Can Modi checkmate Mamata?

Arindam Sarkar

In the recently concluded civic polls 2015, the BJP has been whitewashed – much to the embarrassment of the sangh parivar – by the Trinamool Congress in Bengal.

Already down after failing to push through the much controversial Land Acquisition Bill in the Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi now faces a litmus test in leading the BJP in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in 2016.

Assembly elections in Bengal will be held in April 2016 and it is to seen if Modi and his saffron brigade can stop Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee from completely decimating the Opposition forces in the State. According to political pundits, Narendra Modi and the BJP will find the going tough.

The last time the BJP in Bengal got revitalized was between 1998 and 2004 when former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee led the Sangh Parivar in the elections. Ten years later, the BJP in Bengal is riding the wave generated by Narendra Modi. In 2014 general elections, the BJP won two parliamentary seats in Bengal. In 2015, it won the Assembly by-election of Basirhat South.

Much hype was generated in the city during the Narendra Modi rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds on February 5, 2014. In this rally, which was attended by the then BJP national president Rajnath Singh, General Secretary and Central Observer for Bengal Varun Gandhi and State BJP president Rahul Sinha, Modi went hammer and tongs against the Left Front for their 34 years of misrule in Bengal and the poor governance and corruption of the UPA Government at the Centre. He kicked-off the campaign for the 2014 parliamentary polls and urged the people to vote for the BJP.

Bengal got the first glimpse of Narendra Modi in April 2013, when he addressed the business leaders and party workers in the city. He said development of Bengal would make the eastern India powerful. It took a concerted effort of 10-12 years to make Gujarat what it is now. Similarly, Bengal that has been potholed by the Marxists would take some time to revive itself. But, he believed, Bengal was moving in the right direction.

“Bengal has been neglected by the Centre. Bengal will show us the way. It is important to recognize the strength of Bengal,” said Modi. “Agriculture and industry would happen together.” It was a whistle-stop visit but Modi created an impact.

The BJP leaders think that in the ensuing Assembly polls, their primary fight would be against the CPI(M) and the Trinamool, not the Congress. People have rejected the Congress because of law and order failure, price hike, corruption and poor governance of the UPA.

“Voting for the Left Front or the Triamool Congress means voting for the friends of the Congress. Both supported the UPA,” said State BJP secretary Ritesh Tiwari. BJP Secretary and Central Observer for Bengal Siddhartha Nath Singh emphasized: “The only alternative for the people is the BJP.”

There is a perception that Modi is drawing huge support among the youth and that would translate into votes. It is the new voters along with the traditional BJP vote-bank of 15 to 17 per cent in Bengal (which in 1998 and 1999 stood at 13 per cent and got them the parliamentary seats of Dum Dum and Krishnanagar and one MLA) that is expected to yield results in Nadia, North 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Coochbehar, Balurghat and Midnapore districts of Bengal.

“In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, there was an outburst against CPI(M)’s arrogance and misdeeds. In 2011 Assembly polls both the Congress and the Left were marginalized. This time, Bengal is unhappy with the Trinamool,” said State BJP general secretary Shamik Bhattacharya.

The BJP leaders said the idea of Federal Front being mooted by Mamata Banerjee is a non-starter. India has seen the flip-flop United Front Governments of Prime Ministers Deve Gowda and IK Gujral. So instead of wasting the votes, people should send BJP leaders to the State Assembly and Parliament to fulfil their aspirations.

Rahul Sinha said Narendra Modi is the symbol of development, progress, secularism, industrialisation and a modern India. Voting for BJP means development of Bengal, which for 39 years has been deprived of industrialization, employment and growth. Bengal can benefit from Modi’s leadership and become a happening State like Gujarat.

“People who voted for change against the CPI(M) and brought the Trinamool to power are frustrated. It is the same politico-administrative nexus that is choking Bengal. There is no health and education system and women are unsafe in Bengal,” alleged Rahul Sinha.

Charismatic, dependable and proactive Narendra Modi has emerged as the mascot of developing India. BJP leaders pointed out that during the Assembly polls, people have to choose either a regional leader like Mamata Banerjee or a national symbol like Narendra Modi.

Former BJP Union Minister of State Tapan Sikdar said given her inconsistency, people should think twice before filling Mamata’s kitty. The emergence of Modi and his ability to infuse energy into the BJP has made the State party a fighting outfit. “Modi is a big hit in urban areas and towns. BJP will do well in these areas,” Tapan Sikdar had remarked.

However, the CPI(M) and the Trinamool does not give much chance to the BJP in the elections. According to the Marxists, the divisive and the communal politics of BJP have no buyers in Bengal. The Muslims won’t vote for them. A stand that is maintained by former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and the CPI(M) State Secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra.

Completely rubbishing the Opposition charge, the BJP leaders said that in Gujarat, where the 2002 Godhra Riots occurred, the Muslims under Modi were safe, secured and thriving. The BJP leaders argued: “Muslims are getting employment and education. What’s more, at least seven lakh Muslims of Bengal are working in Gujarat. That Muslims are unsafe under BJP and Modi is a canard.”

Rahul Sinha claimed Muslims have understood that like the CPI(M), Mamata Banerjee is also exploiting them for votes. In Bengal, Muslims are only being appeased but they have no employment, madrasas are not being modernized and they remain economically backward. “Mamata’s stipend for imams meant ignoring the majority and bribing the few,” said Rahul Sinha.

The battle lines are drawn. Trinamool Congress is upbeat, despite the ponzy scam that has tarnished the party and the government, and Mamata Banerjee is confident of a second term as chief minister. And given the Mamata wave, it would be a miracle if the RSS man from Gujarat manages to win enough seats for the BJP in Bengal. NaMo certainly faces an uphill task.

   

After the Burdwan Blast

Arindam Sarkar

Six months after the bombs exploded, the Bengal government is still cagey about the Burdwan Blast and the Muslims fear to talk about it. Burdwan Blast that shocked Bengal on October 2, 2014, is still fresh in the minds of the people.

The BJP has alleged that it is the outcome of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Muslim appeasement policy and the Trinamool Congress’ clandestine links with the fundamentalist elements of Bangladesh, who after getting a safe passage and shelter are carrying out undercover activities in Bengal.

Just when the BJP accused the Trinamool Congress for having ties with the Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh for vote politics, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Bengal denounced its Bangla counterpart. The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind condemned the Bangladeshi terrorists for creating communal tension, disturbing the social fabric and polluting the madrasahs of Bengal.

The Burdwan Blast has embarrassed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) found that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh was behind the explosions. The outfit, which is banned in Bangladesh, was found to have established a deep network in Bengal and other parts of India. Investigation also revealed that many Bangladeshi infiltrators settled in Bengal were in touch with the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh.

“Although our religion and language is same, but we have nothing to do with the Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh. We work in India. We have no connection with them and we don’t want them to work here,” emphasized General Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Abdur Rafiq.

Speaking on the possible links between the two Jamaat outfits that is working on both sides of the border, Political Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Masihur Rahman clarified that the Jamaat-e-Islami of India and Bangladesh were two different entities.

Apart from India, the Jamaat-e-Islami also exists in Bangladesh and Pakistan (where they take part in politics), Sri Lanka and Mauritius in the subcontinent. But each of them has independent constitution and programmes.

“It is because of some anti-national elements that the image of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is being tarnished. But the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind constitution says it is a socio-religious and non-violent organisation of Bengal,” claimed Masihur Rahman.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind leaders condemned the Burdwan Blast and the use of a madrasah to carry out such a nefarious activity. Jamaat wants the NIA to discover the truth and punish all the people who were behind the blasts. “It is a crime that can never be supported. We want the terrorists to be punished irrespective of their religion or nation. We will work for communal harmony and uplift of the Muslims. We don’t want the Muslims to be involved in wrong doings,” said Abdur Rafiq.

Jamaat leaders, however, insisted that it is wrong to assume that madrasahs were becoming terror factories of Bengal. Agreeing that there has been a huge growth of illegal madrasahs in the State, Abdur Rafiq said it was the responsibility of the State Government to identify and legalise such madrasahs. The government should take action against illegal madrasahs.

“Madrasah is an educational institution. Unnecessarily targeting them is wrong. The government should book the people who are misusing a madrasah but not slam the madrasah as an academy,” said Masihur Rahman.

Abdur Rafiq went on to say that after the Burdwan Blast, a Jamaat delegation had visited the bomb blast site and the Shimulia Madrasah – where the students were given Jihadi training. But he believes that Shimulia at best could be a school for small children because it does not have the logistics of a madrasah and the wherewithal to train Jihadis. “It is a misconception. Shimulia did not look like a madrasah, leave alone a laboratory for Jihadi activists,” said Abdur Rafiq.

 

However, Jamaat leaders agree that for the uplift of the Muslim society the curricula of the madrasah should change. “Only teaching of Arabic won’t help. Students should learn modern science, political science and literature. We have reservations on madrasah teaching, but not its usefulness,” said Abdur Rafiq. “Koran and Hadith could be taught along with modern subjects in a madrasah,” added Masihur Rahman.

Mamata magic!

Arindam Sarkar

In 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee won the Assembly elections. In 2013, Mamata stormed the panchayat polls. And on April 28, 2015, she swept 70 out of the 91 municipalities and retained control over the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. In the battle for Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Trinamool Congress captured a record 114 out of the 144 wards at fray. 

Coming just a year before the Assembly elections in West Bengal, this victory has given a fillip to Mamata, whose administration is reeling under the impact of the ponzy scam. But if the Trinamool has done well in the metro and South Bengal, it has failed to make big inroads in North Bengal.

Mamata Banerjee couldn’t establish the Trinamool’s full sway in the Congress stronghold in North Bengal. Though the Trinamool won the municipalities in Malda, it failed to dislodge the Congress or capture any municipality in the green belt of Murshidabad and North Dinajpur.

In Malda, where two of the strongest district Congress leaders – Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury and Sabitri Mitra – had crossed over to the Trinamool and helped Mamata to strengthen the party’s organization, the result is overwhelming.

The Trinamool-held English Bazar and Old Malda municipalities went to the polls in Malda on the issue of development work done by the civic bodies in the last five years in the district. Trinamool retained both the municipalities. Trinamool won 15 out of the 29 seats in English Bazar and 10 out of the 19 seats in Old Malda municipalities.

Two MPs AH Khan Chowdhury and Mausam Benazir Noor led the Congress campaign in Malda and State Horticulture Minister Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury and Minister without portfolio Sabitri Mitra guided the Trinamool surge. “People voted for the development works undertaken by the Trinamool boards in the last five years here,” said Chairman of English Bazar Municipality Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury.

In Uttar Dinajpur, Congress retained both the municipalities – Kaliaganj and Islampur. In these two municipalities, the Congress wiped out the Trinamool, CPI(M) and the BJP. In Kaliaganj, the Congress won 13 out of the 17 seats and in Islampur the Congress has won 12 out of the 17 seats. In both the municipalities, the Congress would form the board. Here former MP Deepa Dasmunshi led the Congress campaign.

In Murshidabad, six municipalities – Dhulian, Jangipur, Jiaganj-Azimganj, Murshidbad, Kandi and Beldanga – went to the polls. Congress has won Dhulian, Murshidabad, Kandi and Beldanga comfortably. The CPI(M) will form the board in Jangipur and Jiaganj-Azimganj.

Except in Dhulian, where the Trinamool won six seats, in rest of the municipalities, its performance is abysmal.

For Mamata, this is a blow because for the last five years she has been trying to penetrate in this district, which is the turf of the Congress State president and MP Adhir Chowdhury. Mamata had appointed former Trinamool general secretary and party MP Mukul Roy to build up an organisation here. But the Trinamool effort has proved to be a cipher.

In 2000 municipal polls, Adhir Chowdhury had won the same four municipalities for the Congress in Murshidabad. Out of these six municipalities, the battle for Murshidabad municipality was most prestigious because it is the home turf of Adhir Chowdhury.

“People trust me. People vote for me because of the pro-people projects that I have undertaken in this municipality. I have nothing to prove to the voters of my area,” said Adhir Chowdhury. Congress has won in 47 out of the 107 municipality seats that had gobe to the polls in this district.

Talking about Trinamool’s victory in 71 out of the 91 municipalities in Bengal, Adhir Chowdhury said it is no surprise that Trinamool has emerged victorious. “But it seems that the Trinamool was not confident of victory or else they couldn’t have resorted to such violence and anti-democratic practices. Ethically, it is wrong,” alleged Adhir Chowdhury.

Coming to South Bengal, Hooghly because of Singur, East Midnapore because of Nandigram and the Junglemahal belt of Bankura, Purulia and West Midanpore were considered to be Mamata’s Achilles Heel. But the development activities done by the State Government in this belt and the adjoining districts filled the ballot boxes.

Distribution of subsidized rice, atta, 100 days employment under the NREGS Scheme, construction of roads, digging of ponds, supplying drinking water through submersible pumps, building culverts and bridges, free education for girl children of backward areas, renovating schools and colleges and giving employment are some programmes that helped Mamata to win the confidence of the people.

With the Singur land problem still unresolved and the chit-fund scam hitting the industrial belts in the periphery of the city, both the CPI(M) and the Congress believed Mamata will take a beating in Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas and Howrah and Birbhum districts. But people voted for her party. One of the principal poll campaigners of the Trinamool, Subhendu Adhikari claimed people have openly rejected the CPI(M), BJP and the Congress.

If for Mamata, panchayat polls was a do or die battle to establish control in the rural areas that elect 234 out of the 294 legislators in the State Assembly and majority of the 42 MPs of Bengal, her victory in the municipal polls established her sway on the city and moffusil towns.

Mamata’s politics of development is the winner. PCC chief Adhir Chowdhury and CPI(M) State secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra alleged that violence and rigging by Trinamool marred the polls, but the Mamata brigade claims it is the pro-people policies of the government that helped them secure a large mandate in the polls.

Mamata said it was a victory of, people, development and democracy. “If 80 per cent people cast their vote in our favour, how can you say terror determined the victory? Our development work has paid rich dividends. And the bottom line is Mamata is still the biggest vote-catcher,” claimed State Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee.   

  

Banking on Rahul

Arindam Sarkar

Can AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who would lead the Congress’ campaign in mid-2016 Assembly elections, revive the fortunes of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee? Bengal Congress is going through bad times. Its image has taken a battering; its stock has plummeted; it is groping in the dark; and it is yet to capitalize on the mistakes being made by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s government in the State.

Bengal Congress is desperately hoping that the resurrection of Rahul Gandhi would help the party to withstand the Mamata tsunami in the forthcoming Assembly polls in the middle of 2016.

A dejected Union Minister of State for Railways and Murshidabad District Congress president Adhir Chowdhury agrees that the Bengal Congress is in a sticky wicket. He pointed out even after the rout in 2011 Assembly polls, the CPI(M) could call a meeting at the Brigade Parade Grounds but the Congress doesn’t have the wherewithal to mobilize workers in the State.

Adhir realizes that the Congress faces an existential threat. It lacks political visibility. “The CPI(M) has been tested, tried and rejected. The Trinamool Congress is being tested and questioned. Congress could have emerged as an Opposition to the Trinamool. It is a golden opportunity for the Congress to make a comeback,” believes Adhir Chowdhury.

Adhir thinks Rahul Gandhi, as chief campaigner for he Congress, would definitely push up the adrenaline. He is a clean man with a good image. Rahul attracts the young generation. But he needs the support of the State leadership to bring about a drastic change. “Rahul cannot do a miracle overnight. He does not have a magic bullet. In Bengal, the party organization needs to be revived,” said Adhir Chowdhury.

The former Union railways minister, who is the Congress’ principal challenger to Mamata Banerjee, said the Congress needs an assertive leadership to rebuild the trust deficit; win people’s confidence; expose the State Government’s failures; rejuvenate the party workers and organization; and emerge as an alternative to the Trinamool in Bengal.

In September 2010, Rahul came to Bengal for a two-day visit. He campaigned in Bengal during the 2011 Assembly elections at Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, North Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Malda. In December 2013, he held a review meeting with senior Bengal Congress leaders and made few organizational changes. But they were cosmetic. In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he campaigned in Bengal.

Most Congress leaders point out that both AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi have always focused in North Bengal during elections because it is the Congress’ stronghold. The Congress’ six MPs Adhir Chowdhury, Abhijit Mukherjee and Mannan Hossain (Murshidabad), Mausam Benazir Noor and AH Khan Chowdhury (Malda) and Deepa Dasmunshi (Raiganj) come from these districts.

But in 2014 parliamentary polls, Congress could win only four Lok Sabha seats in Bengal. Adhir Chowdhury, Abhijit Mukherjee, Mausam Benazir Noor and AH Khan Chowdhury were elected to the Parliament.

Mausam Benazir Noor said, Bengal so far has had very little of Rahul Gandhi and if he visits frequently, it would benefit the party. “It will send a good signal. Mobilise people. Bengal wants to work under his leadership,” said Malda District Congress president Mausam.

Having worked under Rahul, as the State Youth Congress president, Mausam said Rahul is very hardworking, sincere and stresses on strengthening the party organization at the grassroots level. “He is always taking feedback from the lowest level to understand what people expect from the Congress,” she added.

Though the State Congress leaders are maintaining a brave front, the fact is they are up against an uphill task in 2016 Assembly elections. Congress leaders feel, the manner in which the Mamata wave is reaping votes, it seems Congress’ strength of 38 MLAs could reduce further. “We can only hope to increase our tally,” said Adhir.

However, senior Congress leader from Nadia Shankar Singh said that in 2004 Lok Sabha polls there was an alliance with Mamata and the Congress won six seats. In 2009, there was an electoral alliance with the Trinamool and the Congress won six seats. “So if the Congress fights the elections with the Trinamool, he result will be better,” said Shankar Singh.

Former PCC chief and Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya agreed that the PCC is in a moribund and its leadership is unable to capitalise on the fallacies of the Mamata government. Congress’ strength is mass-based and not cadre-based, but the leaders seem to have lost touch with the grassroots and it is the terror-tactics adopted by the Trinamool district workers against the Congressmen which is making it more difficult to work in the rural areas.

“Law and order has completely failed. State Government is fascist and democracy is being choked. Plus, Trinamool is engineering defections. They have already taken away our two MLAs Soumitra Khan and Ajoy Deb. I believe Rahul’s rise would infuse fresh energy into the party,” believes Pradip Bhattacharya.

Bengal Congress with its presence strength of four MPs and 38 MLAs is literally struggling against Mamata’s Trinamool. In July 2013 panchayat polls, they got washed out and Trinamool won more than 8,500 panchayats uncontested. In November 2013 municipality elections, Congress won only Barhampore Municipality and the Trinamool captured 13 out of the 17 civic bodies. In 2015 civic polls, Congress is a miserable performer.

Senior Congress leaders emphasized that Rahul should not ignore Bengal because unless the party is rejuvenated it would be impossible to take on the might of Mamata. Secondly, they said apart from campaigning, if Rahul ensures that the Assembly elections is held under the strict monitoring of the Chief Election Commissioner, then Mamata would not be able to flex her muscles.

Senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan said people are getting disillusioned with Mamata. The ponzy scam, rigging of elections, making empty promises, laying more foundation stones than inaugurating projects, giving false employment figures and high-handedness is affecting the very image that people admire about Mamata. “It is high-time Rahul Gandhi gives priority to Bengal. Congress here is up against a leader who is high on hyperbole and rhetoric and low on performance,” claimed PCC general secretary Om Prakash Mishra.

With the Bengal Congress in the pits, Pradip Bhattacharya hopes the face; energy; dynamism; and the leadership of Rahul Gandhi could save the party and revive the organisation from the booth to the State level. “Emergence of Rahul Gandhi is welcome,” he said.

Rahul Gandhi knows that Bengal is a tough turf. Mamata is a difficult customer and people are still with her. So, it would take more than rhetoric and promises to wane the Mamata magic.

And the Magsaysay goes to…

Arindam Sarkar

The irony cannot be missed. She fights for the downtrodden and believes in Marxist ideology. But it is her undying spirit that contributed to the ouster of the communists from power in Bengal after 34 long years. Ninety-year-old Mahasweta Devi is physically weak, but intellectually still youthful.

A small, cluttered table with a precariously placed telephone, a bookrack and the divan make the study of the writer and social activist of Bengal.

A woman of conviction, age has not robbed Mahasweta Devi of her spirit and sense of humour. Feeble but alert, tottering in her room and speaking in a hushed voice, the writer who in the last 40 years churned out 114 novels and 20 collection of short stories, said: “I will be writing another novel. Do you know, I conceived and finished writing Hazar Chaurasi Ki Maa in 60 hours.”

Mahasweta Devi said when Govind Nihalani was making Hazar Chaurasi Ki Maa, based on Naxalism, Jaya Bachchan came to meet her. And the author was astonished to know that someone was a complete vegetarian. “I can’t believe how can one eat bhindi all his life,” Mahasweta said mischievously hinting at Amitabh Bachchan.

A true incident in a Rajput zamindar family in Palmau, Bihar, inspired Mahasweta to write Rudali. She could not believe her eyes when she saw that after a local zamindar died his family hired wailers to mourn his death in the house. Rudali was made into a Bollywood film with Dimple Kapadia in the lead.

South Asia’s most decorated author and social activist Mahesweta Devi feels embarrassed to talk about her Sahitya Akademi Award, Jnanpith Award, Ramon Magsaysay Award, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.

“It is not money or awards but sincerity towards one’s mission, honesty and self-reliance that makes the difference,” she said looking out of her study window from the second floor of her modest three-story house on Kasba Connector off Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.

Mahesweta Devi did her graduation from Visva Bharati, where she came in touch with Rabindranath Tagore. She says it is Tagore who taught her to be self-reliant, developed her taste to appreciate art and inspired her to write. Mahasweta disclosed that she does terrific homework before starting a novel. “For Jhansi Ki Rani, I consulted history books and many eminent historians. I did similar groundwork while writing Adhar Manik and Rudali. I believe in homework,” said Mahasweta.

Associated with communist party in her early life, Marxist thoughts influenced Mahasweta in her writings and activism. Her father Manish Ghatak was a well-known poet and writer of Kallol Yug. Her paternal uncle was famous film director Ritwik Ghatak. Her maternal uncles were noted sculptor Sankha Chowdhury and Sachin Chowdhury, the founder-editor of Economic and Political Weekly of India.

Mahasweta married well-known playwright Bijon Bhattacharya, who was a founder-father of IPTA Movement in India. “I was influenced by Marxism but I am not into politics. I have never minced words to criticize the misdoings of the Left or the Right. I have struggled all my life and lived in rented houses. I built this house recently,” she said.

The devastating Bengal Famine of 1943 brought out the activist in Mahasweta. Subsequently, the pathetic life of the tribals in Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh drew Mahasweta Devi towards them. And soon she became a champion for the cause of the Lodha and the Sabar tribes. “I was in tears to see the debt-bonded labour system of the Palmau tribals. Zamindars exploited them. My book Dust on the Road tells the sad tale,” said Mahasweta.

She was shocked to find people killing the Lodhas of Midnapore, Kheria Sabars of Purulia and Dhikaros of Birbhum just because the British Raj had declared them as “criminal tribes”. The ghastly practice made Mahasweta launch a relentless campaign to protect them.

“My doors are always open for the tribals. We collect donations to work among them in Purulia. I believe one doesn’t need millions to do good work. Ford Foundation had offered funds but I refused. Today, with our meager resources, we run 11 schools in Purulia,” said Mahasweta who is campaigning in the tribal belt to preserve jungles, wetlands and tribal handicrafts.

Mahasweta criticized the 34 years of the Left Front government for ignoring the tribals, forcibly acquiring farmers’ lands and giving them to the corporate houses to build industries. “I criticized former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The Left has left us with poor health and education system, bad urban and rural infrastructure, water crisis, inadequate irrigation and rampant deforestation.”

However, Mahasweta Devi pointed out that while the  Left Front apparatchiks were approachable and she could discuss the problems of the tribals with them, Mamata Banerjee has not responded to her demands for the tribals.

At one point, Mahasweta Devi's relation with Mamata Banerjee soured when the author as the chairperson of the Bangla Academy rejected the government’s interference in choosing the candidates for the Vidyasagar Puraskar. In protest, she resigned.

But this was not the only reason for her resignation. Mahasweta Devi said the Bangla Academy could do useful work by promoting the rich literature of the State. It could encouraged talents from districts and tribal areas. “But the Bangla Academy is filled with insincere people. Mamata misunderstood me. I was keen to work with her and help her,” said Mahasweta Devi, who subsequently again became friends with Mamata.

Defending Mamata, the author said she is optimistic abut oriborton. But one cannot expect change overnight. “It is not magic. I know Mamata is sincere. She needs to take correct decisions and have good advisers,” said Mahasweta who has a penchant for attacking people in power. She told Kerala CPI(M) state secretary P Vijayan to reach out to the people.

But writing remains Mahasweta Devi's passion. “I am in search of that man who is in the crowd. I am unable to catch him, but the day I catch him, I will finish my new novel,” said Mahasweta with a smile.

Age may have slowed down the prolific, grand old dame. But as long as she has a clear thinking mind and a beating heart, she plans to keep on writing till quits – just like Nobel Laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

The saffron song

Arindam Sarkar

They have started working in tandem in Bengal. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks have raised the issue of border infiltration to consolidate the Hindu vote-bank and they are telling the people not to waste their votes. And the BJP leaders are demanding that the people should vote for them.

As things stand, the strident Sangh Parivar may not be able to defeat the Trinamool Congress, but can the saffron surge reduce Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s victory margin, as she takes the shot for a second term in April 2016 Assembly elections in Bengal.

Poor governance of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee; a rejig of the BJP State unit; training of the saffron leadership to mobilize the workers; an aggressive membership drive; and comparison of the performance of Mamata Banerjee’s State government with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre and other BJP-ruled States in India is going to be the BJP’s Bengal Line in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Bengal.

BJP has decided to fight the forthcoming Assembly elections by highlighting two issues – good governance and development. The saffron brigade has decided to refrain from attacking Mamata Banerjee directly.

Instead, the BJP would highlight Mamata government’s failure to maintain law and order; the effect of the ponzy scam; failure to woo industries to Bengal; and the tendency of the Trinamool Congress to resort to violence in order to thwart the moves of the Opposition parties.

Party’s national president Amit Shah would lead the BJP’s election campaign in Bengal. And come 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also hold poll rallies in different parts of the State.

BJP Secretary and National Observer in-charge of Bengal Siddhartha Nath Singh observed that by the time they went to the Assembly elections in Bengal, the BJP government at the Centre would be two years old and it would be appropriate to compare the performance of Narendra Modi government with that of Mamata Banerjee’s first five-year term. Thus, people could judge and vote.

In order to give a definite focus to the party and to revitalize the party workers in Bengal, Siddhartha Nath Singh, Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra and State BJP president Rahul Sinha addressed a training camp for more than 50 senior State BJP leaders. In the camp, the BJP’s ideology and good governance were discussed and debated.

These trained leaders, according to Siddhartha Nath Singh, would percolate the vision of the BJP to the block level of the State and reach out to the commonest of the common people.

Siddhartha Nath Singh pointed out that there is no industry and infrastructure in Bengal. Rampant corruption was prevailing and unemployment is high. Labour unrest is unbelievable and there is no law and order in the State. Given this situation, if the BJP could put its act together, people could teach the Trinamool Congress a lesson.

The BJP vote-bank in Bengal increased from six percent in 2011 to 17 percent in 2014. And the saffron brigade expects this figure to increase in the future. The BJP is toying with the idea of inducting new faces in the existing State leadership to make the team stronger so that it could face the Trinamool challenge in the elections.

The BJP in Bengal is on a major membership drive. And according to the BJP leaders, more than 5,000 people are joining the party daily in the State. Many intellectuals and celebrities have joined the BJP. Singer Babul Supriyo is a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. Actress Rupa Ganguly and Locket Chatterjee and magician PC Sorcar have also joined the BJP. There are many more who are talking with the BJP.

Apparently, some Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) and Congress leaders have also approached the party leadership and were willing to join the BJP. “We will induct them at the right time,” said Siddhartha Nath Singh.

All in the family

Arindam Sarkar

Politics of dynasty is not alien to Bengal. Barring one candidate all the rest, who were in the fray in the 16^th (2014) Lok Sabha elections, romped home successfully.

Leading the list of dynasty politics is the nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Trinamool Congress candidate Abhishek Banerjee comfortably won the Diamond Harbour parliamentary seat that fell vacant after Somen Mitra revolted against Mamata and crossed over to the Congress.

Abhijit Mukherjee, whose chances of winning the Jangipur parliamentary constituency in Murshidabad was considered to be very thin, by none other than the State Congress chief and Murshidabad strongman Adhir Chowdhury, scrapped through by a narrow margin and won the seat for the second consecutive time.

Abhijit Mukherjee is the son of President Pranab Mukherjee. He inherited the seat from his father who was a two-time MP of Jangipur. Pranab was the sitting MP of Jangipur before he became the President of India.

According to Adhir Chowdhury, there is always an element of acceptability because of the family background. However that effect wears off fast unless the candidate works hard to retain the parliamentary seat.

Rightly so, after former Union Congress Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi fell ill, his wife Deepa Dasmunsi contested from the Raiganj parliamentary seat in 2009 and won it. But in 2014, she lost the seat to the CPI(M).

Thanks to the development work done by the late Union Congress Minister ABA Ghani Khan Chowdhury for three decades in Malda, his MLA sister Ruby Noor reaped the benefit. Today his strong influence in the district is helping his niece Mausam Benazir Noor, who is the two-time MP of Malda North, and his brother AH Khan Chowdhury – the three-time MP of Malda South. Ghani Khan Chowdhury’s youngest brother AN Khan Chowdhury is Shujapur MLA.

Mausam Benazir Noor candidly said it couldn’t be denied that much of their family’s popularity and acceptance among the people in Malda is because of Ghani Khan Chowdhury. His name still matters. Ghani Khan Chowdhury died in 2006 but people still remember and respect him; and expect his family members to work like him.

Lastly, Trinamool Congress’ sway over East Midnapore district is being maintained by the shrewd politics and organisational skills of a father and son. Father is Contai MP Sisir Adhikari and the son is Tamluk MP Suvendu Adhikari. In 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha polls, both won their respective constituencies.

In 2009, Mamata Banerjee made Sisir Adhikari Union Minister of State for Rural Development. And appointed his son Suvendu as State Trinamool Youth Congress president. Suvendu is now the Trinamool general secretary and his father Sisir is Trinamool district president.

In fact, Mamata Banerjee has so much confidence on the capabilities of the father and son that she spent the least amount of time for campaigning in the two East Midnapore parliamentary constituencies in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

“I am a devotee of Swami Vivekananda. We have fought terror to bring peace back into this district. Development is our only mantra,” said Suvendu, who rose like a meteor when he led the Trinamool to victory against the CPI(M) in the battle for Nandigram and neutralized the might of the expelled CPI(M) leader Lakshman Seth in the district.

Ray of life

Arindam Sarkar

National Book Trust (NBT), India, is planning to come out with the first national biography of eminent filmmaker Satyajit Ray in Bengali on his birthday on May 2, 2015.  Soon after that, NBT would release the biography of another famous Bengali Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

These two books would be released four years after the NBT published the biographies of two Bengali theatre thespians Shambhu Mitra, which is written by his daughter Shaoli Mitra, and Utpal Dutta that is written by Arup Mukhopadhyay.

According to Bratin Dey, assistant editor of NBT, these works were part of the national biography series of NBT. The NBT has planned to publish historical documents of such personalities who made significant contribution in different spheres of Indian life. After publishing the biographies of Satyajit Ray and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, we want to work on the life and times of Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij and Jyoti Basu.

Eight months back, NBT commissioned Arup Mukhopadhyay to write the biography of Satyajit Ray. Couple of months back, the author submitted the manuscript to the publisher. It was Satyajit Ray’s son, film director Sandip Ray, who recommended Arup’s name to NBT since he had interacted with his father and was much praised for Utpal Dutta’s biography.

“After Marie Seton’s "Portrait of a Director" and Andrew Robinson’s "The Inner Eye", the NBT’s biography is going to be an authoritative work,” said Arup Mukhopadhyay, who edits Utpal Dutta’s magazine “Epic Theatre”, whose golden jubilee volumes have now hit the stands.

The 500-page Satyajit Ray biography would have 70 to 80 pictures of the maestro and his works, important documents and his correspondence with eminent film directors and personalities of the world. This biography is just not a narration of maestro’s life. But it takes a critical look at his works and evaluates the opinions of the film critics of the world, claims Arup Mukhopadhyay.

The biography begins with Ray’s childhood and then covers his youth, life in Shantiniketan, Kolkata and England, stint in advertising world and his initial interest in films. “In 1955 Pather Panchali was released. It was a turning point in his life. In 1961, He began writing Professor Shonku, he revived Sandesh, emerged as a music composer and made a documentary on Rabindranath Tagore. In 1965, he created Feluda. And he never looked back as a director and a writer,” said Arup Mukhopadhyay.

Arup Mukhopadhyay said a lot of research has gone into producing this biography. After all, Ray was a multi-layered and a multi-faceted personality. Ray did not write an autobiography. His essays on films and other subjects are collected in his two books Our Films, Their Films and Deep Focus. “I am grateful to the Ray Society for all the assistance they gave me to write the maestro’s life and times,” said Arup Mukhopadhyay.

Bratin Dey said the NBT expects the biography of Satyajit Ray to be a hit and popular among the readers.

External influence on Bengali cuisine

Arindam Sarkar

For centuries, the Bengali cuisine, whether served buffet or A la Carte, has been influenced by the nawabs, foreign settlers and the colonizers.

The staple fish and meat served with lentils and vegetables is a multi-course dish peculiar to the eastern part of South Asia. And the modern “service” structure is “a’ la russe style” of French cuisine where the food is served course-wise rather than all at a time.

Between 1757 and 1947, immigrants such as the French, Dutch, Portuguese, Jews, Chinese, Afghans and the British settled in and around Kolkata and influenced Bengali cuisine.

Murshid Quli Khan became the first Nawab of Bengal under the Mughals in 1717. With the nawab and the Mughal courts came the Mughlai cuisine or Moglai food dipped in rich sauces, marinated in rich spices and fares that saw an extensive use of meat.

In 1856, along with the last Nawab of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah, who was exiled to Metiabruz, came the famous Awadhi cuisine to Kolkata. It is said the nawab brought with him hundreds of bawarchis, khansamas and masalchis. Deriving from the Mughal cuisine, Awadh preferred meat to beef and generously used ittar (essence) of rose and kewra.

The Nawabs of Dhaka also influenced the culinary style. Their bawarchis were famous for cooking Sutli kebab, Bihari kebab, Boti kebab, etc., made from marinated mutton and beef. They cooked breads mixed with cheese, minced meat and spices.

One of the famous dishes of the Nawab of Dhaka is the Kachchi Biryani, which is said to be better than the biryanis of Delhi and Lucknow but inferior to that of Hyderabad.

It is said the generous use of spices, meat and ghee in the Bengali cuisine came from the courts of the nawabs.

“Local cuisine has always been influenced by the movement of people, who have either settled or lived at a place for sometime. They have left behind their culinary influence,” believes Chef Joy Banerjee of Bohemian.

“From the Portuguese we learnt to make chhana (cheese), French taught us to bake paurooti (bread), chingri malai curry is imported from Thailand and dolma potol from the Armenians,” said Chef Joy Banerjee.

Later on, it is the Baghdadi Jews who set up Kolkata’s famous Jewish Bakeries. The Anglo-Indians also influenced Bengal’s cuisine but their culinary skill is slowly dying. Cakes and puffed patties are delicacies that originated from the famous Jewish bakeries. The British introduced chops and cutlets, which still flourishes in North and South Kolkata.

“Street food is very much a characteristic of Kolkata. Many say their origin can be traced to the Chinese and the Marwaris, before Bengalis started setting up eateries on pavements” claims restaurateur Anjan Chatterjee.

But gone are the days of external influence. Consolidated as a delicacy with a specific flavour and taste, Bengali food is now coming out of the home kitchens and hitting the restaurants in a big way. More than a dozen fine-dining restaurants are today doing business exclusively by serving Bengali fare in the city.

Kolkata is now home to Chinese, Mediterranean, Lebanese, Mexican, Thai, Korean, Middle-Eastern, Continental, Japanese, Bangladeshi and Indian –especially Bengali – cuisine.

 

The Gandhis and the communist

Arindam Sarkar

The Congress fell out with the CPI(M) after the latter withdrew support from the Congress-led UPA-II Government at the Centre over the Indo-US Nuclear Deal in 2008.

But one cannot forget the fact that it was former Chief Minister and communist patriarch Jyoti Basu who was instrumental in mobilising the support of the Left for the Congress in 2001 that facilitated the formation of the Congress-led UPA-I Government at the Centre.

In the summer of 2001, Jyoti Basu had called on AICC president Sonia at 10, Janpath in New Delhi to convey that the Left would support the Congress to form the government at the Centre.

Sonia Gandhi remembers this political overture. She is also aware that the relations between Jyoti Basu and the Gandhis have been beyond political ideology and the shades of green and red.

History records that way back in 1936 when Jyoti Basu went to the Inner Temple in London, he developed a strong friendship with Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi. At that time, Jawaharlal Nehru was touring Europe to mobilize support for India’s Independence.

Jyoti Basu as secretary of Indian League and London Majlis, under Krishna Menon’s guidance, organized several meetings for Jawaharlal Nehru in London. 

An admirer of Harold Laski, Jyoti Basu along with other Indian communists like Bhupesh Gupta, Snehangshu Acharya, Renuka Roy, Rajni Patel, Nikhil Chakrabarty and Mohan Kumaramangalam spent a lot of time discussing politics with Feroze and Indira.

The group also opposed Franco’s dictatorship in the Spanish Civil War and extended solidarity towards Dolores Ibaruri whose “They shall not pass” is now a legendary slogan. At this time, Jyoti Basu and other communists also supported Indira-Feroze courtship, despite Nehru’s strong reservations against it.

Back home in 1941, Basu-Gandhi ties remained intact. But it was the dismissal of the first communist government in Kerala in 1959 by the then Congress president Indira Gandhi that created a political gulf between Jyoti Basu and Indira Gandhi.

However, Jawaharlal Nehru’s non-aligned foreign policy, support to Gamal Abdul Nasser in the 1956 Suez crisis, tilt towards USSR and strong socialist views kept Basu close to Nehru and Indira.

This bonhomie however was broken in 1962 during the Chinese aggression. Jyoti Basu like several other communists was arrested after being dubbed as “pro-China”.  In 1964, the communist party in India split and Jyoti Basu as a CPI(M) leader called on Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in New Delhi. It is learnt that from this stage the young Rajiv and Sanjay used to call Basu as, “Jyoti Uncle”.

Jyoti Basu did not approve of the dismissal of the United Front Government in Bengal in 1969 by the Centre. Indira Gandhi was then the prime minister and Jyoti Basu was the deputy chief minister of the coalition government in Bengal.

But soon they got over the misunderstanding and during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Indira and Basu held several meetings to assess the situation in the eastern theatre of India.

It is because of Jyoti Basu’s good relations with Indira that he escaped imprisonment during the Emergency in 1975. In 1980, the relationship between Prime Minister Iindira Gandhi and Chief Minister Jyoti Basu improved further. No wonder, the assassination of Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 was deeply shocked Jyoti Basu.

On that day, Jyoti Basu who was attending a CITU conference at Tuticorin in Kerala took a flight at 2 pm for New Delhi. He was beside Rajiv Gandhi when he took over as prime minister. Rajiv’s prime ministership saw the laying of the foundation stones for many big projects in Bengal such as Bakreswar Thermal Power project and Haldia Petrochemicals Limited.

Though the Bofors scam in 1988-1989 saw Jyoti Basu and the communists firing a lot of missiles towards the Congress, the Bengal CM kept away from directly attacking Rajiv Gandhi.

After Rajiv Gandhi, Jyoti Basu adopted the same line towards Sonia Gandhi. When political compulsions demanded, the Congress became a pariah for the CPI(M), but Jyoti Basu refused to hit out against Sonia Gandhi.

In fact, it was Jyoti Basu, who first said publicly that Sonia Gandhi was an Italian by birth, but since she was an Indian citizen by marriage she could become an MP. Sonia Gandhi did not forget this, or the umpteen dinner meetings that Jyoti Basu and Indira Gandhi had at 7 Safdarjung Road in New Delhi.

For 70 years, Jyoti Basu and the Gandhis shared a very close relationship. Different politics did not upset the personal equations of the giants of the Indian democracy. And personal equations did not affect the political stances of the communist and his Congress friends.

Remembering Jyoti Basu

Arindam Sarkar  

The 21^st party congress of the CPI(M) at Vishakapatnam ended with the elevation of Sitaram Yechury as the General Secretary of the party. But the time is out of joint for him and the CPI(M).

After much deliberations at Vizag, the CPI(M) mandarins expressed in the central committee that the dwindling party membership, leadership crisis at all levels, lack of young leaders at the top, failure to reach out to the people and dilution of the Marxist ideology in the country demanded that the apparatchiks should undertake rectification steps to revive the party in India – and especially in Bengal and Kerala.

Sitaram Yechury himself said that the party would work towards correcting the mistakes. The Vizag party congress virtually echoed what Jyoti Basu had said a decade back. The late communist patriarch time and again insisted that the party was moving away from the people and that if the people’s aspirations were not fulfilled, the CPI(M) would suffer a jolt in the elections. Jyoti Basu was right.

In 2009 Lok Sabha elections, CPI(M) did not do well in Bengal and in 2011 Bengal Assembly polls, the CPI(M) lost to the Trinamool Congress. This marked the end of 34 years of Marxist regime in Bengal.

Jyoti Basu saw it coming. 

Attired in a neatly-pressed white punjabi and striped lungi, a couple of years before his death in January 2010, India’s most celebrated nonagenarian communist had briskly walked into his sitting room at Indira Bhavan in Salt Lake to say with command that unless certain areas were rectified by the Left Front administration, the communists in Bengal were in for trouble. 

The frail Jyoti Basu, who could slowly walk without assistance, had no expression in his eyes when he said unemployment, illiteracy and poor health system remained the main failures of the Left Front Government after 30 years in power.

Ninety three-year old Jyoti Basu said: “In my lifetime, I want to see the government excelling in these areas too.”  This was two days before the Left Front Government completed 30 years in power in Bengal.

Jyoti Basu emphatically said that at no cost the cohesion of the Left Front coalition should be disturbed. The disunity in the front, he said, would derail the coalition government that had set a world record in parliamentary politics for being the only nine-party government in power for over three decades. 

Looking back, the apprehensions and sayings of the Marxist Jyoti Basu – who held the record for being the longest-serving chief minister of the country – who was baptized under such British communists as Philip Spratt, Rajni Palme Dutt and Fabian Socialists between 1936 and 1941 proved to be prophetic. 

The Left took a drubbing in Lok Sabha polls 2009 and its industrial policy boomeranged because of forcible acquisition of lands for industries in Singur and Nandigram.

In Bengal, Basu felt that only industries could reduce unemployment and he lamented that more than 34 lakh educated-unemployed existed in the communist State. He lauded the seventh Left Front Government for is pro-industrial policy but expressed reservations over forcible acquisition of lands. Basu believed that communists should reach out to the people, mobilize support and create a consensus before acquiring lands to set up industries. 
 
A pragmatic, the nonagenarian politburo member had stressed that with Centre’s freight equalization policy and License Raj over, there was no reason why industries should not flourish in Bengal? “But industries alone will not do. Measures should be taken to bring down the staggering illiteracy that stood at 73 per cent, electrification of villages should be completed and percentage of people living Below the Poverty Line should be brought down,” said Basu. 

The health system, Basu pointed out, immediately needed attention. He said, though 70 per cent of the people received treatment in government hospitals, but there was scope for improvement. 

In national politics, Basu believed there were two occasions when the CPI(M) took wrong decisions. One, the CPI(M)’s non-participation in the Centre in 1996, which prevented him from becoming the prime minister and two, the CPI(M)’s decision to withdraw support from the UPA-I on the Indo-US Nuclear Deal issue to bring the government down in 2008. 

However, the forcible acquisition of lands for industries; withdrawal of support from the UPA-I; and CPI(M)’s voting with the BJP in the Parliament against the Congress irked Basu the most in his last days.

The communist, who had gone to 10 Janpath in 2001 to tell AICC president Sonia Gandhi that the Left would support her party to form the government at the Centre to keep the communal forces at bay, was helpless in his last days when the young politburo mandarins refused to pay heed to his advice.

Poetic politics

Arindam Sarkar

If politicians have a special liking for Rabindra Sangeet, Rabindranath Tagore too was not oblivious to politics. He presided over the Congress session, protested against the Partition of Bengal in 1905 and wrote poems and songs to inspire India’s freedom struggle.

In 1871, at the age of 10, Tagore was stung by patriotism. In 1941, when the Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore died, he was still a primary member of the Congress, popular with the communists and a patriot admired by the Hindus and the Muslims alike.

Tagore the humanist, educationist, philosopher, poet and litterateur played a significant role in the political spectrum of his times and still continues to be a favourite with the politicians.

Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 left a deep impact on Tagore. He grew up participating in patriotic festivals like the Hindu Mela and Shivaji Utsav at Jorasanko Thakur Bari. He was associated with the British Indian Association, Indian Association and the Landholders Association – formed by the patriots against the British imperialists before the Indian National Congress was formed in 1885.

During the first Congress session at Bombay in 1885, Tagore lamented that not many Bengalis were present. “Shobai esheche bishan loiya, koi re bangali koi…” Tagore participated in the Congress session of 1886 held at Town Hall in Kolkata and penned: “Amra milechi aaj maayer dake…” It was the opening song of the session. Thereafter, for years Tagore now and then participated in the Congress sessions and the Bengal Provincial Conferences.

In 1896, Tagore composed the music of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Vande Mataram with the Cathay Company. Tagore sang the poem. Subsequently, 43 musicians such as Jadu Bhatta, Sarla Devi, Ravi Shankar, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay and even AR Rahman have composed music for Vande Mataram. Yet even today, it is the Tagore composition that is played by the Congress.

As the National Movement developed, patriotic songs flowed out of Tagore’s pen. He opposed the Partition of Bengal in 1905. “Banglar mati, Banglar jol. Banglar bayu, banglar fol. Banglar asha, banglar mon, Banglar ghare shoto bhai bon. Ek howk, ek howk, ek howk, hey bhogoban,” sang the poet.

It was in the Pabna Bengal Provincial Conference, Tagore became the president and presented his ideals on village development, cooperative movement and Hindu-Muslim unity that strongly influenced Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee and the Communists.

Impressed with Gandhi and to inspire him to lead the National Movement, Tagore penned such songs as: “Jodi tor daak shune keu na ashe, tobe ekla cholo re..,” “Jibono jokhon shukhiya jaye, karuna dharaye esho…” and “Amra keu ba dhoni, keu ba nishyo, Gandhi maharajer shishya…”

Gandhi, Nehru and Indira frequently visited the poet at Visva Bharti in Shantiniketan. It was Tagore who gave the title of Mahatma, Rituraj and Priyadarshani to Gandhi, Nehru and Indira respectively. He gave the title of Deshbandhu to CR Das and Deshnayak to Subhash Chandra Bose. And after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 when Tagore relinquished his knighthood, Indian politicians were all admiration for him.

After 1930 when Tagore visited USSR, he praise in Russiar Chithi their education, health and housing system, Indian communists such as SA Dange, Muzzaffar Ahmed, PC Joshi, Somnath Lahiri, Ronen Sen became his admirers. While BT Ranadive, EMS Namboodiripad and AK Gopalan closely followed his interactions with Roman Rolland and Leo Tolstoy. 

In 1940, a sick Tagore used to enquire about the World War II and the Red Army from PC Mahalanobis who used to read him out the newspapers.“Parbe orai parbe..,” said Tagore about the USSR and the allied forces fighting Hitler’s fascist forces.

Former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu was a Tagore admirer and his successor, former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is known for his erudition on Tagore’s works. It is former Speaker of the Lok Sabha Somanth Chatterjee who ensured that a life-size statue of Tagore was installed inside the Indian Parliament.

“Akash bhora, surjya tara, biswa bhora praan…”, “Krishna koli ami torei boli…” and “Tora jeja bolish bhai, amar shorir horin chai…” are popular with the communists. So is the poem Dui Bigha jomin…

No less is the contribution of Bangladeshi communists such as Begum Safiya Kamal, Prof Shamsur Rahman, Mauala Bhasani, Prof Muzzafar Ahmed, Moni Singh and Begum Motia Chowdhury in popularising Rabindranath Tagore in their country.

President Pranab Mukherjee loves listening to Rabindra Sangeet and has memorized most of the Tagore poems. Former Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi before falling ill often quoted Tagore’s philosophy and poems in his speeches. Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao was a keen follower of Tagore. And it is said, Narasimha Rao was one non-Bengali who had read more on Tagore than many Bengalis.

For Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Rabindra Sangeet is her source of sustenance when she is hopping from one meeting to another or resting. She listens to Tagore songs on the move. She also loves to sing and play Tagore songs on her synthesizer. “Boro asha kore eshechi go firaye o na…” and “Bhagowan tumi juge juge dut pathaye o cho bare, bare..” come naturally to her.

The poet strongly influenced Jan Sangh’s SP Mukherjee, BJP’s former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajayee, former Union Ministers LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. All excellent political orators, they profusely quoted “Gurudev” in their unmatchable style to mesmerize the crowds.

  

When Tagore died in 1941, Kazi Nazrul Islam paid a tribute in his poem Robi Hara. But Tagore is far from lost. His philosophy of universal harmony and rural development; and the melodious, thought-provoking songs still linger in the minds of the politicos.