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Bhattacharya's beginning promising

When Buddhadeb Bhattacharya assumed a mantle full of thorns from Jyoti Basu on November 6 last year, few thought he could keep disenchanted elements in his party together, primarily due to inexperience.

He had a Herculean task in appeasing even some Left Front constituents.

On Friday, as he completes 100 days in office, many attribute this to a promising beginning.

However, Opposition parties are far from satisfied with Bhattacharya at the helm. They allege that law and order problems touched a nadir in the state under his leadership, with dacoities and political clashes assuming alarming proportions.

While the Opposition cited the attack on Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in Keshpur, followed by the alleged massacre of Trinamul workers in adjoining Garbeta as the chief minister's major failures, industrialists seem to be singing his praises.

Bharatiya Janata Party West Bengal unit vice-president Muzaffar Khan said, ''Anarchy has prevailed ever since Buddhadebbabu took charge at Writers' Building.''

''It is unfortunate that Bhattacharya could continue as chief minister for 100 days. Under his leadership, the law and order breakdown, which has remained a north Bengal phenomenon, has spread to infect even South 24-Parganas. Now, everyday we have dacoities and murders. An engineer was gunned down in the chief minister's constituency. Recently, the police killed four Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers, again in South 24-Parganas, to create communal disharmony. A gory incident at the Baranagar jute mill last month came as a significant corroboration of how he even failed to check militant trade unionism," Khan remarked.

A mob of jute mill workers had burnt two executives alive in Baranagar last month.

However, the Communist Party of India, a crucial partner in the state's LF ministry, has another viewpoint. CPI state secretary Manju Mazumdar told rediff.com that anyone in the place of Bhattacharya could have proved equally successful.

He added, "The chief minister here works in accordance with certain objectives, while ministers help him. We had predicted that Bhattacharya would be successful the day Basu proposed his name as heir apparent. His 100 days in office only show that he has gained wide acceptability among the people. I have no reservations about his ability to lead the LF to victory in the assembly elections."

Amid charges of abetting violence and attacks on rival political parties, what seems to impress ordinary Bengalis is Bhattacharya's simplicity. He continues to travel with a two-car convoy, with no armed security. Many are overawed the way he has refused to shift from his one-and-a-half room flat to the posh chief minister's villa. He has also been quick to reach spots which were witness to violence. Bhattacharya hitched a ride by a cycle rickshaw, to South 24-Parganas, following reports of dacoities in January.

The business community too has showered praise on him. It thinks he has the right understanding of the industry's needs and aspirations.

Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary general Nazeeb Arif felt that Bhattacharya had made a 'phenomenally good start'.

"Though it's quite unfair to analyse a chief minister's performance in 100 days, Bhattacharya's policies have been directed towards optimism. The two core areas that he has paid special attention to are information technology and infrastructure. It was because of him that Indus Enterprise, one of the largest groups of entrepreneurs in the world, chose to set up base in Calcutta. Bhattacharya was instrumental in the establishment of many IT parks, the latest being Durgapur. He has also rightly addressed issues related to work culture in Bengal. At least people are now conscious that they cannot afford to relax since he does not tolerate leniency. What was remarkable was the way he allotted Wipro the requested plot in the eastern metropolitan bypass in a record 11 days, an indication that red-tapism was over," Arif added.

His achievements notwithstanding, Bhattacharya has failed in keeping disgruntled elements led by Sports and Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty quiet. Not only were the CM and Chakraborty locked in a heated duel over a Hrithik Roshan show organised by the state sports ministry, but the buzz was that the latter could leave the CPI-M any day, following differences with Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya's abilities will come under test in May, when he will have two monumental tasks at hand -- preventing any division in the CPI-M and leading the LF to victory.

You may also want to read:
The Rediff Profile/Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
Bhattacharya sworn-in as Bengal's seventh CM
CPI, CPI-M thrash out differences in public
Bengal after Basu
Fresh twist to Midnapore bodies issue

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