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Journalism of Courage
The Maoist insurgency in Lalgarh,in West Bengals West Midnapore district,did not bring about the collapse of the state administration; rather,it was the result of a gradual and systematic administrative collapse in the state. Lalgarh was opportune for a Maoist insurgency and the Naxalites made the most of it,driving out the representatives of the administration,that is,of the CPM. But as the Maoists are defeated and the states authority returned to this realm of lawlessness,Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee should do an immediate stock-taking. As the writ of his government is sought to be re-established over that of the Maoists in Lalgarh,Bhattacharjee must embark on establishing yes,after three long decades the writ of Writers Buildings the seat of his government over that of Alimuddin Street the state CPM headquarters,whence governance and crisis management has hitherto been determined for every nook and corner of the state.
Bhattacharjees tenure as chief minister has been a saga of the hope and promise of Bengals redemption belied a hope he had appeared to embody. Shortly after taking over from Jyoti Basu,his pronouncements on reindustrialising the state,debunking the CPMs cadre culture,bringing accountability to the administration and revamping the states infamous work culture were hailed as the moment of birth of a new Bengal and a new Left. True,that Bengal is still in the dumps
almost unredeemable at this late hour. But Bhattacharjee has no excuses. It is a job he must do as head of the elected state government.
To be fair,Bhattacharjee inherited a moribund Bengal from his predecessor whose tenure saw little apart from the land reforms and agrarian boost. But Bhattacharjee had time to undertake a course correction something he himself had promised in his early days as chief minister while admitting the Left Fronts mistakes. For more than two years now,that promise has been blowing up in his face,and his own words and actions havent helped. Surely,he doesnt want to be remembered as the successor who tried to do but messed up. In Bengal,not doing created the conditions for doing it wrong. It is Buddhadebs last chance to do it right.
