The mirror next door

Honestly, it is difficult for me to envisage such a feat in Bangladesh. The current situation is indeed most depressing. The present government claims to have won a two-thirds majority in the October 2001 elections, but they lost touch with the people within a year. Currently people are chasing Ministers and leaders, and resorting to blockades to press their demands for bare minimum security and provision of water, power, gas, seeds, fertilizers and other basic needs of life. What occurred in Kansat and in other parts of the country clearly demonstrate that the people are losing faith in the system, and are taking law into their own hands to fulfill their legitimate aspirations.

On the other hand, leaders of the Front Government in West Bengal maintained their grass-root level contacts, and people have developed new confidence in their government. During the three decade rule of the Front, various forms of Government, from secular Congress to fundamentalist BJP were in power in New Delhi, either on their individual strength or in coalition with other parties. The Front Government was always under pressure from these inherently vulnerable Central Governments, but they maintained their secularist and socialist character. Interestingly, at the recent elections the Front snatched five seats from Congress, their ally at the center.

After all, West Bengal is not in another distant part of the world. We share the same culture, language and history. The veteran Marxist leader, and founder of the Front, former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu's family hailed from Bangladesh. After doing his part, Jyoti Babu took an honorable retirement a few years ago at the peak of his popularity, and passed on the baton to his able deputy Buddhadev Bhattacharya. From the latest election results, it seems that the successor has surpassed the achievements of his mentor. What is the magic? Well, they ran a more accountable and less corrupt government. Their ministers and leaders were visible round the year, while their opponents were active only during election time. That helped restore the people's confidence in the Front.

As a Socialist coalition, the Front always gave priority to nation-building sectors e.g. agriculture, health, education, rural development and poverty alleviation. And during the last term they also expanded their base to industrialization and high tech areas. This helped them to make inroads into "non-left territory." The Front government succeeded in attracting record investments from other parts of India as well as from abroad. West Bengal is fast becoming India's biggest IT centre and all computer moguls e.g. IBM, TCS, Wipro, AIG, ITC InfoTech, Reliance, etc have moved to Kolkata.

The Left Front's new emphasis touched the imagination of the youth, and restored confidence of urban middle class. Their biggest success was on two fronts. Firstly, private investors feel more reassured and are investing extensively; and secondly, there has been some change in the attitude of the working class who now realize that under the prevailing circumstances, it is not possible to achieve accelerated growth without the private sector.

The atmospheric change is all too visible. Kolkata is not a "dying city" as it was once called by Rajiv Gandhi. The transformed city has risen like the mythical phoenix. Giant fly-overs, efficient subway system, new Hoogly bridge, modern shopping malls, huge condominiums have given a new image to the city. The chronic power and water shortages, poor road transport and telephone connections, traffic jams, have largely been taken care of. This change has now encouraged the private sector to assist the Government in renovating the city's historic monuments and landmarks to restore its once-reviled imperial past.

Kolkata is still very poor, very dirty and millions still live on footpaths. The traditional industries are suffering, production is low and there is still huge unemployment since the much publicized IT sector could only employ a fraction of the labor force. In spite of all that, the clean image and simple lifestyle of their leaders give new hope to the teeming millions. Ministers and leaders live in modest houses and their family members use public transportation. It is surprising that some Ministers even do not own any property in Kolkata.

During previous state elections, the opposition parties had regularly complained about mass rigging and malpractices. There was a noticeable change this time as the Election Commission (EC) took all possible steps to ensure free and fair polls. The most crucial aspect of any election starts with the preparation of accurate electoral rolls. The EC, through intensive revision, completely updated the rolls. Names of 12 lakh "bogus" or dead voters were struck off while names of 21 lakh "new voters" were added in a transparent manner with the participation of all parties and the news media.

The opposition parties in the past used "Bangladeshi voters" bogey to discredit the Front. This time, the CPI (M) firmly indicated that no Bangladeshi should be allowed to have his or her name in the electoral rolls and, at the same time, no single legitimate Indian citizen's name should be struck off. This directive was strictly followed. The EC kept a close vigil on the election from day one and the result has been dramatic. There were no allegations, and the West Bengal President of the main opposition BJP, Tataghat Roy, openly credited the Election Commission for holding free and fair polls. Even Mamata Bannerji, the firebrand Leader of Trinamool Congress, who had found fault with the previous elections, had no complaints this time.

The West Bengal experience should inspire our leaders, Election Commission, society at large, and the bureaucracy, in fact the entire nation, to intensify our efforts to hold free and fair elections in Bangladesh at year's end. If they could do it, so can we.

The writer is a former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh.