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The writing on the wall is unmistakably clear
Biswanath Bhattacharya, Retd. Joint Secretary

PHOTO : CM Manik Sarkar with Opposition leader Sudip Roy Barman, All happy ?

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading

Lao Tzu

Does any bell ring in the name of Shri Ratan Chakraborty in the Congress Circle in Tripura? Or the name of Shri Surajit Datta who once made the Ramnagar seat impregnable for the CPI (M) till 2013? No. They have deserted the Congress for reasons not far to seek and resurfaced as the Avatars of the Trinamool Congress(TMC) which one banged the bell of new hope, fresh promise and renewed assurance to the masses of Tripura reeling under oppression unleashed by the demonic Left Front Government over past two decades.

But the scam ridden TMC which was sought to be the refuge of disgruntled lots had failed miserably to occupy the vacuum temporally created by the Congress. It was apprehended that a trickle of exodus from Congress will threaten to be a flood mainly because of apathetic, directionless and invisible central leadership of the Congress twiddling its thumb. But the floodgate appears to be temporarily sealed now, the news of alarming exodus from Congress does not make any headline today.

Having said so, it must also be emphasized that the leadership of Congress in Tripura is still invisible save some sporadic outbursts on mind boggling scams, unheard of magnitude of corruption of our rulers. Abysmal poverty, stark unemployment, total financial mismanagement, shameless nepotism, alarming crime scenario, a parallel mafia raj are all the hall marks of this CPI(M) Government but the Congress has failed miserably to reap any dividend so far arisen out of the misery , despair and deprivation of people .

It is needless to mention that CPI (M) is a well-organized party and has exploited the State machinery completely to further its cause. There is absolutely no department wherein the sway of CPI (M) doesn’t hold good. Despite the much vaunted transparency, now punctured by www.tripurainfoway.com , there is rampant corruption everywhere. There is no democratic institution which is free from it. Bishalgarh scam, old age Pension Scam, NRHM scam, scam at Education Department are the proverbial tips of the ice berg – much awaits to be unearthed. The Left Front Government and its cahoots have institutionalized the art of corruption !

But at the same time Congress is now reduced to shambles, the Pan Indian leaders do not visualize that the Congress will turn the tide. The plight of the party was amply manifest in the serial debacles in 2013 Assembly Elections followed by the Lok Sabha election and thereafter in Maharastra and Haryana Assembly Elections. There is no concerted effort from either Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi to give the party a direction and cheer up the workers. The morale of the workers are at the lowest ebb. Therefore, large chunk of the Congress followers including some leaders are looking for greener pastures. The signal of doomsday for the Congress has been pronounced. The Congress in general has failed to combat the onslaught of Modi Tsunami. And with passage of everyday, the situation is worsening! It is mired in one of its worst crises with growing list of debacles in the recently fought elections

Whereas, after the Lok Sabha Elections in 2009, there was feeling everywhere in the state of Tripura that an air of change was flowing. The strength of the air could have been made into hurricane, had the congress leaders been selfless and dedicated to the cause of the vast institution they represent. Congress leaders ought to have come out from their cocoon and plunge themselves with renewed vigor to take advantage of the air of change. But what they did was to squabble among themselves, leg-pull their political opponents in the same party and to see that the candidates belonging to other section do never win. They have totally failed to show a united face. And the result was a devastating ignominious defeat!

Luizinho Faleiro who was the custodian of Tripura for a prolonged period believed that the ugly squabbles between the congress leaders as ‘Family Quarrels ’, the kind of misunderstanding that temporarily divides even the best of families, that blood eventually always proves to be thicker than water. But what is true for Goa is not true for Tripura. The internecine rivalry can hardly be termed as Family Quarrels. The murderous squabbles amongst Congress leaders is a folklore. In every available opportunity knives are unsheathed surreptitiously to stab his own comrade in arms. It is somewhat like the Mughal Monarchy!

Luizinho Faleiro has a chalked out a programme spanning for seven months but this programme was devoid of pragmatism. It was a very weak effort to bring all the warring factions under a common platform giving each one a lollipop. Further, since he could neither speak Bengali and nor Hindi, he failed completely to assuage the aspiration and hope of people. He was a total disaster.

The action plan that Falerio could have followed may be summed up as follows :

• To tell the leaders to go to the villages, camp there for at least 6 months and submit a feedback report. Every day they shall have to compulsorily and intimately interact with 50 people at the least. YSR should have been made their role model;

• To send one representative of high command every month. He may camp there for a fortnight and see how our leaders are doing. Coming for a day or two was not serving any purpose at all;

• To revitalise the defunct “Sevadal” and put it under the leadership of one- solely chosen on merit. This Sevadal could have built the edifice for second rung leadership;

• To educate the villagers on every scheme – be it sponsored by Centre or by the State ;

• To expose the misdeeds , corruption of the CPI(M) in street corner meeting in every market day ;

• To forbid the leaders to rush to Delhi for party related cause;

• And above all, to become selfless and people orientated

But he has done nothing but steadfastly encouraged palace politics to placate his blue eyed boys. The leaders at Congress in Tripura became accustomed to doing politics sitting at Agartala or at best going to their constituency. It is, in fact, Faleiro who may be made squarely responsible for this most ignominious drubbing of the Congress at the hustings. He could never match the sharp arsenals of the CPI (M) by his blunt weapons, While the CPI(M) waged a complete war by its well organized shenanigans , Faleiro depended on the sycophant leaders who were always telling that they were the ones who were taking the mantle of leadership from the CPI(M) after the coming Election . Faleiro was duped as he should be!

The affairs of Congress in the state is now totally in shambles. BJP is gaining strength every day. It has started flexing its muscles too. One or two whirlwind tour by Narendra Modi or Amit Shah shall set their house in order. There is no dearth of issues and mark my words BJP shall make capital of each of the issues. True, at present the leadership of BJP in Tripura is very weak. It can neither match the orchestrated machinery of the CPI (M) nor can they blunt the goebbelsian propaganda now articulated in the social media and elsewhere. But given the performance of BJP in the Lok Sava Poll and thereafter at Maharashtra and Haryana, the hiccups presently felt shall be smoothened by Shah and his team. After all the expertise of Shah is a proven one and He was the man of the match of the Lok Shava Poll!

The Congress has not changed its direction and therefore, it is destined to end up where it is heading giving Shah the enough room for his loud last laugh !

Mr Biswanath Bhattacharya is an eminent writer, Political Analyst, Retd Joint Secretary, Govt. of Tripura

This article also published in Facebook www.facebook.com/tripurainfoway simultaneously

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