ABSTRACT
The people were happy in giving the Communist Party of India (CPI-M) a healthy majority within the Left Front (LF) and in seeing Jyoti Basu, always considered the quintessential leader of the Bengalees, as the chief minister. People had so much conviction in Jyoti Basu’s leadership and in the CPI-M’s incorruptability that they were ready to buy these as aberrations or as motivated propaganda by the bourgeois press to sully the image of the party. Writing in 1991, Atul Kohli found West Bengal as the best governed state in India, for the CPI-M could provide political stability, marginalize political violence generated by casteist, communal and political extremist forces and bring commitment and capacity closer together. If 2011 elections brought disaster for the CPI-M and the LF in West Bengal, it marked Mamata Banerjee’s fulfillment of a dream. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
