On victory margins, Jyoti Basu is ahead by far

By Vidya Subrahmaniam

Third-term Modi is in the company of three who far outshine him in terms of seat and vote shares

As super hero-sized victories go, there is clearly no one among India’s galaxy of Chief Ministers, including the much-hailed and ostensibly Delhi-bound Narendra Modi, who can beat the record of West Bengal's Jyoti Basu.

Jyoti Basu who was Chief Minister for close to five terms stretching over 23 long years, consistently registered blockbuster victories for the Left Front which held over three-fourths of the seats in the four terms between 1977 and 1996 — 225; 228; 242 and 241 in a house of 294. Even when the numbers dipped in 1996, the LF had a two-thirds majority, winning 202 or 68.70 per cent of the seats. The LF’s vote share ranged from 47 per cent to 51 per cent.

Naveen Patnaik and Sheila Dikshit are both three-time Chief Ministers. Mr. Patnaik who was in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party between 2000 and 2004, completely overshadowed his partner. The Biju Janata Dal won 81 per cent of the seats it contested in 2000. The corresponding figure for the BJP was 60.31 per cent. The BJD won 72.61 per cent of the seats it contested in 2004. The corresponding figure for the BJP was 50.79 per cent. In 2009, Mr. Patnaik dumped the BJP citing sectarian violence in Kandhamal. The move won him a bounty: The BJD won a three-fourths majority with a seat share of 103 in the 129-member Orissa Assembly. Mr. Patnaik, whose party polled 39 per cent of the valid votes, achieved this feat in a three-way contest among the BJP, the BJD and the Congress.

Ms. Dikshit was sworn in immediately after the 1998 Delhi Assembly election which fetched the Congress 52 of 70 seats or almost a three-fourths majority. In 2003, she won a two-thirds majority with 47 seats, and in 2009, against all expectations, she won 43 or 61 per cent of the seats.

On Thursday, as results poured in from Gujarat, TV anchors competed to paint Mr. Modi in hagiographic shades, declaring that he was headed for a two-thirds majority. As time passed, the seat projection came down from 130 to 120 and stayed there even though expected tally hovered between 116 and 115 on the Election Commission of India’s website. In the end, the BJP in Gujarat wound up with 115 of 182 seats (63 per cent) — two short of the 117 it had in 2007.

Significantly, the record for winning the highest share of seats and votes in Gujarat goes to the Congress. In 1980, it won 141 seats for a vote share of 51.04 per cent. Madhav Singh Solanki who became Chief Minister topped this in the next election with a phenomenal 149 seats for a vote share of 55.55 per cent.

Published: THE HINDU, December 22, 2012 01:09 IST

This article has been corrected for an editing error.

Vote Left, Basu urges Congress supporters

‘Trinamool Congress has taken to path of violence’

‘We supported Congress against communalism’

‘We had made mistakes in certain areas’

KOLKATA,1st November, 2009 : The Trinamool Congress has taken to the path of violence and terror and is in league with Maoists, veteran CPI(M) leader Jyoti Basu said here on Sunday even as he appealed to supporters of the Congress — an electoral partner of the Trinamool Congress — to back Left Front candidates in the November 7 bye-elections for ten Assembly seats. “The main Opposition party (Trinamool) is pursuing the path of killings and of terror…..The Trinamool and the Maoists are together (in carrying out such acts),” he said in a statement.

The State was going through dangerous times, he said and appealed to Congress supporters to back the Left candidates for the sake of “peace, order and development.”

“I am telling those who support the Congress that we (the Left parties), in the interests of the country, had supported the Congress against communalism,” Mr. Basu said, referring to the Left backing from outside for the previous United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.

His remarks come a day after Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee came down on the Trinamool for its alleged links with left-wing extremists and said the party chief Mamata Banerjee — who is calling for the withdrawal of the joint security operation against the Maoists in the State — should approach the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister (who feel the need for such an operation) with her demand.

“Our (the Left parties) workers are being killed every day. Those being murdered include doctors, nurses, police personnel and ordinary people. Party offices are being set ablaze. The Trinamool and the Maoists are together. They are taking the law into their own hands,” Mr. Basu said.

Pointing out that sections of traditional Left supporters voted against the Left Front in the last Lok Sabha elections “when the results for us were bad,” Mr. Basu admitted that “the fault was not with them” for not backing the Left.“We could not take our message properly to the people. Besides, in certain areas we had made mistakes,” Mr. Basu said.

CORRECT OUR MISTAKES, ALWAYS KEEP FAITH ON PEOPLE

During the past 32 years the left front has led the state into continuous growth path by creating examples of stable government, atmosphere of peace and pro people development in the state. The people of the state too has observed this and in every elections after 1977 chose the Left Front ion the state to lead the state government. It is true that the last Loksabha poll result in the state was unexpected. We should conduct self introspection as to what has led to this unexpected result. I will harp on one point only “We shouldn’t loose or faith on common people. It is them who create history. It might that a section of the people might misunderstood us for the time being but we should go to them time and again. We should correct our mistakes and should prove ourselves to be rightly eligible for the love that people bestowed us with . Efforts should be made to bring back those who had dwindled from our side in the last Panchayet and Loksabha polls. Not only them, we should also try to bring newer people within our folds.

Veteran mass leader and nonagenarian leader of Indian communist movement Jyoti Basu in spite of ill health due to advanced age gave a rare interview to Ajoy Dasgupta of Ganashakti daily, Kolkata – on the occasion of the Left Front Government stepping into its 33^rd year .

Question: Today the Left front Government of the state is stepping into its 33^rd year, what is your message to the people of the state for this occasion?

Jyoti Basu: My congratulations to all people of the state. Right from 1977 when the First Left Front Government took oath for a seven times at a stretch the common people had voted overwhelmingly for the Left front State government. Not only in India but in the history of parliamentary democracy across the globe, this is a rare event. The main architect of this rare example lies with the conscious people of the state who had struggled for this. I am grateful to and my wishes are to the people of the state who made it happen.

Question: What do you think is the intrinsic reason behind the fact that the people of the state has voted for the Left Front for year’s running?

Jyoti Basu: That‘s because we always has given more importance to people’s interest in the state. When we came into the state government, then within our limited economic and administrative resources we had to start our work. Today everybody will accept this fact that even with limited constitutional provisions we had been able to work towards realizing and fulfilling many aspirations of the common people. From the day One onwards after coming to power we had announced that the Government will not work from the Writers building but rather devolution of power to the common people will be our motto. Through Panchayet and the ULB’s power has been devoluted to the common people, alongside the Left front in front of the whole country has been able to put up examples of adopting alternative programmes aimed towards interests of the common people of the state. The people of the state has seen this and so in every elections had supported the Left Front of the State.

Question:But in the last Loksabha elections we saw that the for the first time within the last 32 years in an election the opposition had been able to garner more votes than the Left front. Before that in the Panchayet elections too the result of the Left Front has not been upto the expected level. How do you visualize this incident?

Jyoti Basu: Yes its’ true, that the result of the last Loksabha polls in the state has been exceptional. We should carry out in depth introspection to find out the true reasons for this result. Our party and the constituents of the Left Fronts have carried out detailed analysis of the election results. Currently our party’s Polit bureau and Central committee meeting is going on in New Delhi. We can definitely identify our faults in those discussions.

Question: What according to you are the reasons behind this unexpected result in the state?

Jyoti Basu: Our party has said that alongside national issues, state issues and regional issues are also responsible for this result. We have not been able to make people understand our viewpoint to the people, nor could we make them understand about what we want to do. Our rationale about the formation of the Third front or about its signification standing on the present situation was not very clear before the people of the country. That we had to support the Congress based on a CMP to ward of the communal threat of the BJP. The people had realized this very well. But sadly the Congress didn’t keep its word. They didn’t adhere to the CMP and on the contrary went on in the path of toeing US line. So our support towards the Congress led Government had to be withdrawn. However we were unable to make the people understand this fact.

Question: What else reasons do you feel has affected the election results, especially in respect of West Bengal?

Jyoti Basu: I thinks that the statement that land had to be acquired for industries has led to fear amongst people. There also had been propaganda against us that the Left Front government is all set to forcibly acquire the farmers land in the state. This type of false campaign has also affected the election results in the state. It’s a fact that it is the Left Front government which had distributed lands to the lakhs of landless poor people in the state by doing “Operation Barga” and land reforms in the state. People could not bring this fact under realization that by standing on the firm pedestal of agricultural development we had embarked on industrialization in the state. In west Bengal we had advanced much in agriculture. We are now self sufficient in food production, even we are at the forefront amongst all the state’s of the country regarding agricultural production. Still there are more scopes of improvement. Taking help of the agricultural universities we have to further develop the quality of our state agricultural produce and more lands should be come under agriculture in the state.

Question: What do you think to be the responsibility of the left front workers in the state in the post election scenario in the state?

Jyoti Basu:I will only utter a single word, We should not loss faith in the people of the state. Because it is the people who rewrites history. It might that a section of the people might misunderstood us for the time being but we should go to them time and again and should prove our self to be rightly eligible for the love that people bestowed us with. Efforts should be made to bring back those who had dwindled from our side in the last Panchayet and Loksabha polls. Not only them, we should also try to bring newer people within our folds. The conscious people of West Bengal utilizing their developed power of thinking will be ultimately able to recollect from their experience who are their enemies or who are their friends.I am confident that the people of the state will understand who works for their betterment and to take the state towards the path of development or who wants to take them backwards and in due course they will realize it. Ultimately the people will win.

Question: Please tell something about you?

Jyoti Basu: What more shall I say about myself, a few days later I will be stepping on the 95^Th year of my life. For more than 70 years I am in politics. But now I am incapacitated. This year my ill health didn’t even permit me to vote. But after the election one thing specially caught my attention and which I liked also very much. Amidst the present situation the state, The Left front has been working unifiedly and has even taken joint resolutions in this regard. No body eve has said something else outside also. It was through many joint movements and struggles that the Left Front has been born. So we have kept a steady fast unity amongst the different constituents of the Left Front. The Fort of the people of the state should be intact and that tradition should be kept alive. These much what I want to say. Again I congratulate all of you.

‘Jyoti Basu had some issues’:Yechury

Issue Date: Monday, May 25, 2009,THE TELEGRAPH

Excerpts from CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury’s interview to CNN-IBN: Q: Is it true that Jyoti Basu advised the CPI-M leadership not to break with the UPA? Yechury: He may have had his opinions within the committees but there is no advice that has come to us. Q: What opinion did he express in the committees? Yechury: That I can’t tell you. That is something which even he won’t tell you. Q: Can I infer that within the committees he expressed a measure of dissent about breaking with the UPA? Yechury: You see breaking from the UPA was not a one-time decision or which happened one-off. It was a series of developments which were taking place as a result of which it culminated in our withdrawing support. On various steps in this process he had some issues to tell us which he told. Q: So there were various moments when he expressed his opinion; there were issues he had to speak about which he did speak about. Yechury: Yes, definitely. Inside the party all of us will give our opinion but once we collectively decide that is our party matter. Q: Would you therefore say that it was a mistake? Yechury: The way it was projected was a mistake. I’ll tell you why. The CPI-M always had this opinion, which we still continue to have, that India requires a third political alternative. This third political alternative will have to bring about a shift in the policy trajectory in the country. But that cannot be a cut-and-paste job on the eve of elections. Q: This was a hastily put together cut-and-paste job? Yechury: A cut-and-paste job, and to achieve our objective of a third alternative there are no short cuts. It will have to be done through sustained, prolonged, popular structures. Yechury also admitted that one of the reasons behind the CPM’s drubbing was that the party had lost touch with the ground. Responding to a statement made by former Uluberia MP Hannan Mollah post his defeat, Yechury told the channel: “Obviously we have lost touch, otherwise this sort of result would not have come. But to what degree, why we lost touch, what were the inadequacies, that is something we are seriously examining… we will have to do serious, self-critical and honest examination.”

Jyoti Basu asks CPI(M) leaders to reach out to people

KOLKATA,24th May: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) patriarch Jyoti Basu has asked senior party leaders to reach out to the people of West Bengal to find out the reason for the party's poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls, his personal aide said. 

"Basu has asked his party leaders, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu to reach out to common people and find out why the people had not voted for the communists in the Lok Sabha elections," Basu's personal assistant Joykrishna Ghosh said. 

"Basu has asked both of them (Bhattacharjee and Basu) to look into the issue seriously. He also instructed them to make people understand the policies of the Left Front (LF) and what they are willing to do for the common people in Bengal," he said. 

Declining to divulge any further details of the talks, Ghosh said that Basu had separate dialogues with Bhattacharjee and Bose at his Salt Lake residence. 

Meanwhile, the CPM leaders also held a state committee meeting here on Sunday to discuss the dismal result of the Left Front in the general elections. 

According to figures available, the Left Front got 43.3 percent of the votes (about 18 million) while the Trinamool Congress and the Congress jointly secured 45.67 percent of the votes (a little over 19 million) in the Lok Sabha polls.

Biman Basu calls on CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu

Kolkata,19th May: CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu on Tuesday called on marxist patriarch Jyoti Basu and briefed him about the Polit Bureau deliberations on the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal and Kerala.

The two leaders, according to party sources, discussed in length about the drubbing that the CPI(M) has received at the hands of Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

Biman Basu's visit came a day after Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee met Jyoti Basu seeking his advice about strategies to be adopted by the CPI(M) in view of the disastrous poll performance of the party.

Bhattacharjee's meeting with the former chief minister had came in the backdrop of reports that he was mulling stepping down owning moral responsibility for party's poll debacle. The party politburo, however, has dismissed such reports.

Meanwhile, the members of CPI(M) state Secretariat, including the chief minister, met here this evening to review the party's poll performance in the state.

Buddhadeb meets Jyoti Basu

KOLKATA,18th May: West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, called on veteran Marxist leader, Jyoti Basu, at his Salt Lake residence here on Monday even as the Left parties were trying to come to terms with their dismal showing in the State in the Lok Sabha elections. This was the first time the two leaders met since the election results were announced on May 16.

Mr. Bhattacharjee had decided against attending the meeting of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in New Delhi, and instead chose to stay back in the city to oversee the post-poll law and order situation in the State, according to party sources.

Reports of violence have been pouring in from different parts of the State ever since the results were out.

Mr. Bhattacharjee’s meeting with Mr. Basu came amid reports in a section of the media that he had offered to resign as Chief Minister in the wake of the Left Front’s debacle in the State.

The reports were dismissed as baseless by Biman Basu, Secretary of the CPI(M)’s West Bengal State Committee in New Delhi where he had gone to attend the Polit Bureau meeting.

“I can say with authority that the Chief Minister has not spoken of offering to resign; neither did he discuss the matter with Jyoti Basu”, senior leader and secretary of the State Committee of the All India Forward Bloc, Ashok Ghosh told mediapersons.

Basu skips voting after suffering a fall

KOLKATA,13th MAY: CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu, whose advanced age forced him for the first time to stay away from casting his vote, made enquiries about the Third Front from Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat who was in the city to cast her vote.

The nonagenarian leader, who suffered another fall in his bathroom early this morning, wanted to know the prospects of the Third Front alliance. Ms. Karat told The Hindu that she found the senior leader fully alert when she called on him at his Salt Lake residence in the morning. “He wanted to know about the position of the Third Front and what my assessment was. I told him that we will have to wait till May 16 to know the results.” Mr. Basu was also keen to find out the seat-by-seat position in West Bengal, she said.

“I found him very alert and cheerful although he had suffered some pain because of his fall,” Ms. Karat said. West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi also called on Mr. Basu. “He is trying to get over the fall, he is frail but as always extremely alert, and full of humour and wisdom,” he said.

Sources at Mr. Basu’s residence said that he suffered some minor injuries on his shinbone because of the fall. He was examined by his physician, who saw no cause for worry. He was watching TV every now and then to stay abreast of the developments, his close aide said.

Mr. Basu was hospitalised in September 2008 following a head injury he suffered after a fall. Medical tests revealed that he had developed a blood clot in his brain. However, he was released after being kept under observation and medication at the hospital as surgery was not favoured in view of his advanced age.

The party veteran said earlier this week that he would not be able to venture out to exercise his franchise for the first time, during the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. His vote lay in the Barasat constituency, where Sudin Chattopadhyaya of the Forward Bloc faces Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of Trinamool, among others.

Right after the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, he regretted that he would not be able to campaign for his party because of his infirm health. Video recordings of his speech were played at some of the elections meetings.

But Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that it appeared to her that Mr. Basu’s not voting in the final phase was an expression of his “no confidence” in the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Acknowledging that Mr. Basu was unwell, she said this was the first time that he did not vote. “We respect his age. He could have used a wheelchair or gone in an ambulance to vote [had he wanted to],” Ms. Banerjee added.

Mr. Basu, who felt that Ms. Banerjee’s remarks did not warrant a rebuttal, said he had dedicated his entire political life to the party. He hoped that the Left Front candidates would be victorious in the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress has Betrayed the People: Jyoti Basu

KOLKATA,16th March: In a rally of the Left Front activists in Yuvabharati Krirangan (Salt Lake stadium) on 16th March in Kolkata, veteran communist leader Comrade Jyoti Basu accused the Congress of betraying the people. He could not be physically present at the meeting because of his health condition, but his address was telecast on video screens in the stadium.

Jyoti Basu said, “the forthcoming Lok Sabha election is an important political struggle for the Left. The outcome of this struggle will determine who will form the next government at the Centre. The Left Front wants to stop the BJP from forming the next government. The Congress has not kept its commitments made in the Common Minimum Program. They are aligning our country with the United States. Neither do they learn from their mistakes nor do they adhere to principles. In this context we want an alternative government at the Centre, which will work in the interests of the people, adhere to secularism and pursue an independent foreign policy. The Left Front in West Bengal should be made victorious in order to form of such a government at the Centre”.

Addressing the Left Front activists, Jyoti Basu said: “You know that I am ill because of which I am not being able to attend today’s meeting. It would have been nice had I been able to be there in person. However, I am confident that you will ably discharge the responsibility that has come upon you. I also believe that the people of the state will defeat the unprincipled alliance of the opposition and ensure the victory of the Left Front”.

“In order to stop the communal forces and prevent the BJP from coming to power, we had supported the UPA Government for some time. This was unthinkable earlier. We had supported the Congress party, which we had fought all along and continue to fight today, just to ensure that the BJP does not come to power. We had supported the Congress on the basis of the Common Minimum Program. But the Congress has betrayed the people”.

“This state has a rich tradition of struggles. We have built the Left Front through years of struggle. All of you have contributed to the strengthening of the Left Front Government over the years. Due to illness I retired from the Chief Minster’s post six months before the Assembly Elections in 2001. Our Central Committee had decided that Buddhadeb Bhattacharya should first become the Deputy Chief Minister and subsequently the Chief Minister of the state. Accordingly, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is now the Chief Minister of the Left Front Government. The Left Front Government has consistently worked for the betterment of the people. That is why our state has emerged as a front ranking in several areas. For instance, we have redistributed 13 lakh acres of land to the peasants. This has not happened anywhere else in the country. We have ensured the rights and dignity of the people. We have established the rights of the peasants, workers, middle class and the poor people. We have done a lot. At the same time a lot remains to be done.

Jyoti Basu said "Agriculture has to be developed further. Maintaining our front ranking position among the states in agriculture, we have to involve our agriculture universities and scientists to further increase agricultural production. We have to use industrialization to ensure employment opportunities for the young men and women who are studying in schools and colleges. Many industrialists are coming to the state to set up industries. We have to use this opportunity. It should be remembered that the land that we are acquiring for industries is being done after paying adequate compensation. The compensation paid to the farmers in our state has no parallel in the country. We are laying emphasis on the upliftment of the disadvantaged sections like the minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But the opposition wants to mislead the people against our programmes. They have no policies or principles. They want to hold back the development of West Bengal. For this they are striking unprincipled alliances”.

Jyoti Basu expressed his confidence that the people of West Bengal will ensure the victory of the Left Front defeating the unprincipled alliance of the opposition.