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Sunday, May 02, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

Mamata's largesse gives Trinamool a headstart

Pratim Ranjan Bose

Asansol

Few would have guessed that the Nationalist Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo, Mamata Banerjee, would spring such a surprise when she took over as Coal Minister a fortnight before the Lok Sabha was dissolved. Within a day or two of assuming office, `Didi' (as she is known to her followers) showered a 15 per cent interim wage revision on over one lakh workers. The announcement came at a time when trade unions were mobilising support for a 12.5 per cent wage revision.

She followed this up with other steps. A Bureau of Industrial and Finance Reconstruction (BIFR) package recommending large-scale closure of mines (64) and other establishments under the loss making Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) was withdrawn. Ms. Banerjee also promised the revival of ECL, the mainstay of the local economy. "Not a single mine will be closed," Ms. Banerjee said, taking the wind out of the sails of the Left Front, which was spearheading the campaign against the closure of the mines.

It is this sort of largesse that has helped the Trinamool in the coal-mining belt of Asansol. Since the 1998 general elections, the Trinamool had been making big inroads here, exploiting the anti-incumbency sentiments.

The CPI (M), which has held the Asansol seat for almost two decades now, won the 1999 general election by a little over 40,000 votes riding on the huge margins generated in two (Ranigunj and Jamuria) of the seven Assembly segments under the constituency. The Trinamool, on the other hand, was either evenly poised or taken a considerable lead in the others.

The performance had its impact: in the 2001 Assembly elections, the Trinamool gained three seats in Asansol and made a dent in the Left bastion of Durgapur by securing one seat. It was only natural then that when the NDA Government finally gave her a ministerial berth, Ms. Banerjee tried to reap the maximum benefits.

The Left Front leaders were trying to assess the damage done to their vote bank by Ms. Banerjee, when the face-off took a new twist. The NDA election manifesto reignited the touchy issue by talking about the "privatisation of the mining sector," helping the CPI (M) recover some of the lost ground. "The Centre is responsible for the closure of a number of large public sector undertakings like Burn Standard, Cycle Corporation, Balco and others in this region in last five years. ECL has already reduced its manpower by half from a high of 1.94 lakh. Now the NDA manifesto makes it clear that large-scale closures, rationalisation of manpower and privatisation of mines are round the corner," says Bikash Chowdhury, MP and CPI (M) nominee for Asansol.

The Trinamool nominee for Asansol is quick to deny the charges, citing the example of Bengal-EMTA, a 74 per cent privately owned company, awarded mining blocks for captive coal supply to State-owned power utilities. Managed by the private sector, the mine workers here do not fall under nationwide coal wage agreements. "West Bengal was one of the pioneering States in allowing private sector entry into coal mining by amending the Captive Mines Act which faced severe opposition even from its [CPI (M)'s] own trade union outfit, Colliery Mazdoor Sabha of India (CMSI)," says Mr. Ghatak, highlighting the differences within the CPI (M).

The controversy has been further fuelled by Haradhan Roy, former general secretary of the CMSI and ex-CPI (M) MP. The octogenarian Roy was replaced as the union secretary because he opposed the State Government's decision. While CPI (M) leadership is trying its best to downplay Mr. Roy's criticism of its policies, the Trinamool hopes it will work in its favour.

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