CPM ALLY BARKS BUT WON'T BITE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000051 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EAGR PREL IN SUBJECT: CPM ALLY BARKS BUT WON'T BITE REF: 07 KOLKATA 41 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On February 6, the Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPM) Left Front partner Forward Bloc (FB) called a 24-hour strike in West Bengal to protest the February 5 killing of six FB supporters by police in Cooch Behar district. The strike was withdrawn after 12 hours and was largely peaceful, although nearly 1000 FB supporters were detained by police. The FB has been upset with "big brother" CPM since 2006 for acting unilaterally without consulting Left Front partners. However, unlike in Tripura, the FB will not leave the Left Front anytime soon - it has too many vested interests in W. Bengal. Reluctant to give up the benefits of power, the FB will demonstrate its pro-people stand while remaining a CPM ally. End summary. ¶2. (U) On February 6, the CPM's Left Front partner Forward Bloc called a 24-hour strike in West Bengal to protest the police killing 6 FB supporters in Cooch Behar district. This is the first time a CPM ally has called a strike against the CPM. The FB is a junior partner in the Left Front coalition, and was founded by Indian national hero Subhas Chandra Bose in 1939. The FB has been part of the Left Front since 1977, with 23 legislators in W. Bengal's 294 seat state assembly, second after the CPM. The FB has four cabinet ministers in the W. Bengal government. ¶3. (U) The Opposition Trinamul Congress, the Socialist Unity Center of India (SUCI) as well as Congress expressed their support for the FB's strike call, but it was largely peaceful. Strikers disrupted rail and road transport services, and close to 1000 people were arrested for blocking roads in Kolkata. Government transportation was normal; some sporadic incidents of violence were reported. ¶4. (SBU) The police firing on FB supporters that sparked the strike call occurred on February 5 at Dinhata in Cooch Behar district. FB supporters and others were protesting the CPM's alleged failure to provide jobs (for Muslims in particular) under its employment guarantee scheme. North Bengal's Cooch Behar district is a traditional FB stronghold and 12,000 people took part in the demonstration. The crowd reportedly gathered outside the Dinhata sub-divisional officer's office to submit a memorandum, but were rebuffed by police. Nearly 50 people were injured during an ensuing police baton charge and by the use of teargas. When that failed to disperse the crowd, the police began firing. Police officials claimed that they fired in self-defense. Four protestors were killed immediately, and two died later from their wounds. FB Member of Parliament Subrata Bose (please protect) told Post that the February 5 incident was yet another instance of police overzealousness. He noted that most of the victims were hit either in the head or in the upper part of their bodies by bullets. Dinhata being a FB stronghold, the police should have been cautious, he said. ¶5. (SBU) The FB's beef with the CPM stems from its belief that the CPM has since 2006 been acting unilaterally without consulting Left Front partners. The FB protested the CPM-supported land acquisition for Tata's car factory in Singur (reftel). The March 14, 2007, police shootings in Nandigram that killed 14 people led the FB to aggressively demand greater power for smaller partners in the Left Front's decisions. Following the CPM's violent recapture of Nandigram in November 2007, FB leaders announced that the FB would contest the 2008 villages elections alone, and not with the CPM. ¶6. (SBU) In particular, the CPM's actions in the retail and agriculture sectors (areas where the FB has traditionally had influence) have distanced FB leaders from the CPM. The FB opposes any entry of large retailers into the agriculture market and exerts constant pressure on the CPM to hold that line. Chief Minister Bhattacharjee and the CPM's slow drift towards industrialization and modernization of W. Bengal's agricultural sector challenges FB control over agricultural distribution chains. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: Despite their complaints, the FB will not break with the Left Front. FB State Secretary Ashok Ghosh said that to do so would go against "general political interests of the state." Senior FB leader Barun Mukherjee (please protect) perhaps denying reality told Post that since the Left Front was not owned by the CPM, there was no reason for the FB to leave it. In West Bengal, the FB has a decent presence in the assembly and more importantly, enjoys control over four KOLKATA 00000051 002 OF 002 government departments. As for the February 5 killings, what matters to the FB is that the government looks into the violence and ensures that it is not repeated. The intention behind FB leaders' vocal criticisms of the CPM is to boost the morale of disenchanted FB grassroots workers - often victims of CPM cadres' domination in the villages - before village polls in May. ¶8. (SBU) Comment continued: In Left Front ruled Tripura, on the other hand, the FB has left the Front to fight the February assembly elections on its own. The FB does not have a single legislator or minister and its position is so weak that the CPM usually allots it one of 60 assembly seats to contest. This time FB had demanded 3 seats but CPM refused. The FB has nothing to lose by leaving the Left Front there. JARDINE