Singur A Case Study By Saibal Bishnu

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Singur A Case Study

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By Saibal Bishnu
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19 September, 2008
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The

Singur issue refuses to die down. The issue has

become like a fresh air to the ones who are against the
ruling communists in Bengal, and a pain in the neck for the
ones who prefers to call themselves pro progress, both in
the left and the right sides of the fence. Whatever be the
outcome of the Tata Small Car Factory at Singur, this issue
would remain a major case study for the left in India.
The so called grand alliance against the Singur plant does
not have a homogeneous nature, which itself is the biggest
success of the opposition. The opposition to this Singur plant
is so broad-based that it could accommodate a large variety
of stains of politics, opinions, beliefs, and ideas under it. The
opposition could successfully accumulate the support of
large mass of people from different walks of life, as the
opposition itself was multi dimensional. Let us try to examine
the major strains of the opposition.

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Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee has no doubt

played the leaders role. Trinamool all these years have been
the strongest voice in Bengal against the so called
de-industrialization process here. One of their MPs once
opined they are ready to admit that the West Bengal
government is serious about industrialization only if the
Tatas build a factory here. Their opposition does not stem
from any ideological moorings; they would like to carry out
exactly the same process of industrialization if in
governance. But they do not want to be left in the lurch, and
let the CPI(M) led Left Front government take all the credits
of industrialization of the state. One of the views hints the
Trinamool's opposition to Singur project is at the behest of
the corporate interest of the rivals of Tata Nano, it gained
grounds specially since no one challenged the accusation
once Ratan Tata made, "Let me just say it is not just political,
because I happen to know that some of our competitors are
also fuelling some of this fire they would be very happy if
the project got delayed," in an interview to the NDTV.
The traditional support base of Trinamool, a break-away
fraction of the Congress, has been the erstwhile zamindars,
jotedars and other parasite classes in the rural Bengal,
traders and urban middle class in the cities and towns. They
reinvented their whole strategy after a defeat in the 2006

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assembly elections. The new strategy can be best

symbolized by their new found catch phrase, ma-matimanush (mother-earth-human), vowing to protect the lives
and livelihoods of the rural peasants, which instantly caught
the imagination of many. In the urban areas, the campaigns
took a bit different route. To give an example, the Trinamool
has been organizing squads, street corners, posters, and
wall graffiti protesting against the policy of providing licenses
to set up foreign liquor shops in the localities. The middle
class Bengal also started identifying with the cause instantly.
The campaign was cleverly manufactured against the
backdrop of the same ma-mati-manush by playing on the
sentiments, that the Left Front government is providing a lot
of sops to the already rich Tatas to setup their factory at
Singur, and to balance the budget the government is
providing few thousands of licenses and plans to earn
revenues, thus endangering the future of generation next.
Interestingly the symbolisms they have started using of late
are reminiscent of the erstwhile communist movements in
Bengal, which people can easily relate to. Starting with
Tebhaga to Operation Barga the right to land to the tillers
has been the crux, which was immaculately re-invented by
the Trinamool by organizing peasants unwilling to part with
their lands for industrialization. The campaign strategists
have been using the slogans, revolutionary poems by
Sukanta Bhattacharya and other poets, revolutionary songs
of Salil Chowdhury which were once used during the
Tebhaga movement, the symbols which the people can
easily identify as the symbol of protest. Some of the
speakers even address the gathering in front as 'comrades'
and the whole campaign is aimed at putting across the point
that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has changed
after enjoying 'power' for 30 years, have become anti-farmer,
and the leaders of the party now symbolize state authority
whereas it is Mamata Banerjee who is the real messiah of
the rural poor and the middle class Bengal. This emotional
play is bearing some fruits no doubt, which is evident by the
fact that many prominent cult personalities in Bengal from
music, literature, theatre and cinema have been moved, and
openly voiced dissent against the course of industrialization
by the Left Front government. This whole movement of
Trinamool gained a lot of credence and popularity because
of the open dissent by the cult personalities. But most
importantly, it is the ultra lefts and their participation in the
movement with Trinamool which changed the face of the
movements. The 26-day hunger strike by Mamata Banerjee
in 2006 to occupation movement in Nandigram in 2007 to
the blockade in Singur in 2008, the face of the movements
have turned from a Gandhian one to a pure agitation
movement which the communists can easily identify with.
There is a distinct possibility of agitations of more anarchic
nature in future.
The ultra lefts have their own ideology to align with
Trinamool. According to the Maoists, SUCI, and some other
strains of the ultra lefts, Trinamool represents the national
bourgeoisie and urban petty bourgeois, who are vacillating
ally during revolution; whereas the Tatas are comprador

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bourgeoisie and the CPI(M) is playing as an agent of the

comprador bourgeoisie. So, according to their analysis of the
Indian capitalism and stage of revolution, allying with the
Trinamool Congress against the CPI(M) is their
organizational task, by following a policy of unity-struggleunity. It is very interesting to note here that, all these strains
of ultra lefts are compelled to organize movements with the
help of some bourgeois political party and play a second
fiddle to Trinamool, as they do not have mass support of
their own, but they still continue to ignore participation in the
democratic setup of India. Probably they have lessons to
learn from the Maoists of Nepal, but that is entirely a
different story beyond the scope of this case study. Some
strains of the ultra lefts found a common cause with
Trinamool as they feel it is the CPI(M) which is implementing
neo-liberal agenda in the state, and it is important to ally with
Trinamool to fight against this process. In addition to the
ultra lefts of different strains and colors, the
environmentalists found in the small car Nano a major
violation to environment on two counts. Nano being a low
cost car can sell in huge number clogging the roads and
polluting the environment, and moreover acres of land are
getting transformed from agricultural to industrial land.
Neo-Luddites like Medha Patkar finds industries themselves
to be against progress, but didn't find it difficult to ally with
Mamata, who still calls herself a champion of industry in
public, and probably mutters in her mind, if only the industry
is built on thin air! Lastly after the sudden volte face on
N-Deal Amar Singh found in Mamata Banerjee an ally and
an 'ex-classmate,' to pin down the Left Front government
and thus the CPI(M). Though it is public domain news that
this same Amar Singh extended a red carpet to the Tatas to
build the Nano factory in Uttar Pradesh in 2006, while he
was heading the Uttar Pradesh state's Industrial
Development Council. Strange are the bed fellows, but more
striking is the way the broadest possible coalition could be
stitched together against a common enemy, the cleverly
crafted imagery of an authoritarian CPI(M) rule.
Some Congress leaders also jumped on this bandwagon,
finding it an opportune moment to remain relevant and gain
some television coverage. Seven-time Congress MLA from
Sealdah, Somen Mitra found his political career in jeopardy
when he realized that his safe seat will cease to exist and
would merge with Manicktala constituency. For him the next
best opportunity is to contest from the North Kolkata
Loksabha seat as the Trinamool candidate and former MP
Ajit Panja is ailing and away to USA for treatment.
Interestingly this same Somen Mitra has been found to have
bought agricultural land in Singur itself to build a resort,
which was under construction while he was sitting at the
Dharna to protect agricultural land. The ex Trinamool Mayor
of Calcutta Corporation and INTUC leader Subrata
Mukherjee in a desperate attempt to find relevance in
Bengal politics, after the drubbing he received in the last
election, has joined this protest. Although he is a labor union
leader by profession and his political career ceases to have
any significance without industry and labor.

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This movement would not have gained a critical mass,

unless the fundamentalists played a crucial role in it. Jamaite-Ulema-I-Hind leader Siddikulla Chowdhury, once a
Congressman, campaigned among the Muslims in the rural
Bengal, especially in the areas where some development
projects were planned and land acquisition was imminent.
The campaign gained huge momentum when it fueled a
primal fear among the Muslim community that the minority
population is the target of the CPI(M) led Left Front
government, and the land acquisition means giving up on
whatever they held dearest, the small tract of land they
cultivate, the small cottages they call home, the village
mosques they pray in, and the nearby cemetery they bury
their near and dear ones. The propaganda was orchestrated
underground with video CDs distributed throughout the rural
Bengal. Clerics from foreign countries started visiting the
village mosques just before the recent Panchayat polls. The
target was again the common enemy, the cleverly crafted
image of an authoritarian CPI(M) rule.
This political strategy was a success story, as equating the
CPI(M) with the state government, and thus with state power
and authority was easy and Singur provided a golden
opportunity. The West Bengal state government was
desperate to attract investments to setup manufacturing
industries. The victory with a huge margin in terms of
number of seats in the 2006 assembly polls was taken by
CPI(M) as a landslide mandate to industrialize the state at a
very fast pace. At this time the Tatas were planning to setup
their Nano factory at Pantnagar, as they were getting 100%
outright excise duty exemption for a period of 10 years, with
100% income tax exemption for the first 5 years and then
30% for the next five. This kind of incentives possibly help to
bring down the real cost of the small car by a few thousands
rupees. This also helps the investors to recover the
investment much faster. In order to attract the Tata Nano
Factory the Left Front government tried to match these
incentives and signed an agreement with them. Other than
the financial incentives, the Tatas were given a choice to
choose the site for their project. They chose Singur, which
has been a fertile land, but at the same time probably the
best location logistically to setup this project of small car.
Also the low operating cost in Bengal was a major factor for
the Tatas to decide in favor of Singur as this is a very cost
sensitive project. The expectation of the government was
again two fold, generating employment and earning tax
revenues after few years to the tune of estimated 500 crores
per year, which can then be spent on the social sector facing
crunch in budgetary allocation. This project was also seen
as a harbinger for fast industrialization and building up
investor confidence. The resistance movement at Singur
germinated almost from the very beginning of the land
acquisition notification, and this became a melting pot for all
those strains of political colors. The government offered a
good price for the land acquired and the compensation for
the first time in India included Bargadars, but the resistance
movement could organize a good number of people who did
not collect the compensation money, and thus can be
termed 'unwilling.' More transparency from the government

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could have avoided this situation too some extent but there
were several confusions and questions in the air on the
fertility of the land acquired, the cost benefit analysis of the
project, question of rehabilitation etc. The use of police force
during the land acquisition added fire to the fuel and
strengthened this protest movement, the broad-based
coalition was achieved and led to the incidents in
Nandigram. The success of the movement at Nandigram
were two folds, the government had to roll back its plans for
the chemical hub and the defeats of CPI(M) candidates in
the Panchayat polls there. This success story further
encouraged the movement to go in for a stronger agitation
which led to the siege at the Singur project site. The
government
recently
declared
an
unprecedented
rehabilitation
package
(http://www.wbidc.com/images
/pdf/ad1.pdf) which can be attributed to this movement to a
great extent.
The state government was in a peculiar situation, with the
fiscal crunch it is facing under neo-liberal agenda of our
country, it was very difficult for the government to protect the
gains it has achieved through land reforms and Panchayat
decentralization. The social sectors like health and
education were getting neglected as avenues to raise
resources were becoming increasingly limited. According to
a document of CPI(M), rapid industrialization was the only
way forward, it stated, "there is constant fragmentation and
division of land holdings and a high proportion of rural
population dependent on agriculture along with a high
proportion of landlessness, it is essential that this population
dependent on agriculture finds avenues for employment
which will be mainly provided by industrial development."
Accordingly, the idea of industrialization was to generate
alternate employment opportunities to the surplus labor in
agriculture so that dependency on land decreases,
considering the crisis agriculture is facing because of
economic liberalization. The idea was also to earn tax
revenues so that priority social sector spending can be
achieved.
The CPI(M) and its mass organizations were supposed to
play a very important role here. The government and its
agenda of industrialization had the potential to displace
farmers from land and destroy livelihoods for many,
especially at the Singur project site. They were caught in the
middle of the contradiction between the aspirations of the
middle class to gain employment through industrialization
and the farmers who were getting dispossessed from their
land precisely because of this. The educated middle class is
more enthusiastic about the industrialization since the
modern industry provides good scope of employment for
them, whereas the poor peasants being dispossessed are
not that excited, as there is not a direct relation between
their own employment and this kind of industrialization. It
was absolutely necessary that the Left take up the issues of
the peasants, understand their sentiments, and organize
movements on behalf of the land losers. It was thought
impossible for the ruling party to organize movements
against its own government. As a result the peasants found

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in Mamata Banerjee their leader to protest against the

acquisition.
Here the distinction and a dialectical relation between the
party and its government was ignored and in reality the party
with its mass organizations was used to drive down the
administrative agenda of land acquisition in the drive for
industrialization. This alienated a large mass of people,
including a part of the intelligentsia. The support base of the
party eroded even among its long time ally, the peasantry.
The combination of the two features, withdrawal of the
CPI(M) from the forefront of struggle on behalf of the
peasants, and well timed propaganda by this broad based
alliance created a huge turmoil in the political scene in
Bengal, not seen in the last few decades. The situation has
led to such a paranoia that the infrastructural projects like
building a thermal power station at Katwa is facing protests.
People are protesting against any kind of land issues and
even erecting high tension electric posts in the rural Bengal
has almost stopped, and progress of rural electrification has
become a question. An anarchic Bengal is not impossibility
in future if this continues and the trouble with Gorkhaland
increases.
There are both ideological and social reasons for the CPI(M)
not to play the desired role as expected by the people.
Ideologically for them the accent is on delivering an alternate
policy and governance with relief to people of Bengal, which
includes employment generation, and thus industrialization.
At the same time fiscal squeeze through neo-liberalism has
restricted the scope for state governments, where delivering
alternate policies has become increasingly difficult. The only
possible way out is inviting private and even foreign capital
with huge sops, a case study being Singur, and then earn
from the tax revenues to spend on social sector. They didn't
try to go back to people educating them on the limitations,
the difficulties, costs and pains of industrialization. Even
after the government Tata agreement, the peasant front
organization didn't take up the issues of the peasants to the
government. The long-time allies were left in the lurch and
the grand alliance happily grabbed the opportunity.
Thus Singur will remain a case study for the left in India, on
how to go about deciding and implementing policies under a
restricted condition, also the dialectical relation between the
party and its government would have to be sorted out in
cases of these contradictions. As long as the CPI(M)
continues to promote the political line of providing relief by
participating in state governments as a tactics to build the
left democratic front towards revolution, continuation of the
government will remain a primary aim, and with the
constraints increasing, implementing alternate policies will
be an increasing challenge. The idea of using the Left Front
government as an icon of the left's politics and policies of
alternative to attract masses to build the proposed left
democratic front is still not being questioned even under
increasing fiscal squeeze under neo-liberalism, so situations
like these might happen again. For the opposition of the left
this was a case study on how to stitch a grand alliance and

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wean away a part of the core support base of the left. Both
have learned, next time these lessons will again be
implemented with much more finesse here or elsewhere,
possibly there will be more situations like this as the
contradictions are indeed sharpening.
Saibal Bishnu is Working in the IT industry, Kolkata, India
and keen observer of left politics.
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