In an interview to a Kolkata daily, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya made a very significant statement, "I don't believe in blind anti-Americanism. With time we change our thinking and when the change is good for the people why shouldn't we change."

A few days ago he had said that India needs nuclear power. This, too, was an indirect endorsement of the Centre's eagerness to formalise Agreement 123. Now in the backdrop of CPM's fierce opposition to Indo-US nuclear deal as well as the very need of nuclear power, Buddhadeb's statement is clearly off mark to that of a life long opponent of the US.

The CPM has always been pro-China. It keeps Chinese interest in mind. In its opposition to Indo-US nuclear deal, this factor has played a vital role. When this party was born in 1960s after a split in CPI, this factor was the raison d'etre. The CPM supported China when it attacked India in 1962. Again, when China exploded its first nuclear device, the CPM celebrated it.

In this backdrop, CPM's fierce opposition to Indo-US nuclear deal is understandable. Traditionally, Communist thinking is wedded to internationalism. When Soviet Union was there, they served its interests and betrayed Indian interests, including Quit India Movement. Now that China is a rising power, the CPM looks after its interests in India. That explains their present fight with the UPA.

It is here that Buddhadeb's statement gains significance. He argues that when a Communist country like Vietnam is getting American investment for its economic development what is wrong in West Bengal getting it for the same objective. He also disclosed that his Industry Minister Nirupam Sen is going to New York to lobby for American investment in West Bengal. Earlier, too, Buddhadeb had expressed quite divergent views from that of the party line which now a days is being controlled by commissar Prakash Karat. Buddhadeb has made it clear that economic development of his state is much more dearer to him than to scoring ideological points on US imperialism.

Buddhadeb must be realising that his party's ideology destroyed West Bengal's industrial infrastructure altogether. Strikes, bandhs, gheraos and tyranny of the trade unions completely destroyed industrialisation and forced the industrialists to go else where. It also retarded growth of trade and commerce and was instrumental for the flight of capital to other states. Now Buddhadeb has to reverse the trend. The Tata-Birla murdabad slogan had to do an about turn. The same Tata-Birla are now given a red carpet welcome in West Bengal. The important point to mark is his emphasis on local needs and requirements. When you spread over the whole country this localism becomes nationalism.

One can see the divergence. On the one hand CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat is ready to strangulate the UPA Government backed by its international imperatives, on the other hand Buddhadeb's localism compels him to tolerate it. I don't want to speculate on how much Buddhadeb would succeed in mending comrades in New Delhi, however, hard headed Karat and company may be. We have seen the reason-defeating communism in the Soviet Union, China and many other countries. At present politburo of the party, which takes party decisions, is in the grip of hard liners lead by Karat. It is a 17-member body wherein five members were from West Bengal.

After the death of Anil Biswas, state secretary of West Bengal unit and that of C Mazumdar, the CITU general secretary, the strength of West Bengal members in the politburo reduced from five to three. Jyoti Basu now 93 seldom travels to other cities. That gives total control of the politburo to the Kerala lobby. The Kerala CPM unit itself is plagued with deep divisions within the party. These groups are lead by VS Achutanandan and P Vijayan respectively who are fighting with each other. There is an ideological as well as organisational crisis in the party. The second most powerful body of the CPM is the central committee. It has 79 members and the West Bengal lobby has almost 1/4th strength. But the final decision is taken by the politburo. We therefore, do not see any chances of Buddhadeb line getting through. He has not pointedly told that his party is indulging in blind opposition to the US but he did mean it. In fact, ideological straightjacket leads a person or a party to various kinds of blindness.

I remember that when computers came to India, CPM opposed it said it will cause huge unemployment -just the opposite happened. It has created jobs. Examples of CPM's ideological blindness are many. Today, it has created instability at the Centre that adversely affects every field particularly national interest.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, September 23, 2007