subject: Rahul Gandhi shows the mirror of Left's frustration [print this page] The moment Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi concluded his press conference at the end of his 3-day tour of Bengal, West Bengal saw the tumultuous effect of it with CPI(M) crying hoarse over the comment of two Bengals made by Rahul Gandhi. Political observers are of the view that the impact of the comment is so massive that the ruling party had to take defensive posture distracting the people's attention from the reality that comment depicts plainly.
The Congress-CPI(M) war of words on issue of backwardness of poll-bound West Bengal intensified with the Congress seeing nothing wrong in Rahul Gandhi's statement on "two Bengals" and saying the situation in rural areas of the state was "pathetic".
The Congress party said the Left was merely juggling with figures while the reality is that rural Bengal is very backward, saying "It is a fact that rural Bengal is deprived of basic amenities. If you travel in these areas, you will see how backward they are. This has happened during the long rule of the Left in the state."
Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi during his rally in West Bengal had described Purulia as one of the most backward parts of the country and said there exist two Bengals -- one is for the Cadres of CPM and one is for the poor. Attacking West Bengal's Left Front Government, he said "CPI-M does not belong to the poor people of the state- the adivasis, the marginalized and the poor- but it caters to the interest of the privileged and rich people." "The syndicate, the CPI-M government operates of its privileged people and party workers, eats out the benefits intended for the real beneficiaries, he added, drawing a thunderous applause from thousands of supporters.
The CPI(M) reacted sharply to the statement with an editorial in the CPI(M) mouthpiece People's Democracy with some figures comparing the socio-economic statndards of Purulia with that of Raebareli and Amethi.
The Congress party said that the Left party had had a belief in managing figures rather than indulging itself in work to improve the ground situation in the state. Party spokesman said that he did not know from where the CPI(M) was getting those figures and was in no position to comment on their authenticity, saying "Left party is good at juggling figures." He however, added that though the situation in rural West Bengal was "pathetic", rural India in general needed improvement.
Left party has been in jitters since Congress and its allies captured unexpectedly a large number of seats forcing the Communists slump from 29 to just 13 in tally. In Kerala, Congress and its allies routed the Communists to win 16 of the state's 20 seats. The Communists won just four. Communists have held power for three decades in the state, and it is beyond imagination for them to lose power to opposition party. To retain the power, they have indulged in wrong practice of politics and as a result mud slinging and blaming others became the part of their style of politics.
Here, the point that Rahul Gandhi raised during his trip to West Bengal is that the situation in Purulia is really pathetic and the present state government was so apathetic in its approach to improve the condition of the people living in this district. Congress General Secretary in his tour to every state of India has not minced words ever describing India as being divided in two Indiasone is for rich and another for poor. His main concern is to narrow the gap between the two Indias and make One Indiaonly developed India, where everyone gets its due share of development. So to compare between Bengal with any other state is utter nonsense. It only shows the frustration of the Left party ahead of the poll that is bound to happen next year.
Rahul Gandhi shows the mirror of Left's frustration
