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RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2084

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000295 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL IN
SUBJECT: WEST BENGAL VILLAGERS WANT FOOD NOT IDEOLOGY:  ATTACK 
COMMUNIST OFFICIALS 
 
KOLKATA 00000295  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  On September 16, villagers in West Bengal's 
(WB) Left Front ruled Bankura district attacked local Communist 
leaders who had arranged a meeting to protest the U.S.-India 
civil nuclear agreement (referred to as the 123 agreement).  The 
villagers insisted they wanted food, not slogans, and are fed up 
with the deep-rooted corruption in the public distribution 
system and the in-fighting between rations dealers (who are 
Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) members.)  The 
developments in Bankura raise a worrisome issue for West 
Bengal's CPM leadership:  that bread-and-butter issues matter 
more to their electorate than abstract policy issues like the 
nuclear deal.  At the same time, rivalries and factionalism in 
local level CPM party units are peaking due to the ongoing 
elections for branch, zonal and district committees in the 
state.  For the WB group of CPM leaders, the practical business 
of governing a state is putting them at odds with the 
ideological positions staked out by other CPM leaders on 
national issues like the 123 agreement.  WB Chief Minister 
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee announced that he would not resort to 
blind anti-Americanism; a sign of conflicting priorities within 
the CPM in the run-up to September 28 Politburo meeting in 
Kolkata.  End Summary. 
 
---------- 
Food Riots 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On September 16, villagers in the Bankura district of 
Left Front-ruled WB attacked local Communist leaders in a 
meeting that was organized to protest the U.S.-India civil 
nuclear agreement.  Faced with food shortages, the villagers 
insisted they wanted rice and not slogans.  Villagers from 
Radhamohanpur came to the CPM's "anti-imperialism" protest to 
complain about the hoarding of food grains by ration-shop 
owners.  Local panchayat (local self-governance bodies) and CPM 
leader Pabitra Mondal, who was addressing a crowd about the 
dangers of the 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement, tried to dismiss the 
villagers, who he had earlier refused to meet.  The 
confrontation turned violent, and the police opened fire, 
injuring four people.  The same day a 1,000-strong mob stormed 
the house of local CPM leader and ration dealer N.C. Dutta in 
Kotalpukur village.  Violence followed and Dutta himself fired a 
gun at the villagers, injuring 13.  On September 17, a mob beat 
up rations dealer Moinuddin Chowdhury in Bhagitpore and 
ransacked the ration shop and home of Fazlur Haq Mullick in 
Chandai.  Similar incidents took place in Barjora, Patrosayer 
and Gopalpur.  On September 19, angry villagers surrounded a 
food department convoy and demanded that visiting officials 
immediately punish corrupt ration dealers.  As a result, the 
state government has suspended twenty-six ration dealers in 
Bankura district. 
 
---------------- 
Rations for Sale 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Corruption in the public distribution system is 
deep-rooted.  In the state districts, a number of rations 
dealers are either CPM members or cronies of local party 
leaders.  By virtue of their political clout and party backing, 
they are allotted dealerships and entitled to collect food 
grains and kerosene oil meant for distribution to local 
ration-card holders at fixed rates.  Very often, these 
subsidized rations are instead sold at market rates to other 
grocers or to the public.  This practice inevitably leads to a 
shortage of food for poor villagers. 
 
¶4.  (U) The recent outbursts are not only a manifestation of the 
ire of the "have-nots," but also indicate in-fighting between 
local CPM members.  In some localities, particular factions 
within the CPM dominate and reap the monetary benefits.  Weaker 
factions backed the villagers' protests to get even with their 
rivals.  (Comment: Although initially observers suspected Maoist 
involvement in fomenting the incidents, journalists who 
interviewed locals who were involved concluded that corruption 
and internal CPM dissensions were responsible.  End Comment.) 
 
¶5.  (U) CPM members who are outside the factionalism are unable 
to contain the in-fighting because the local, corrupt CPM 
members exercise the de facto control of the vote banks at the 
grassroots level.  The WB government acknowledged that a number 
of ration dealers are engaged in corrupt practices and ordered a 
magisterial inquiry into the September 16 incidents.  Police 
have started arresting ration dealers indulging in hoarding and 
 
KOLKATA 00000295  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
siphoning off food grains meant for the public distribution 
system. 
 
--------------- 
Bread, Not Cake 
--------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The developments in Bankura confront the WB CPM 
leadership with the worrying prospect that if mid-term elections 
are precipitated by the Left's withdrawal of support for 
national government over the 123 Agreement, bread-and-butter 
issues will matter more to the state electorate than the nuclear 
deal.  CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat's strong objection to 
the 123 Agreement may be driven by anti-American ideology but 
was also likely intended to foster unity amongst the Left.  The 
past year, the Left parties have been beset by internal disputes 
over economic reforms, the March killings in Nandigram of 
protestors opposed to land acquisition for industry, and 
differences over large-scale retail investment.  However, the 
CPM leadership worries that mid-term elections could  mean fewer 
seats for the CPM in WB.  State secretariat members feel that 
the deal needs to be opposed, but not by withdrawing support at 
the Center.  State government and party leaders - Chief Minister 
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, State Industries Minister Nirupam Sen, 
former Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, and Left Front Chairman Biman 
Basu -- agree that the public would not appreciate snap polls 
due to the rigid stance of the Left on the nuclear deal, an 
issue that has no popular appeal at a time when controversies 
revolve around more local issues like the government's plans to 
acquire land for industry and corruption. 
 
---------- 
Poll Peril 
---------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Moreover, rivalries and factionalism in local level 
party units are increasing due to the ongoing elections for CPM 
branch, zonal and district committees.  These party elections 
are the run-up to the CPM all-India party conference scheduled 
for January 2008.  The CPM's vote bank calculations have also 
been upset by the small, but growing section of Muslims who feel 
threatened by the prospective loss of their farmland to the 
CPM's industrialization drive.  For the first time, small, but 
vocal Muslim parties are appearing and challenging CPM control 
in some rural and poorer areas of the state.  As well the 
opposition Trinamul Congress has sought to position itself as a 
true supporter of the poor and wrest control of these 
constituents from the CPM.  The state panchayat polls are 
scheduled for the summer of 2008 and.  Early Parliamentary polls 
may result in the loss of some seats for the Left although it 
will remain the dominant political force in the state.  However, 
Left-watchers point out that W. Bengal's CPM representatives are 
still a minority in the Politburo and Central Committee and it 
would be tough for them to influence the party's decision at the 
national level should Karat opt for drastic measures towards the 
national government.  The current 17-member Politburo has only 
three members from W. Bengal. Likewise, the 85-member Central 
Committee has only 18 West Bengal members. 
 
--------------------------- 
Bengal Comrades Strike Back 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) On September 18, in an interview with leading 
Bengali-language daily Anandabazar Patrika, Chief Minister 
Bhattacharjee announced that State Industries Minister Sen will 
be visiting the U.S. to attract investment to W. Bengal. 
Bhattacharjee explained that the Left has differences with the 
national governing United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the 
nuclear deal and with the U.S. on ideological issues, but that 
did not mean resorting to blind anti-Americanism.  He cited the 
example of U.S. investments in communist Vietnam. 
Bhattacharjee is aware that he cannot alter the party's decision 
if Karat persists with his hard-line on the national stage, but 
his declarations to the media are his way of publicly asserting 
the WB state leadership's position to put pressure on Karat in 
the run-up to the Politburo meeting.  Left-watchers have started 
speculating about the possibility of a change in the top 
echelons of the CPM during the party conference in early 2008. 
Many feel that Politburo member Sitaram Yechury would be the 
perfect choice for the "Bengal group" to replace Karat as 
General Secretary in the Politburo. Yechury is perceived as a 
liberal and moderate, particularly compared to Karat, and is 
considered to be more amenable to progressive ideas and change. 
 
KOLKATA 00000295  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶9.  (U) Comment:  The WB CPM is caught between state and 
national priorities.  For state CPM leaders "all politics is 
local." Ideological posturing has to be subordinate to the 
fundamental vote-bank politics at the state level.  The WB CPM 
are witnessing the initial stirrings of discontent with their 
policies among their poorest constituents, and while there is no 
real possibility of their hold on West Bengal being dislodged, 
the prospect of a weakened position is worrying.  The state 
party unit is keen to avert early elections and protect its 
newfound economic reform image to further the state's 
development.  Remarks by CM Bhattacharjee seemingly at odds with 
CPM General Secretary Karat are unusual for a party noted for 
strictly maintaining a public veneer of consensus and are 
indicative of growing internal tensions.  That said, some in the 
Kerala group have breached with party discipline yet retained 
their official positions, which may be emboldening the Bengal 
group.  Statements by CPM officials around the upcoming 
September 28 Politburo meeting in Kolkata will be good 
indication of whether the Bengal CPM faction will be able to 
force Karat to moderate the party's polemic against the 123 
Agreement and "American Imperialism," and refocus the party on 
more pressing social and economic issues. 
JARDINE