ?The recent WikiLeaks exposes have proved how this central government has bent to the whims of US imperialism. The pipeline issue with Tehran went under wraps after indirect intervention from the US,? he said. There are pressing issues in the state, the most critical being the state of finances, which the Opposition Trinamool Congress highlighted in its manifesto. But from the Left Front, barring admission that ?mistakes? had been made and that there were ?lapses? in its rectification drive, there wasn?t too much attention on the need of the hour?how will Bengal mop up revenue to tide over a serious debt crisis with the outstanding liability at R1.68 lakh crore and growing. For the people of West Bengal, who have watched the government go into a limbo ever since the Left Front lost the plot in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the positive thing to note in the Left manifesto is that it has said it will not move away from industry.

In fact, the Left manifesto highlights past achievements?for example, it says West Bengal attracted investments worth R9,000 crore in 2009 after the Singur debacle. Bose has stressed that although agriculture is important, industry is the need of the hour, and that?s a good sign for a people being forced to become used to an airport that makes you afraid to fly, bad roads, terrible transport and a health care system that sends thousands to Chennai and Vellore and Bangalore for treatment.

But what has taken even Mamata Banerjee?s sympathisers by surprise is the Trinamool manifesto, which, in a departure from the past, clearly lays down a vision for the state. Many have attacked her for the party?s lack of policy, but few can fault her this time. ?We propose to rebuild the industrial might of West Bengal with an eye towards massive employment generation,? Banerjee writes in a signed appeal. She has also detailed steps to spruce up agriculture, infrastructure, education, health and tourism. For instance, she promises to complete the process of Agricultural Produce Market Committee reforms and ensure ?meaningful implementation on the ground level in key areas like direct marketing, contract farming, setting up of private mandis??something industry has been clamouring for. The Trinamool manifesto, slickly promised with good production values, promises a lot, setting an action agenda for the first 200 days and then 1,000 days; but with the West Bengal government deeply in debt, Banerjee doesn?t quite specify where the funds are going to be mobilised from. She has spelt out some steps, like improving enforcement of state excise, ensuring proper registration of motor vehicles, computerising commercial taxes departments, payment of stamp duties through banks and so forth. But will it be enough?

The other key issue, which the Trinamool manifesto is silent on, is the Maoist violence and how it plans to tackle it if it comes to power. Also, in the hum and din of election politics, there is infighting both parties have to contend with, and Banerjee has serious trouble brewing in South 24 Parganas, where the Trinamool won the panchayat elections but has largely failed to live up to the expectations of the people, especially the Aila cyclone victims.

sudipta.datta@expressindia.com