Leftists field JNU, DYFI activists: Left partners 'unnerved' in Bengal::: Christians to play major role in Kerala polls

Expecting Miracles !!

Leftists are keen to encash on youth power and have thus fielded JNU and other communists-backed student leaders, but things have gone beyond their control in some areas! 

The RSP and the All India Forward Bloc — two Left Front constituents — in Malda region have decided to walk out of the Left-Congress-ISF alliance.

 The CPI-M will contest three of 12 Assembly seats in the district — Englishbazar, Habibpur and Gazole — and nine seats have been left for the Congress. But now, the RSP and Forward Bloc have decided to contest nine Assembly seats.

Forward Bloc is unnerved as Congress did not reciprocate the alliance Dharma. The Forward Bloc had fought against the Congress in Harischandrapur, also a leftist forte till 2011. They offered  Harischandrapur to Congress and wanted another seat. The plea was simply rejected. Now, Forward Bloc says it will sweat it out in four seats and 'teach' lesson to Congress. 

Similarly, the RSP said they would field candidates in five seats where Congress would be having their nominees.

All these could end up helping either the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, which otherwise is likely to get benefits of polarised atmosphere in at least four seats. 

Blogger in CPI-M office Durgapur

Meanwhile in Kerala, all eyes are on CPI-M moves to woo Hindus and Christians - the same vote bank the BJP is banking on.

Numerically, Christians form some 18 percent of the state’s 33 million people. However, observers think Christians can turn the tables. The saffron party has only one seat in the 140-seat legislative house but has made grounds lately. It did well in panchayat polls. 

Hindus in Kerala, who form 55 percent of the state's population, have mostly voted for left-wing parties till the BJP has emerged as a challenging force. 

Eyeing Christian votes, the BJP and also the Left leaders have been claiming that the Congress-led UDF is controlled by its ally Indian Union of Muslim League. The CPI-M, which is trying to write a fresh history by returning to power in the southern state, has alleged that the IUML is a bridge between the UDF and the Islamic fundamentalists Jamaat-e-Islami.

On the other hand if Hindus and Christians make some sort of a combine, the BJP’s campaign would get a boost.

A section of Orthodox Christians have come out in support of the BJP in the Chengannur constituency. The development came in the CPI-M-held assembly segment after BJP-RSS intervention helped save a 1,000-year-old Orthodox church from demolition. 

Notably, in 2016 assembly polls, the Lotus party had polled over 15 per cent of the votes in Chengannur and thus there is hope that BJP candidate R Balashankar might do well here.

Communists bank on youth power and expecting miracles

In the 1980s during this blogger student days in Shillong, we have often heard - the communists' culture demands that such a movement is incomplete without youngsters !

In circa 2021, sidelined and faced with the crucial battle of survival, the communists have in West Bengal - their onetime forte - depended on youth factor.  

The CPI-M has fielded DYFI Bengal unit president Minakshi Mukherjee to take on two giants of Bengal politics - chief minister Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress and BJP nominee Suvendu Adhikari, a mass-level leader from Nandigram. 

In 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had taken lead in Jamuria assembly segment under Asansol parliamentary seat. 

The CPI-M’s “younger list” includes SFI state president Srijan Bhattacharya, DYFI state secretary Sayandeep Mitra, SFI secretary Pratikur Rahaman, JNU student leader Aishe Ghosh and SFI’s national joint secretary Dipsita Dhar. 

Ms Aishe will be the Left candidate from Jamuria while from Diamond Harbour (political hub of Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee) the CPI-M candidate will be Pratikur Rahaman.

Among the list of Left candidates, actor Debdut Ghosh will be CPI-M candidate from Tollygunj. 

In Rajarhat-Newtown, the Marxists have decided to field Saptarshi Deb, the son of former minister Gautam Deb who had worked metamorphosis of Rajarhat into a new township.

Dynastic issue seems to be no bar and thus Pritha Tah, the daughter of slain CPI-M leader Pradip Tah, has been fielded from Burdwan South. Earlier veteran CPI-M leader Nirupam Sen used to represent this key constituency.

Minakshi Mukherjee

The CPI-M has re-nominated Satarup Ghosh from Kasba from where he had lost to Trinamool Congress’s Javed Khan in the 2016 Assembly polls.

The CPI(M) had won only 26 seats in the 2016 state polls