The results of assembly elections in West Bengal have out and it has changed the color of the state. West Bengal which had been ruled by "RED" since last 34 years; have found a new color to identify himself. The color is "GREEN" now. It also marks end of an era ; some experts terms it as end of Leftist movement in India too. But is it the end of Leftist movement ??????????
It seems to me an end of politics based on arrogance and biasing. Because a country, where half of the population lives under astute poverty, where castism still finds respect in society and where land acquisitions still triggers police firing; cannot afford to leave the communist ideology completely. In fact, the current time seems to be best suited to revive the communist ideology in India; but yes; we need a communism in Indian way.
While having a discussion over India with my German language trainer; she told me that the very first thing about India, which flashed in her mind is the big gap between society. She was amazed to see how some of the world's richest and poorest live in the same society. In fact this gap is widening and giving more space to the leftist ideology. Along with this, the rampat corruption and social injustice are providing a cushion to the ideology to settle down.
The India Against Corruption movement is an evidence of the existence of this ideology in our society. The government in Uttar Pradesh, which came into power on the agenda of social justice is another example. India seems to be most suited country for leftist ideology in post Soviet era.
The power shift in Bengal seems nothing more than the change of colour as the ideology behind the "GREEN" is almost same as ideology behind "RED". Definitely it would give a change "feeling" to the public and seemingly relief from the cader based politics. I wish this change would bring a wave of prosperity in this region of country; which had headed the country intellectually and culturally for many years but now find itself lagging behind Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. I wish this change would bring a change in work culture of Bengal too and inject some professionalism.
We certainly cannot write off leftist movement in India; but we need to be cautious. We have burning examples of how and why communist countries failed and how the communist state in our own country lagged. We need to take utmost care in defining our new ideology in this highly fragmented Indian society. Social justice and inclusive growth are two most used phrases by Indian politicians; but still we are eating the dust in these two areas.
We have just started thinking about this in our society. I hope the movement like "India Against Corruption" will give a proper direction to communist ideology in Indian society and more people in India would vote on a development agenda.
