CALCUTTA, Mar 9: The Left Front in West Bengal, despite its avowals of industrialisation, has failed to sway the voters of industrial areas to its side this time.In most cases the Front has failed to live up to the standards set by its candidates in '96 state elections, a fact specially significant as it involved constituencies of eight state ministers and Front's chief whip in the assembly.
The Front has been practically routed by BJP by 1,36,148 votes in Dumdum, whose five segments had sent in four ministers in the assembly and chief whip of the Front Robin Mondal.
Assembly segments of the constituencies represented by finance minister Asim Dasgupta (Khardah), power minister Shankar Sen (Dumdum), labour minister Shanti Ghatak (Kamarhati), transport minister Subhas Chakraborty (Belgachia-east) and Mondal (Rajarhat) provided sizeable leads to the BJP ranging from 4,500 votes in Khardah to 39,000 votes in Belgachia east.The reversals in Jadavpur too have hit hard with CPM, the largest Front partner,taking a beating in no less than the state home minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya's Jadavpur assembly segment by 25,000 votes from Trinamool Congress winner Krishna Bose.
Krishna Bose pipped Malini Bhattacharya of CPI-M to the post by over 79000 votes. Congress, which was represented by Bose last time, emerged a distant third.
Trinammol Congress and BJP rivals annexed assembly segments of industry minister Bidyut Ganguly's Bhatpara in Barrackpore, small and cottage industry minister Pralay Talukdar's south Howrah and industrial reconstruction minister Mrinal Banerjee's Durgapur-I.
The large number of sick and closed units and stagnant industrial scenario are some of the reasons behind the reversals suffered by LF, which had made it to power for the fifth consecutive term in '96, poll analysts said.
The Front, which had maintained a surprising silence on industrial policy in its election manifesto, suffered defeat in Serampore, where as many as ten large and medium industrial units and jute units arelying shut affecting thousands of people.
Akbar Ali Khondkar of Trinamool Congress, who has only an experience of one and half years as legislator in the state assembly, bagged the seat with a margin of 44000 votes as the hapless employees rejected Pradip Bhattacharya, Congress MP of the dissolved Lok Sabha and Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury of CPI-M for their unkept promises.
Thousands of employees of Standard Pharmaceuticals, Rishra Steel, United Vegetables, Sree Engineering, a number of cotton mills in the constituency are facing a certain future.
The scenario is similar in Howrah, known earlier as Manchester of India, with its lungs clogged with pollution from outdated and obsolete industrial units. There Trinamool Congress' debutant, bureaucrat Bikram Sarkar won by over 7000 votes over his nearest rival Mayor Swadesh Chakraborty of CPI-M.In industrial Durgapur (SC) seat CPI-M has returned with fewer votes this time as a large number of employees of the public sector Mining and Allied MachineryCorporation, Bharat Opthalmic Glass Limited, Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation of India and Durgapur Chemical face uncertain future.BIFR has advised liquidation of the first two factories, while the last two are facing closure. The fate of the private sector Sankey Wheels and ABL is also bleak.
BJP has gained substatially in Durgapur 11 assembly segment.CPI-M had, infact, won with its lead from adjacent Bankura's rural areas, whose voters have been benefitted by the party's land reforms.
In Asansol CPI-M suffered poll reversals in Barabani, Hirapur, Kulti and Asansol assembly segments (first three coal mines areas) and won the seat from BJP by 26149 votes, down from last time's 46950 vote-margin after a tough fight from the Congress.
Interestingly, Hirapur, Asansol and Barabani have Congress MLAs this time.The moribund state of public sector Cycle Corporation of India, Iisco Hindustan Cables and Eastern Coalfields Limited, Coal India Limited subsidiary, played its role in the poll results.
InBarrackpore and Hooghly, the two other industrial constituencies in the state, the CPI-M made it to the winning post but with depleted number of votes.
Infact in Baarckpore, considered a red citadel, CPI-M candidate Tarit Topdar, who returned to the Lok Sabha for the fourth consecutive time, trailed far behind his nearest Trinamool Congress rival in Jagadal, Bhatpara, Noapara and Naihati, areas which are strewn with jute mills.The setback in Dumdum, which covers most of industrial North 24 parganas, has stunned CPI-M and many partymen have reportedly asked for a separate inquiry into the debacle. BJP has used Dumdum seat as its stepping stone in Bengal politics.
