Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee: The general in his red labyrinth

KOLKATA: Even as CPM-Congress combine looks more and more bullish on the Bengal election scenario, one comrade -- the chief architect behind this move has remained largely behind the curtains so far. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He seems to have taken a political hiatus.

The state's most controversial chief minister, Bhattacharjee, though invisible, seems to be omni-present during the elections. As election progresses in Bengal, demand for Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to make public appearances, address election rallies, and so on, are increasingly coming in from party cadres. According to party comrades at Alimuddin Street, he still tops the popularity index.

The senior comrades are now trying hard to convince grass-root workers about Bhattacharjee's inability to travel to far flung areas. While the main reason for Bhattacharjee's prolonged absence is his acute breathing problem (COPD), there are speculations that the former chief minister is not comfortable in asking people to vote for the CPM-Congress alliance. While far flung areas in districts and rural constituencies have remained out of bounds for the former Chief Minister, there are requests pending for him addressing rallies in urban areas of the city like Jadavpur and Bhawanipore. In Bhawanipore, that is the constituency of Mamata Banerjee, Congress has fielded senior leader Deepa Das Munshi. Adhir Choudhury, PCC chief however said, "Senior leaders from both parties addressing rallies, but not in coordinated way. It is spontaneous. Everybody wants to hear from Buddha Babu, but it will be their party's decision."

However, Bhattacharjee does not refrain from being present at the party headquarters.

State secretary Surjya Mishra told ET during an interview, “We have requested him to address at least a couple of election rallies. However, he is yet to confirm any.” The head quarter now gets requests from district secretaries and candidates for election rallies by Bhattcharjee and Surjya Kanta Mishra, while the other leaders on demand include MP Mohammad Salim and Ritabrata Bhattacharya.

However, the Left voters want to hear Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in public rallies. Till now, as the state moves into the second phase of polls, Bhattacharjee has neither been seen nor heard in public platforms. Now, rewind to a meeting in Singur on January 17, from where the CPM and BPMO (Bengal Platform for Mass Organisations) comprising of 113 organisations launched their election campaign in Bengal and listened to the former chief minister.

Calling Singur a ‘graveyard’ he said, “What is the Congress leadership thinking today? Come and join us. We are not alone. Every opposition party should hold hands to dislodge the undemocratic TMC government.” That was the last meeting he had addressed setting the tone and the course for the party during the election in Bengal.

Three months on the political course in Bengal is exactly the same as he wanted. Comrades within the party say that Bhattacharjee, Surjya Kanta Mishra, Mohammed Salim have been the strongest advocate for an all-out fight against the TMC and pushed for a secular democratic Front in which, Congress should also be a partner. However, now, in the scheme of the party, Bhattacharya’s role has largely been that of a remote control. “Every time we request him to address a rally, he says, that he does not want to deprive people in districts and address people in Kolkata. Since, he suffers from an acute physical crisis, party suggested him to address some rallies in Kolkata,” said a CPM leader, close to Bhattacharjee.

Meanwhile, Bhattacharjee never restricted himself from coming to the party head quarter. He still decides the issues that would be raised during the campaign, the slogans for the party and the way the campaign would be shaped. In last few years, he has written 15 non-fictions dealing with the state of politics in Bengal, the national political and the international scenario in China and in Latin America. Bhattacharjee’s book called ‘Fire Dekha’ chronicling the first ten years of Left Front government (1977 to 1987) was released in the Kolkata International Book fair 2016. According to sources, he is now working on the documentation of the second decade (1987 to 1997) of the Left Front government.