When nothing seems to work, it might be time to change the workers. In West Bengal, this is what the CPI(M) has done: replace the weather-beaten and battle-scarred veterans with a bunch of young, new faces. Without the historical baggage of the CPI(M)'s disastrous last few years in government, when the party alienated its own support base, these youngsters, who made their name in student politics, are now leading the Left charge.
And, there is no place like Jadavpur for the Left to unveil its plans for resurgence. The Jadavpur University is an important centre of Left-leaning student politics, and the Left Front chose Students Federation of India leader Srijan Bhattacharya as the candidate for the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Bhattacharya, 31, who contested and lost in Singur Assembly constituency in 2021, is one among the CPI(M)'s young brigade who are hoping to rebuild the party image with a more populist 21st-century socialist vision.
The millennials are everywhere, and it is shown in how they conduct their campaign. They do not disown the party's past, but their focus is on the future, and they are not harking back to the past glory of an uninterrupted 34 years of the Left in government.
Of course, none in the young generation of the CPI(M) is having it easy in their attempts to revive the party with a forward-looking approach, but they are able to establish a connection with the young electors, unlike their older colleagues who were tied down by tired phrases.
In Serampore, where the polling was on May 20, the Marxist candidate is Dipshita Dhar, all of 30 years old, taking on veterans from TMC and BJP. She contested from Bally Assembly constituency and lost in 2021. The goal clearly is not the outcome of this election, but the longer term as the CPI(M) tries to deal with the BJP on one side and TMC on the other. The party's slide from the pole position to the third was rapid in Bengal as its support base moved to not only its principal rival the TMC, but also to its ideological opposite, the BJP.
In Diamond Harbour, Pratik Ur Rahaman, just 34 years old, is pitted against Trinamool’s youth face Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Mamata and widely seen as her successor. Like Srijan and Dipshita, Rahman too had contested and lost the Assembly election in 2021, from Diamond Harbour. BJP has fielded Abhijit Das, a legal advisor, who is not very high profile. But Abhishek is more than a handful and is clearly the front runner. The uphill struggle might be futile for Rahaman in the immediate future, but like other CPI(M) youngsters, he sees the task before him as one step at a time.
The best bet for the young brigade remains Jadavpur constituency in this election. The party base suffered erosion here as elsewhere, but the organisational back is not broken. However, his youth and student connections are not of any great advantage: Srijan Bhattacharya is in combat with Saayoni Ghosh, a television personality and the youth wing leader of TMC. At 47, BJP's Anirban Ganguly is the oldest of the three main candidates, and holds a doctorate from Jadavpur University. But for the Left, the choice of Srijan Bhattacharya is symbolic of its transition to the next generation.
All three of these Left candidates, Srijan, Dipshita, and Pratik have their roots in the SFI, but they have now widened their focus to the myriad grievances of the general public. The veterans in the party have also lent a helping hand, campaigning for these youngsters. High profile Brinda Karat, Sitaram Yechuri and Manik Sarkar campaigned for them.
Cyclone Remal has added a new dimension to the final phase in West Bengal as both the Centre and the state government undertake relief measures on a war footing. Voter concerns now do not go much beyond the everyday struggles, and there is little for the Left candidates to offer other than being on the ground. Their eyes might be set on the distant horizon, but they need to work their hands to address immediate grievances. Unfortunately for the CPI (M), many voters see this Lok Sabha election as too important to be focused on a third player.
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