Aggressive peacemaker

His task of organising the truce meeting is a complex one but he has been persistently pursuing it. There is no guarantee he will succeed but in the run-up to the Assembly polls he has been emerging as one of the chief architects of this new breed of politics.

Many in the CPMs young brigade and even some of the older ones,particularly those who had been close to Jyoti Basu,appreciate Debs aggression. There has even been talk of Deb emerging as the new face of the CPM,one who could possibly replace Chief Minister Buddhadeb,should a replacement ever be needed.

Ever since Mamata kickstarted her Rajarhat land agitation,Deb has matched her,step for step,with innovations that have often bordered on melodrama. For one,he arranged a novel press conference capturing video clips of Mamatas meeting in Rajarhat and giving counter-arguments against each of her allegations about land-grab. There was an element of aggression too. He countered Mamatas threat to gherao housing authority HIDCOs head office in Rajarhat by warning that he could arrange to get the railway offices in Kolkata gheraoed by thousands in a matter of minutes.

Leaders at Alimuddin Street concede Deb had the sanction of the party,including that of the Chief Minister,before launching the current initiative. On Thursday,he dialled Mamatas Kalighat office at least a dozen times. Unsuccessful,he got one of her closest aides on a cellphone to help him connect. Still unsuccessful,he sent SMS messages to Mamata.

Those aware how anti-CPM Mamata is know that such a meeting is unlikely ever. Apart from her animosity to the CPM,she often describes Buddhadeb as a chief minister whose hands are painted red with the blood of Bengals innocent villagers. Trinamool Congress leader Partho Chatterjee has dismissed Debs phone calls and SMSes as political gimmicks.

Deb is no greenhorn,having been a minister for 20 years,a CPM central committee member and a West Bengal state secretariat member a position even Subhas Chakraborty never held. He was also Students Federation of India state secretary for several terms.

His current mission might just be a double game where a party agenda matches a personal one perfectly. By publicly highlighting his initiative,Deb has tried to mount pressure on Mamata and show the public that the CPM is serious about stopping the bloodletting. Thats a likely party agenda because the move comes in the backdrop of a massacre that has caused some embarrassment to the party.

Deb told The Indian Express: I have already got the nod from Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. I am confident about roping in Pranab babu,but I am yet to get a positive response from Mamata.

Deb has undertaken a mission that only former Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi ever accomplished: during the Singur agitation,he had made Buddhadeb and Mamata sit for a dialogue.

But it had been at Debs initiative that a dialogue between Mamata and Jyoti Basu took place at the latters home in 2008. That did not end the Singur agitation but made history.

This time too,Deb says,second-rung Trinamool leaders are strongly in favour of a dialogue. But it is difficult to know the Trinamool chiefs mind. If she does not agree the entire effort becomes futile. After all,political violence is being perpetrated by political parties8230; there are no two opinions that only the political parties can stop it.

According to some party leaders,it was part of Debs gameplan to drag Mamata into a land agitation in Rajarhat to make her unpopular among industrialists who had invested hugely. He also drew the attention of the national media to a township that was by and large the result of his own initiative.

Party comrades confirmed that Deb,of late,has been given the responsibility of rejuvenating young party workers in several districts,and has been holding general body meetings there.

But a veteran leader pointed out: It would be wrong to assume Gautam Deb is an alternative to Buddhadeb Bhatatcharjee. Rather,it would be wise to say that Gautam with his powerful oratory skills and aggression is the one who is largely addressing the acute leadership vacuum in the CPM,now.