The seventh Panchayat poll results in West Bengal today threw up a harsh political reality for the Marxist-led Left Front. For the first time in the past 30 years, the results reflected a distinct dent in its rural support base. Although the ruling CPM-led Left Front may have lost only two of the 15 Zilla Parishads it had control over — there are 17 ZPs in all in the state — but its rout in Nandigram and Singur have come as a severe embarrassment to a government that had turned these two pockets into a political conflict between those who were for industry and those who were opposed to land acquisition.The party is keeping its fingers crossed fearing there might be bigger upsets at the Panchayat Samiti (middle tier) and Gram Panchayat (lowest tier) level if the Zilla Parishad trend is maintained. As counting goes on, many of those seats are said to be wrested by the Opposition Trinamool Congress and the Congress in districts like North 24-Parganas and Nadia. The major battering for the Left, particularly the CPM, came in a belt around Nandigram in East Midnapore district and in Singur in Hooghly district. Nandigram has been the centre of protracted violence between CPM cadres and the Opposition even after the state abandoned its plans of setting up a chemical SEZ there. Singur is the site of the Tatas’ Nano car factory.The CPM lost the East Midnapore Zilla Parishad to Trinamool Congress for the first time. In 2003, the CPM-led Left 50 of the 52 Zilla Parishad seats here. This time it won only about 16, with Trinamool wresting 35 seats.In Singur Block 1, the area where the Tata factory is coming up, the CPM had control of all the three Zilla Parishad seats. The CPM and CPI had won 32 of the 44 Panchayat Samiti ( the middle tier) seats in 2003. This year, all the three Zilla Parishad seats have been won by Trinamool which also won 37 of the 45 Panchayat Samiti seats this time. The CPM managed only 8. But unlike East Midnapore Zilla Parishad, the CPM managed to win the Hooghly Zilla Parishad. While the verdict is being seen as a resounding rebuff to the CPM-led Left Front, industry as well as political circles said it would be simplistic to assume that the vote is against industrialization of the state. For, there are other districts where land acquisition is on a bigger scale than in Singur and where the Left has retained its overwhelming hold this time as well: Purulia (10,000 acres is being acquired here), Burdwan (8,500 acres) and West Midnapore where 2,500 acres are being acquired. In most of these districts, land acquisition notices have been served. One explanation for this could be that voters have rejected the violence and fear unleashed by CPM cadres as the party and the government tried to ram down a policy it felt it had no need to explain. Benoy Konar, a CPM central committee member, said the state’s policy of industrialisation would go on whatever the verdict. “It is too early to assume that land acquisition was the reason behind the setback,” he said. “But the party will certainly analyse the setback in detail.”What will also need analysing is evidence that minorities are believed to have voted against the CPM in this election. Muslim-dominated pockets like South 24 Parganas, Malda and North Dinajpur went overwhelming against the CPM and the Left. Admitting this, Konar said that leaders like Siddiqullah Chowdhury — who led the Jamiat opposition in Nandigram — “used religion to consolidate Muslim votes against us.” Apart from East Midnapore, the CPM lost the crucial district of South 24-Parganas, covering much of the southern outskirts of Kolkata and Sunderbans where Bhattacharjee had elaborate plans for land acquisition for development of various projects by the Salim Group. The South 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad was under the control of CPM but this time it has gone to Trinamool. The CPM also lost Uttar Dinajpur to the Congress. In Uttar Dinajpur the architects of the Congress victory was Union Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi and wife Deepa DasMunshi, who is also an MLA. The Congress also managed to retain its hold over the Malda Zilla Parishad after a close fight.The only consolation for the CPM was that it wrested the Murshidabad Zilla Parishad from the Congress taking advantage of fierce infighting within the party. Here, too, it was a close finish with the Left getting 32 and the Congress 31 Zilla Parishad seats. A jubilant Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress announced that her party would continue to “block the industrialization drive of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.”Bhattacharjee, however, when asked whether he was upset over the results, said: “I will not comment.” Sources at Alimuddin Street said he had expressed “concern” and discussed the results with comrades in Delhi.The importance of a Zilla Parishad• Decides which gram panchayat will get what scheme, so political control of Parishad is crucial.• Controls funds from Central and state schemes adding up to nearly Rs 300 crore a year• Nodal agency for implementing all govt schemes; DM is only ex-officio chief executive officer of the Parishad• Each ZP is headed by a Sabhadhipati or chairman elected by its members.
