After RSS, CPM hits ‘like’ button on Lakshmir Bhandar
Times of India | 3 August 2024
Kolkata: After RSS mouthpiece Swastika, CPM, in its letter (party chithi) to party workers, has said that Lakshmir Bhandar cannot be ignored as dole politics. Criticism of Bengal govt’s cash-assistance-for-women scheme and other welfare measures have not gone down well with the poor, the base on which CPM thrived once, the letter said.
“One of the factors which retains mass support for TMC, especially among women, are the various schemes and welfare measures such as Lakshmir Bhandar,” CPM said in its review of the recent Lok Sabha elections.
“However, there was an erroneous approach by some party units and cadres in attacking them as ‘bribes’ or ‘doles’, which only alienated poor people from us,” the party said. CPM has asked party workers to adopt a different approach towards “the range of welfare measures which are being implemented by various state govts”.
CPM, which bagged 5.6% votes while contesting in 23 seats, said in its review that while it had asked voters to defeat both BJP and Trinamool, there was “less emphasis” on the saffron camp and more on the latter. “This problem is persisting from the last assembly elections and steps should be taken to educate cadres about the thrust of the party’s political line,” it said.
While claiming BJP’s loss was due to CPM’s increased vote share, the party said BJP’s vote share dropped only slightly, by 1.5%, from 2019. “Moreover, compared to the 2021 assembly election, its vote share has gone up. It is, therefore, important to exp-and our political-ideological campaign against BJP and Hindutva forces,” it said.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Left Front contested in 30 seats and bagged 6.3% votes as compared to 7.4% in 2019 when it contested in 40 seats. While the party noted there was an increase in the average vote share per seat compared to 2019, the state committee said there were no polling agents in 12-14% booths. “This points to the weak state of party organisation. There are many areas where there has been no party in existence for a long time. The grassroots work in rural areas in several districts to connect to the rural poor to build mass organisations and party units is weak or non-functional,” it said.
In June, RSS said in Swastika that the 2026 assembly poll would be an acid test for Bengal BJP, which has been struggling to find a face to counter CM Mamata Banerjee. In another Swastika article analysing the results of the LS polls, the author claimed that CM Banerjee’s strength lay not only in “dole politics” but was much beyond that. While the article didn’t elaborate, it mentioned that there were strengths of Trinamool which BJP needed to assess.