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India-Pakistan
India's Communists lose in their strongholds
2009-05-16
India's Communists lost so many seats Saturday in their stronghold states of West Bengal and Kerala that their leaders are going to have to change their policies.

The so-called Left Front comprising of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and other leftist parties were leading in the races for only 25 seats in India's lower house of Parliament. That is 34 fewer seats than the Left Front won in the last elections in 2004.

"The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Left have suffered a major loss," Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M) told reporters in New Delhi. "This necessitates action and re-thinking."

A weaker Left could mean more economic revamping for India. The Left, which supported the ruling coalition for most of the last five years, has consistently opposed economic reforms such as privatization, the easing of restrictions on foreign ownership, and the easing of labor laws.

Last July, Communist and other left wing parties withdrew their support from the ruling coalition to protest a pact on nuclear civilian technology transfer with the U.S. The government still survived a no confidence vote and went ahead with the deal, leaving the Left out of the government.

The backlash against the Left came from mismanagement and from their pursuit of outdated policies in New Delhi such as bashing the west and the Indian nuclear deal with the U.S., analysts said.

In the eastern state of West Bengal, one of the biggest issues was land. The Communist controlled state government has been forcing some farmers off their land to make way for industry. The highest profile land battle was over the land acquired by Tata Motors Ltd. to build the world's cheapest car, the Nano. The plans had to be shelved after months of protest over the plant.

The Trinamool Congress Party, led by firebrand politician Mamata Banerjee, led the protests and has been rewarded for its efforts. It was projected to have won 19 seats in the lower house, up from only one in the last election.

"It's over for the Communists. It's over," said Derek O'Brian, a leader of the Trinamool Congress party from the celebrations in front of Ms. Banerjee's home in Kolkata. "They have lost the connection to the people. We were with the people and the people were with us."
Derek O'Brian... is India becoming a nation of immigrants?
Kerala, a tropical state of 32 million people is struggling with the global downturn as thousands of its citizens return home from good paying jobs abroad. The state is dependent on income from the Persian Gulf because it exports so many laborers there. It's been hammered by sinking oil prices and a construction industry implosion in places like Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Kuwait. Congress and its allies were projected to win 12 seats of the 20 available from the state.

There are few jobs to come home to though. While Communists' policies have led to a literacy rate is more than 90%,
impressive
the state's militant labor unions, frequent strikes, and anti-Western policies, have scared off many investors and hurt growth.
Dumb. But it seems they've learnt from the experience.
Running in the state capital, Congress party candidate Shashi Tharoor, had never run or even voted before and he won against a veteran communist opponent. The author and former Under Secretary General of the United Nations said even he was surprised by the margin by which he won.
I wouldn't have thought retired senior UN functionaries would stoop to common electioneering, which only shows what I know.
"It's just unbelievable. Better (results) than all of our guesses," he said. "Wherever the government has been deficient, the voters have turned on mass against it."
Posted by:john frum

#3  There are few jobs to come home to though. While Communists' policies have led to a literacy rate is more than 90%...

Not all that impressive Ms. Periwinkle, considering the literacy is in Hindi only. The Commies stopped English language instruction in the school systems in areas they controlled.

In other parts of India the schools teach Hindi and English, and any Indian family wealthy enough to afford it, send their children to private schools...a great many of them are run by the Jesuits.
Posted by: Vinegar Slusorong4730   2009-05-16 19:05  

#2  Shashi Tharoor looks set to be India's next Foreign Minister
Posted by: john frum   2009-05-16 16:14  

#1  Looks like a narrow win by Congress over the BJP.
Posted by: Clem Slineper1938   2009-05-16 16:01  

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