Q. How do you look at the forthcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala?
A. Elections are a challenge. It is a serious matter. There are certain positives and certain negatives. In Kerala, the trend has been that there is always a change in power every five years. It is now the UDF’s turn, but we hope to arrest the trend this time. The performance of our outgoing government and the chief minister in government has been rated high in opinion polls. And the response we are getting in the initial stage is very encouraging. In Bengal, yes, the setbacks we suffered in the parliamentary and local body elections have pointed out certain correctives that we need to undertake, which have been undertaken. So we see now a trend which is much more positive towards us than.

Q What are the negatives in Bengal?
A. Fallout of the Singur and Nandigram agitations. Complaints we received about the functioning of our cadre have since been corrected. At the local body level, the elected representatives were not really being in tune with the aspirations of the people.

Q. Are you looking at the possibility of a post-poll understanding with the Congress?
A. Not us. No. I don’t think that is on our agenda at all.

Q. What is the reason behind bringing in so many fresh faces and dropping sitting MLAs, including ministers?
A. We normally go for a lot of changes. Even in the last West Bengal Assembly elections, nearly 120 new faces were fielded. Now, in our party, we have a norm that normally people do not remain in an elected post for more than two or three terms unless, of course, it is absolutely necessary or becomes inevitable. So that is an in-built mechanism in our party that changes do occur. The second reason is that the demographic constitution of the whole country has now changed in the last five years and it is still changing. It is becoming a younger country and, therefore, that should also reflect in the organisation.
Other reasons being what we have already spoken of earlier, and some of the tendencies I was talking about, which need to be immediately corrected, also has found a reflection in choosing candidates.

Q. During the last five or six years, there has been a rapid downfall of your party electorally. The main agenda of your party had been to establish itself in the cow belt. In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar you have been simply wiped out.
A. In the terms of electoral parameters what you are saying is correct. But in terms of the party’s influence, in terms of popular struggles and mass organisation membership etc., there have been a growth. So the problem which we actually have is the mismatch between the organisational and political growth, through movements and struggles and its reflection in the votes we manage to pull. So the reason for this is and I think is a very important aspect, which has been engaging the party in its last three party congresses, is the manner in which we champion the issues of economic exploitation, whether it is the issue of price rise, protection of jobs, protection of public sector or whether it is issue of the rights of the unorganised labour.
On all these issues, struggles are organised and the gains are also achieved. But the very same people on most occasions, who are part of these struggles, when it comes to elections they vote according to their social base.
Now this is, according to us, because we have not been able to generate that degree of confidence among the people that we are committed fighters against social oppression as committed as we are against economic exploitation. So unless we take up issues of social oppression and caste oppression as actively as we take up economic exploitation issues, we will not be able to wedge this mismatch. And the rate at which we have been able to overcome this has not yet reached a level where we can make a breakthrough.

Q. Why do you think you have not been able to generate that kind of confidence in people in so many years. Does it call for a change in strategy or orientation of the party?
A. In fact, it is going to be a major issue (I can only anticipate) in the party congress of how to sharply focus on the social issues which will create credibility among the people that we are as much a fighter and protector of their rights on the social issues as much as the economic issues. That is something which we have been saying but not really translated into action.

Q. Also your political alliances with certain parties... like your brief association with Mayawati and failed attempt to cobbled up a third front during the 2009 elections. She hardly gave you any importance.
A. There was no alliance with Mayawati. There was a large loosely formed third front which also included Mayawati. We have admitted our mistakes. I mean that sort of a projection lacked both credibility and viability. So that we have admitted in our review that was a mistake.

Q. What is the party’s stand on tainted politicians?
A. They should not be in politics. But now the point is that how do we effectively ensure that it happens. Under Indian law, you have the basic principle that until proven guilty, you are presumed to be innocent. So to that extent, I mean in every situation, even when you are chargesheeted, even in the cases which are going on in the courts, you are not proven guilty till the case is finally adjudicated. Now utilising this you have a large number of people who we think should not be in politics but they are coming. This is a serious matter. We all need to put our heads together. All the parties and the Election Commission should see how such criminalisation or criminality does not come in.

Q. What about your own party. What action do you take against your own tainted leaders?
A. We don’t put them up for election.

Q. But you keep them in the party. Like Pinarayi Vijayan continues to be the party state secretary in Kerala.
A. Vijayan is not contesting.

Q. But he continues to enjoy the power and position.
A. As you know we are fighting the case legally and politically. We have said that the case is a politically motivated case.

Q. Do you think infighting in Kerala will also affect your chances?
A. On the contrary, the entire manner in which the decision was finally taken to announce the candidates actually drew a lot of people to us.
Particularly, the democratic manner in which the final decision was taken. Yes, before that there were a lot of discussions and controversies etc. regarding who will be there, but the very fact that we went through the entire process and then when the final list was announced with Achuthanandan’s name and when the state secretary Pinarayi himself, while releasing the list, said that Achuthanandan is the seniormost leader of the party and he will lead the campaign.

Q. There have been talk of a strong dislike of Achuthanandan by party’s top leadership even to the extent to block his candidature.
A. But ultimate proof is that he’s not only there but is leading the election campaign.

Q. But Achuthanandan is still not your CM candidate though Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is.
A. That we will decide. Obviously will. Leading the election campaign means what? Buddha is also leading the election campaign.

Q. Particularly after the Lok Sabha polls, the West Bengal state unit was blamed for the Left’s debacle. There are major differences between Buddhadeb Bhacttacharjee and your central leadership. In fact, he has not attended several politburo meetings.
A. There are some meetings which Buddhadeb has not attended because of various reasons.

Q. But there are differences between the state leadership and the central leadership.
A. I mean differences are not unusual. They will always be there and finally one has to see what is the collective decision. That should prevail.

Q. If you lose Bengal, will there be a review of the central leadership?
A. Leadership is reviewed every three years, irrespective of whether we win or lose. Every three years we go to the party congress and there is review of the leadership and that is one of the important agenda of the party congress. So that review will take place but that will have nothing to do with winning or losing. That is the normal process.

Q. When is the next party congress?
A. It was due this April but we have postponed it till after the elections. So once the elections are over, we will get down to the process. You know in our party it takes around six months. So it should happen by the end of this year or early next year. That will review our political line and other things.

Q. Any move to fix tenure of the party general secretary?
A. We discussed it once. But no decision has been taken. The party congress will have to take a decision.

Q. What is the proposal? Does it fix a three year tenure for the general secretary?
A. There is no proposal yet. There was only a discussion once and some reports appeared. But that will have to be discussed by the central committee after the elections.
Q. Do you see unprecedented violence during the Assembly elections in West Bengal?
A. The main reason in Bengal today for this sort of violence that has come is the now almost open collaboration between the Trinamul and the Maoists. Trinamul MP Kabir Suman has written a book exposing the link, and then you have these Maoist leaders circulating CDs to show how this collaboration took place. Since Lok Sabha elections, we have lost 380 comrades. Nearly 168 are the tribal comrades who have been killed. So it is essentially, if you see the entire Jangalmahal area, here are about 45 MLAs out of which 41 are held by the Left Front. So terrorising that area and depriving the Left from winning those 41 is the best recipe for the Trinamul to come to power. So that is the political objective of why this is being done in that area.

Q. The home ministry has given reports that it is also CPI(M) cadres who are on the rampage.
A. We have asked the home minister also this question which he has not answered. That if it is our men on the rampage, then how is it that hundreds of them have been killed.

Q. But there are lists showing more number of deaths of Trinamul cadres as compared to CPI(M) cadres.
A. These are only numbers. But where is the list? The Trinamul has no list. We have been saying, asking them and challenging them to provide us a list. No such list has been provided by the Trinamul so far.

Q. The home ministry is talking of armed clashes.
A. Yes, there are armed clashes which are taking place, you just look at the situation of what has been happening there. People have been evicted from their own homes. They have been divested of their home, their land and they have to go and live in refugee camps. Now they have decide to go back to their own homes, armed with whatever they have. If they are not allowed, then clashes take place. On which side should the law stand, tell me?

Q. But law and order is a state subject.
A. Yes, law and order is a state subject. The people who are legitimate owners of their house and land should be allowed to go back to their houses and lands or not? If they are allowed then you say CPI(M) people are attacking. I mean, what are they attacking? They are going back to their own homes literally.

Q. Do you foresee 1971 kind of violence?
A. Well, I hope that does not happen, but it seems there are preparations open for that. But I hope it will be prevented.

Q. There are reports that the CPI(M) has its own armed camps.
A. The high court there has appointed a committee to do an investigation. It has done the investigation. The committee has said that all these are refugee camps where those people are staying who have been evicted from their homes. They did not find any evidence of arms. The report has been submitted to the Calcutta high court.