The Left in Bengal has shown an amazing ability . . . to change its colours whenever the situation demanded

Journalist Sunit Ghosh

The communist-led Left Front has notched up an unbeatable record in a country where governments are voted out regularly because of the anti-incumbency factor.

The West Bengal communists can also stake a claim to international fame in an era which has witnessed the collapse of communist regimes all over the world.

The traditional backing for the communists amongst the rural poor, because of sweeping land reform, and the working class, through the trade union movement, is understandable.

What is more surprising is the large number of urban middle class voters who continue to support the Left Front - despite the latter's ideological moorings.

Adaptability

In the West Bengal capital, Calcutta, most people feel that the communists have managed to garner support from all sections because of their ideological flexibility and political adaptability.

The party has consistently attracted wide support

"The Left in Bengal has shown an amazing ability like a chameleon to change its colours whenever the situation demanded," declares veteran Bengali journalist Sunit Ghosh.

"By appearing to be the benefactor of different and often rival social groups, the communists have consistently romped home in elections".

Unlike communist parties in other countries, the Left in West Bengal has also been careful not to tamper with native cultural norms.

The chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya is himself a playwright who often reiterates that he "graduated from literature to politics."

Communist party cadres engage enthusiastically in the Bengali passion for cultural activities including religious festivals particularly the annual Puja celebrations.

Courting business

The one social group which has so far remained disenchanted with Leftist rule in West Bengal has, however, been the big business class.

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Calcutta has witnessed a steady flight of capital over the past several decades - mainly because of a barrage of strikes launched by the communist-controlled trade unions.

However, there are signs that even this section may be won over.

In fact, last weekend a delegation of top businessmen led by Sanjiv Goenka, who heads the biggest industrial house in West Bengal, trooped down to the Marxist headquarters in Calcutta to hold wide-ranging discussions with the chief minister.

Goenka was effusive after the meeting claiming that it had laid the foundations of a "major joint enterprise between industry and the Left Front to make West Bengal into an industrial power''.

There are, of course, many critics in West Bengal of the communists who feel they rigged the elections to beat the challenged of the combative Trinamool Congress firebrand Mamata Bannerjee.

However, even they concede that the rigging was extremely scientific and systematic without the usual recourse to violence on election day.