‘Ex-PM Manmohan Singh didn’t want Left-Congress relations to fall apart’

Kolkata: Amid the waning political alliance between the Left and the Congress in the state, the demise of former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brought to mind his genius where despite fierce resistance posed by CPI(M) against his 2009 Indo-US nuclear deal, his relationship with the then Left-ruled Bengal led by then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee remained unaltered.

In his autobiography ‘Phire Dekha’, the late veteran Marxist leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee recalled his “friendship” with Manmohan Singh, describing the latter as a person who although was politically well informed, never allowed narrow politics to interfere in his duties and always did what he thought was best for the country.

In the 2009 landmark Indo-US nuclear deal, though the Singh-led Congress government at the Centre faced fierce opposition from Prakash Karat-led CPI(M), Singh consulted Bhattacharjee to understand their stance, a clear indication that he did not want the Left-Congress relations to fall apart, wrote Bhattacharjee.

Bhattacharjee highlighted that in 2004 when it was uncertain as to what may happen after the general elections, a meeting was convened over dinner at the residence of CPI(M) MP Somnath Chatterjee.

It was attended by Jyoti Basu, Bhattacharjee, Harkishan Singh Surjeet. Congress was represented by Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and others who conveyed their decision for an alliance with the Left without any hesitation.

The bonding between the Marxist and the Congressman was also evidenced in the letters Bhattacharjee wrote to Singh. Despite the bitter feud surrounding the deal in 2009, a year when Bengal was also ravaged by Cyclone Aila, Bhattacharjee expressed his gratitude to Singh for sending a Central team to survey the affected areas, requesting Centre-state cooperation in repairing embankments in Sunderbans.

The CPI(M) and the Congress in Bengal have crossed swords for decades. Following the fallout with Congress in 2009, the Left joined hands with the former in 2016 for electoral understanding.

This went on beyond 2021 state elections till it began falling apart. The last bypoll in six Assembly seats was marked by an absence of seat sharing understanding between the two parties.

Sources said that it was former Pradesh Congress Committee chief Adhir Ranjan Choudhury who had the will to maintain the alliance but after his removal from the post, chances are bleak that the twain shall ever meet again.

A section of political observers opined that in the present political scenario in Bengal, such an alliance is prudent and necessary for the political existence of both the parties which is now fraught with an apparent crisis.