08-28-2009, 10:04 AM
Marxist disharmony (August 1-15, 1979)
Throughout July, the Left Front Government of West Bengalâ which never tires of portraying itself as a âpicture of cohesionââwas an opera playing out of tune.
Chief Minister Jyoti Basu was holidaying in Europe for three weeks from July 1, while his colleagues, who should have been getting along wonderfully together, boycotted each other, swapped innuendos, and, on occasions, even fought like alleycats. Basu, under great strain due to the continuing power crisis and relentless attacks from opposition parties, had been advised to go on tour by his doctors.
There was a pending invitation from the UK,extended during the earlier Labour government. Margaret Thatcherâs Conservative government renewed it, reflecting the British politiciansâ concern for investment worth Rs 650 crore in India.
A large chunk of this is in West Bengal. Keeping to accepted international Marxist protocol, Basu tied up his visit to a bourgeois country with trips to socialist Yugoslavia and Poland.
Sumit Mitra
<img src='http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday//images/30_YEARS_AGO_IN_IT/062009092505Jyoti-Basu_250.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
Throughout July, the Left Front Government of West Bengalâ which never tires of portraying itself as a âpicture of cohesionââwas an opera playing out of tune.
Chief Minister Jyoti Basu was holidaying in Europe for three weeks from July 1, while his colleagues, who should have been getting along wonderfully together, boycotted each other, swapped innuendos, and, on occasions, even fought like alleycats. Basu, under great strain due to the continuing power crisis and relentless attacks from opposition parties, had been advised to go on tour by his doctors.
There was a pending invitation from the UK,extended during the earlier Labour government. Margaret Thatcherâs Conservative government renewed it, reflecting the British politiciansâ concern for investment worth Rs 650 crore in India.
A large chunk of this is in West Bengal. Keeping to accepted international Marxist protocol, Basu tied up his visit to a bourgeois country with trips to socialist Yugoslavia and Poland.
Sumit Mitra
<img src='http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday//images/30_YEARS_AGO_IN_IT/062009092505Jyoti-Basu_250.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />