Gained in transition

8220;What we are discussing here is not something that relates to either art or aesthetic,8221; he told Bengal8217;s newly elected legislators in the Assembly. 8220;These are simply issues of social crime, perpetrated in the garb of art and culture. I hope the winds of change that are sweeping the country will bring refreshing changes in all spheres8212;politics, art and culture.8221;

8220;We promise to take action only if there is vociferous protest against these practices and there is a public demand for the Government to take action,8221; he said, exhorting the cultural world to protests against Oposanskriti decadent culture. 8220;But unless and until our government gets a clear verdict from the people in this regard, we are not going to initiate any action. Because it concerns the freedom of the artist and the freedom of art,8221; he declared.

From that point, it is easy to trace the evolution of the communist crusader8217;s idea of free enterprise, from art to now, economy. So when the 63-year-old Bhattacharjee speaks today, notice how the diction and vocabulary have changed. His first speech in 1977 was replete with references to 8220;toiling masses8221;, 8220;working class solidarity8221;, dubious 8220;profit motive8221; and 8220;vested circles8221;. When he addressed the packed gallery at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on June 24, 2007 to celebrate the Left8217;s 30 years in power, the contrast couldn8217;t have been more stark. His new refrain; 8220;industry8221;, 8220;capital8221;, 8220;investments8221; and 8220;employment8221;.

History will judge the outcome of it all. But the changes are sharp and mind boggling both at the individual as well as the party level. Jyoti Basu, with his aristocratic ways, had always been the capitalist chief minister of a communist government. The same epithet is thrust upon Basu8217;s middle-class successor for his love of capital, whether it be British, American, Japanese or Chinese.

The transition is not merely restricted to a graduation from agriculture to industry. It is much wider and encompasses core areas. The ministry in June 1977 was sworn in with an avowed goal to turn the 8220;government into an instrument for the working class8221;. Thirty years on, a paradigm shift has rendered the Government a key 8220;instrument for investments for industry, and for garnering private capital8221;.

Mass involvement had carried forward the 1977 agenda for land reforms, which has incurred a heavy human cost. But the process was inevitable. Similarly, says Bhattacharjee, the movement for industry requires mass support to gather momentum, else progress and development will be stalled. Within the party there are clear indications now that a section of the leadership is fast reconciling to the idea that the movement for industry, like the movement for land, may be inextricably linked to a human cost. But ever the revolutionary, the chief minister insists, 8220;We cannot turn our back on industry.8221;

Significantly, Bhattacharjee8217;s first speech in 1977 and the orations now explain the other 8220;shifts8221; the Leftists have undergone in the past 30 years8212;the most stunning being its coalition politics at Delhi and power sharing with a Congress-led UPA Government. The Bengal CM enjoys a rapport with Dr Manmohan Singh that many chief ministers of Congress-run states do not. While the Prime Minister sees a 8220;model CM8221; in Bhattacharjee, the latter almost wholeheartedly subscribes to liberal economic policies.

But there still is an anti-Congress fire burning in Bhattacharjee. It was evident even in his maiden speech in 1977. Referring to the Information and Cultural Affairs Department during the earlier Congress Government, Bhattacharjee had told the House: 8220;This department used to be an exemplary exhibition of inefficiency and a tool for corruption for narrow partisan interests. This department provided funds for party meetings and organisational purposes. The garbage left over by the previous Government needs to be removed fast to restore the dignity of the administration.8221;

Even more striking was Bhattacharjee8217;s perception of the Congress as a 8220;communal8221; party. 8220;The past Government patronised anti-social elements and encouraged narrow regionalism and communalism,8221; the young minister had thundered in the House 30 years ago.

It is difficult to gauge the response Bhattacharjee received for his impassioned speech, but the recorded proceedings give some indications. Haripada Bharati of the Janata Party, an outstanding orator, lauded Bhattacharjee8217;s plans of using the Information and Cultural Affairs Ministry to reach out to the remotest parts to address industrial workers. 8220;But one word of caution,8221; Bharati said, 8220;the Information Ministry is apparently a harmless portfolio. In reality, it is an explosively powerful one. The lifeline of an information mechanism should be truth and truth only. In the past we have seen instances of how falsehood had been spread in the name of truth. Truth had been the worst casualty and we have had a phase when the general public began calling All India Radio as the All Indira Radio.8221;

Bharati8217;s words of caution to Bhattachrjee is ringing true 30 years hence with transparency the worst casualty under the Left Front. This, despite Bhattacharjee having himself always held the information portfolio, except for one term from 1982 to 1987 when he lost his seat. Even with an RTI regime in place, his Government has had a miserable track record regarding accessibility of information. So much so that the State Chief Information Officer8212;in a letter early this year8212;pointed out how the non-implementation of the RTI had created 8220;utter disappointment and frustration among the stake holders and adversely affected the image of the state8221;.

Some things, of course, have not changed. Every morning by 8.30, Bhattacharjee is ready for the day and steps out of his flat at Palm Avenue, heading straight for the party headquarters on Alimuddin Street. Other senior leaders turn up and together they go through the newspapers minutely.

His love for cricket and literature are the two other things that too have not changed. It is another matter that Bhattacharjee had been a good cricketer during college days. Starting from para cricket in his north Kolkata neighbourhood, he even played with Ambar Roy at one point of time. His love of the game largely explains his fondness for former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

The violence in Nandigram opened him to vilification even by his close circle of scholars, writers and artists, not to forget some of his party comrades. But he seems to be more firmly embedded in the belief that the path he has chosen is the right one8212;even if historians trace a big change between 1977 and 2007.