The Last Man Standing!

On Tuesday, the late CPI-M veteran leader, Mr. Jyoti Basu was given 21 gun-salutes, the highest honour given to any West Bengal leader. Many VVIPs, noted sportsmen and celebrities from diverse field came to offer their last respect to this Marxist icon. We pray may his soul rest in peace.

Jyoti Basu was a history in himself in the sense he has got the rare opportunity to meet up with such legendary figures like Nelson Mandela, Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Fidel Castro to name a few. He has made a record of being the longest serving chief minister in the world for any state at a span of 23 years.

Of course, it’s not a matter of joke to rule a state, particularly West Bengal that has populations diverse in terms of imbibing different ideologies and political inclinations. A question has come up as to does the death of Basu offer a death knell to CPI-M as well?

To me, the communist party in the state has already started suffering a set back, with the rise of the opposition leader Miss Mamata Banerjee quite sometimes back. Nothing seems to have fallen right on place for the Marxist party - losing major seats in the so-called bastions of the Left, untimely death of 2 experienced Front leaders, Anil Biswas and Subhas Chakraborty. Miss Banerjee has taken a vow to uproot the stronghold of the party completely from West Bengal and looks very positive on winning the 2011 assembly elections.

Now, if we discuss about the developments Mr. Basu has brought in Bengal, little did we see any change as such. Communists are against any kind of industrialisation; hence we can hardly find any development in terms of opening new factories and plantations in this state during his tenure.

Rather than opening up new channels of private and public investments, we have found one by one closing of factories such as the Dunlop Factory and various jute mills across the state. The health conditions of the inhabitants of Bengal and sanitation and living conditions of the poor are beyond any say - withering off rather than improving.

In their 32 years of non-stop rule, no fruitful results have come up and we failed to see our beloved West Bengal ruling the top in terms of food supply, health, sanitation and condition of roads and the drainage system.

It seems that change is inevitable and let’s hope whatever happens in Bengal, happens for good only.