12-06-2005, 01:56 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-Aryawan+Dec 6 2005, 07:06 AM-->QUOTE(Aryawan @ Dec 6 2005, 07:06 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Ben-Ami,
What are the chances of change of guard in Bengal? Present rulers have performed pretty strongly in last elections?
BB seems to be working hard to improve the business environment.
Earlier it was a thumb rule that Kol is Cong and Rest of Bengal is Comms.
Any change in the perception?
It seems that there is no credible opp leader either as well with MB losing credibilty with Bengalis in general.
It also seems that people are reticent or don't care.
From Ultra-nationalism to Communism, Bengal has covered a long way in 100 years, next what ?
[right][snapback]42561[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
nice question.
chances of change of guard ? minimal.
as you rightly pointed out calcutta is cong while rest of the state is cpm.
the thing is that the communist party (anywhere in the world) is not just another political party. it would be foolish to think so (just as islam is not another religion.) Both are cults and demand blind commitment from their followers and believe in total subjugation of their opponents. to that end, they stop at nothing.
cpim has ruined the education system of bengal, be it at the primary edu level or higher edu level. cos educated people are difficult to sway. the cpim has systematically ruined and uprooted all bastions of congress in the state. they have given key jobs only to party members, not the least in education and "trade union" sectors.
bengal has been ruined in every way. bengal rose cos of its education system and fell cos their education system was er.. "felled" by the commies.
the change in perception you talk of is very much there and almost every one i spoke to, be it urban and rural, seems to have realised that the commies have dug our grave.
as you said there is no credible opponent leader. MB is a greenhorn politician whilst her opponents are sly to say the least. MB's wavering - eg. forming TMC etc, has only made her seem less trustworthy. i do not think so that she'd have made a good c.m. though she is more of a true "people's person" than most others in indian politics. what she could have done is topple the govt - that would have been a huge step forward. she nearly pulled it off last time and now, neither she nor anyone ever will.
the reason is as you point out, BB and his progressive policies. had the current cpim term been anything like what it used to be under scoundrel #1 (JB), then i am sure cpim would be in power for the last time this time.
the thing is that cpim has done 2 important things in all this 30 years of misrule which makes them more suited than anyone else to pull bengal back.
1) they have REALLY taken care of the farm and rural sectors of the state. so rag tag people are indeed pleased with them. too bad that i was done at the expense of the middle class.
2) they have rendered the state elections meaningless.
the two together mean that if bb tries to do a C. Naidu, which he indeed is, and not just in the SW sector, there will be no farmers' suicides and revolts brewing under. it also means no opposition leader can tap into that dissent and topple a pretty good (by commie standards at least) chief minister.
even in karnataka they are scared that if they do to much of urban development than the BHARAT types (as different from the india types ) may vote them out of power. so they now have to do a balancing act.
i believe that the cpim has, despite all its million faults, done that bit of groundwork at least. social justice at rural leval is better in WB than most other states and farmers dont commit suicide - and thats after we have a huge immigrant population of landless hindu farmers. so the cpim can, theoritically march full steam ahead.
remember bjp, despite improving living standards of the middle and upper class had to bow out. even a prosperous state like mahaashtra now has suicide cases in Vidharba.
in a nutshell, the advantage that the present cpim govt has over the other state govts, is the one china has over india. that of total control. which can be as good (if used properly) as it can be bad.
question is whether cpim will do it. whether they will be able to win back the confidence of investors (ambani was talking of a SEZ somewhere in WB. just hope the cpim allows it to go ahead. then we could see a cascading effect) . if BB stays then they just as well might. if the hawks (gurudas dasgupta, nilotpal something-or-the-other etc) take over then its back to square one. the other key player is the WB finance minister. a prodigal talent, he was invited by paul samuelson to Sloan college MIT, when he published a paper at the ripe old age of 21.
for some reason half the talented guys in calcutta have a commie leaning, and of late the rest of india has latched on too (romilla, jnu).
BB has done well at least in contrast to what the previous jerk did. still, the improvement that BB did is far from spectacular. cpim are holding back the haldia petrochem thing. if Purnendu had more sense he'd invest in the service sector and not the manufacturing sector of west bengal. meanwhile for the first time cpim has a voice in the centre (which thankfully for us, is not led by bengalis but prakash and brinda karat, sitaram khichry and pranab bhar-mey-jaae bhardan.) they want to introduce unions in SW companies and there's no prizes for guessing in which city they want to start their unionising.
all said and done, i'll still give BB another term. of all the state CM's he was the one who managed to latch on to mammohon singh's "look east policy" the most. we also attracted more fdi than most. The nick-of-time "safai" that BB gave on behalf of cpim, is the reason why i say that the chances of a change of guard are minimal.
i just hope that BB continues to improve and takes full advantage of the 2 points i had elaborated upon.
What are the chances of change of guard in Bengal? Present rulers have performed pretty strongly in last elections?
BB seems to be working hard to improve the business environment.
Earlier it was a thumb rule that Kol is Cong and Rest of Bengal is Comms.
Any change in the perception?
It seems that there is no credible opp leader either as well with MB losing credibilty with Bengalis in general.
It also seems that people are reticent or don't care.
From Ultra-nationalism to Communism, Bengal has covered a long way in 100 years, next what ?
[right][snapback]42561[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
nice question.
chances of change of guard ? minimal.
as you rightly pointed out calcutta is cong while rest of the state is cpm.
the thing is that the communist party (anywhere in the world) is not just another political party. it would be foolish to think so (just as islam is not another religion.) Both are cults and demand blind commitment from their followers and believe in total subjugation of their opponents. to that end, they stop at nothing.
cpim has ruined the education system of bengal, be it at the primary edu level or higher edu level. cos educated people are difficult to sway. the cpim has systematically ruined and uprooted all bastions of congress in the state. they have given key jobs only to party members, not the least in education and "trade union" sectors.
bengal has been ruined in every way. bengal rose cos of its education system and fell cos their education system was er.. "felled" by the commies.
the change in perception you talk of is very much there and almost every one i spoke to, be it urban and rural, seems to have realised that the commies have dug our grave.
as you said there is no credible opponent leader. MB is a greenhorn politician whilst her opponents are sly to say the least. MB's wavering - eg. forming TMC etc, has only made her seem less trustworthy. i do not think so that she'd have made a good c.m. though she is more of a true "people's person" than most others in indian politics. what she could have done is topple the govt - that would have been a huge step forward. she nearly pulled it off last time and now, neither she nor anyone ever will.
the reason is as you point out, BB and his progressive policies. had the current cpim term been anything like what it used to be under scoundrel #1 (JB), then i am sure cpim would be in power for the last time this time.
the thing is that cpim has done 2 important things in all this 30 years of misrule which makes them more suited than anyone else to pull bengal back.
1) they have REALLY taken care of the farm and rural sectors of the state. so rag tag people are indeed pleased with them. too bad that i was done at the expense of the middle class.
2) they have rendered the state elections meaningless.
the two together mean that if bb tries to do a C. Naidu, which he indeed is, and not just in the SW sector, there will be no farmers' suicides and revolts brewing under. it also means no opposition leader can tap into that dissent and topple a pretty good (by commie standards at least) chief minister.
even in karnataka they are scared that if they do to much of urban development than the BHARAT types (as different from the india types ) may vote them out of power. so they now have to do a balancing act.
i believe that the cpim has, despite all its million faults, done that bit of groundwork at least. social justice at rural leval is better in WB than most other states and farmers dont commit suicide - and thats after we have a huge immigrant population of landless hindu farmers. so the cpim can, theoritically march full steam ahead.
remember bjp, despite improving living standards of the middle and upper class had to bow out. even a prosperous state like mahaashtra now has suicide cases in Vidharba.
in a nutshell, the advantage that the present cpim govt has over the other state govts, is the one china has over india. that of total control. which can be as good (if used properly) as it can be bad.
question is whether cpim will do it. whether they will be able to win back the confidence of investors (ambani was talking of a SEZ somewhere in WB. just hope the cpim allows it to go ahead. then we could see a cascading effect) . if BB stays then they just as well might. if the hawks (gurudas dasgupta, nilotpal something-or-the-other etc) take over then its back to square one. the other key player is the WB finance minister. a prodigal talent, he was invited by paul samuelson to Sloan college MIT, when he published a paper at the ripe old age of 21.
for some reason half the talented guys in calcutta have a commie leaning, and of late the rest of india has latched on too (romilla, jnu).
BB has done well at least in contrast to what the previous jerk did. still, the improvement that BB did is far from spectacular. cpim are holding back the haldia petrochem thing. if Purnendu had more sense he'd invest in the service sector and not the manufacturing sector of west bengal. meanwhile for the first time cpim has a voice in the centre (which thankfully for us, is not led by bengalis but prakash and brinda karat, sitaram khichry and pranab bhar-mey-jaae bhardan.) they want to introduce unions in SW companies and there's no prizes for guessing in which city they want to start their unionising.
all said and done, i'll still give BB another term. of all the state CM's he was the one who managed to latch on to mammohon singh's "look east policy" the most. we also attracted more fdi than most. The nick-of-time "safai" that BB gave on behalf of cpim, is the reason why i say that the chances of a change of guard are minimal.
i just hope that BB continues to improve and takes full advantage of the 2 points i had elaborated upon.