Is it the shock effect of the poll drubbing? In an “upside down world”, the Marxist party is really in a quandary over choosing a leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly. With all the bigwigs, including party two politburo members Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Nirupam Sen, losing the election, the CPI(M) mandarins are left with only one option: to choose between party central committee member Suryakanta Mishra and state committee member Abdur Rezzak Mollah.
Although the party politburo has already given a seal of approval to Dr Mishra’s name (who is known as party general secretary Prakash Karat’s loyalist in party circles), the state party satraps are still dilly-dallying in announcing his name, sensing that a section of the party leadership, particularly from his own district (West Midnapore) may try to scuttle his chances of becoming the leader of Opposition. “In this topsy-turvy world (certainly in Bengal politics) where the party has to face a formidable force in the state Assembly, Suryakanta should not be the automatic choice for the party as he seems to lack that spirit of political guile or gift of the gab to be a match for the all-important job in the House,” said a party state secretariat member.
On the other hand, Mr Mollah who would have been an alternative choice of the party, has done himself no good by firing salvo against Mr Bhattacharjee and Dr Sen immediately after the shock defeats. Later he was censured by the party which in the Communist parlance is a red card to his party career. “This was a kind of suicide that he has committed when he put the two politburo members in the dock for the rout. Obviously he has robbed himself of his stake for the post despite being the only state committee member besides Dr Mishra,” a central committee member said.
He added that the other two former ministers — Sushanta Ghosh and Anisur Rahaman — who have been able to keep their seats intact are, however, not even members of the party state committee and as the party Red Book prescribes no leader below the rank of the state secretariat member, will be selected for the job.
Really, the Marxist party has now fallen in its worst of time as it is in dearth of party torch-bearer in the House, courtesy Ms Mamata Banerjee.