"The anti-national and anti-people Congress government had brought about a crisis. The result was apparent in the food crisis and general suffering of the people. The successful and widespread strikes and agitation in West Bengal, Kerala, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were just a pointer to the shape of things to come. The student community had also joined in a major way.

"The government was trying to put these down by terrorising the people. But it failed to stop the barrage of pro-people democratic movements throughout the country. Major agitations were witnessed in Andhra Pradesh. The police there had resorted to lathicharge and firing to quell a restive people who wanted greater welfare of the state. Such a wave of agitation had never been seen in the country since Independence. Neither had the country been witness to such an orgy of violence unleashed by the police. It is in this context that the people are being called to exercise their franchise. The major question in front of us is whether the people will continue to repose faith in a government which is burdening the country with hunger and destroying the fundamental rights of the people. This is the basic issue."

The election manifesto of the newly formed CPI(M) began with these words. Two decades had passed since Independence. Three Five Year Plans had gone by. But the working classes remained neglected. In the Third Plan itself, prices had soared by 30 per cent. In the last five years, the Congress government had imposed taxes of over Rs 2,600 crores. In the name of planning progress, the Congress rulers had taken foreign loans of more than Rs. 4,000 crores. The generosity shown by the Soviet Union had not been put to use to help bail out our economy. The help extended by the Soviet Union had been used as sops in dealing with the US. and obtain loans from imperialists. The Congress government did not ever react to the fact that such dependence on the imperialists was only undermining the unity and sovereignty of the country.

But the people had time and again risen against the dangerous policies followed by the Congress governments. West Bengal had shown the way in this respect.

This was the first election being faced by the CPI(M) and thus there was a special importance attached to the polls this time. Elections are always the final yardstick of whether we had been able to establish ourselves as a genuine force; of whether we had been able to prove our credentials in front of people and our acceptance among the masses. It could only be gauged by our success rate at the hustings. We must not forget that the rightists among the Communists have by then created a dangerous scenario and crying for war with China. Since we had opposed this and said that there could be no compromise on the fact that talks, and not war, were the only way out, the government had come down heavily on us. Our party offices had been raided and razed to the ground at various places. Party workers had been harassed and attacked. But we had remained steadfast in our mission. The welfare of the people was foremost on our minds. It was in the backdrop of such an intimidating atmosphere that we readied ourselves for election; the ballot would be the supreme test.

Despite our policy differences with the revisionists, we still stuck to our stand that we should face the Congress unitedly. We had realised that the need of the hour was to avoid a division in anti-Congress votes and that the Congress would gain if we failed. But unfortunately, a joint election front could not be achieved.

It was the rightwing Communists who were responsible for this turn of events. The CPI(M) had democratically pointed out that the party with the major influence in a particular area should set up a candidate there. The rightwing Communists numbered eight in the Assembly. We had agreed to give them 35 seats including those eight. But they insisted on 28 more constituencies; of these they had no right to even talk about 18 seats. They had no influence whatsoever in these seats. Their insistence somehow proved that they wanted to project themselves as the real Communist party.

When the revisionists understood that we would not give in to their illogical demands, they tried to form an alternative forum under the leadership of Bangla Congress headed by Ajoy Mukherjee and the Forward Bloc. Incidentally, Mukherjee had left the Congress on the eve of the election and formed new party.

The state witnessed three-cornered contests. The United Front including the CPI(M) came to be known as United Left Front which was abbreviated as the ULF. This Front comprised the CPI(M), RSP, Marxists Forward Bloc, RCPI, SSP, SUC, and the Workers Party. We fielded candidates in 201 Assembly seats and 29 Lok Sabha constituencies. The CPI(M) had 135 nominees, the RSP 15, the Marxists Forward Bloc -1, RCPI -2, SUC -8 and the SSP-26. There were 12 seats in which Independents contested with our support. The Bangla Congress and the rightwing Communists formed the PULF which comprised the Communist Party (Rightist). Bangla Congress and the Forward Bloc. They fielded candidates in 192 seats in which Bangla Congress had 81, the Communist Party (Rightists) 62 and the Forward Bloc 32 nominees. The Congress fielded nominees in all 280 Assembly constituencies.

The CPI(M) election manifesto demanded an end to the Emergency-like situation, withdrawal of all black laws like DIR and PD Act, reestablishment of the basic rights of the people, no arrests without trial, total freedom of religion, speech, meetings, strikes and organisation, the right to move freely throughout the country and indulge in a lawful occupation, keep the secular character of the state intact, free education till the secondary stage, revision in the pay scales of teachers, free distribution of land among landless, housing facilities, proper rationing system organised by the government, low prices, definite decrease in the tax burden, a stoppage to increased US aid, nationalisation of all major industries dealing with foreign loans, the realisation of the right to indulge in trade union activity and the right to strike work, strong opposition to imperialism, particularly of the US kind, peaceful coexistence with other nations, an end to ties with the British Commonwealth, a peaceful solution to disputes with Socialist China and establishment of friendly ties with that country, good relations with Pakistan and support to the tireless struggle of the people of Vietnam.

The manifesto ended with the call to establish the rule of the labour class who would lead a people’s democratic government. The manifesto ended thus:

"The CPI(M) sees these elections as party of the tireless struggle of the people against Congress rule. This struggle is changing the entire scenario from Bengal to Kerala and from Andhra Pradesh to Punjab and thus disassociating the Congress from the masses. The future of our country and its freedom lies in the experience of the people who are going through a massive process of upheaval. Only the people can stop the US imperialists from making inroads into this country. Only the people can again foil the anti-people policies of the Congress and clear the way towards a democratic government and greater development. We salute the martyrs who have given their lives in the struggle against the Congress oppression. The CPI(M) takes this occasion to remind the people once again that it will not sit idle unless the people’s victory is achieved."

On the eve of the elections, the usual raids and attacks on us started. But we had been exposed to this earlier. This was routine affair. There was no end also to the disinformation campaign launched by the bourgeoisie papers and the government media. The elections were just another excuse to give them fresh impetus. The Congressmen attacked our candidate from Diamond Harbour Jyotirmoy Basu. He was hurt seriously. Six of our partymen were knifed by Congressmen who suddenly attacked an election meeting at Bally. The police raided a rally at Behala. This was a daily affair but our party programmes went on, helped by the confidence, resilience and steadfastness of our comrades. We wanted to hold a rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds but this was turned down on flimsy excuses.

The Congress started making false promises. I still remember one of them. A few days before the elections, the Congress government suddenly announced that 3,000 primary schools would be opened in the state immediately and 10,000 teachers would get employment. It is necessary to add that Prafulla Sen was the then Chief Minister of West Bengal.

The elections came and we were not too happy with the results. The United Left Front won 68 seats with the CPI(M)-43, RSP-7, SSP-7, SUC-4, Workers Party-2, Forward Bloc (Marxist)-1, and Independents supported by us got four constituencies. The PULF got 65 seats of which the Bangla Congress won 34, the Communist Party (Rightist)-16, Forward Bloc-13, while Independents supported by them won two constituencies. The Congress got 127 seats. Incidentally this was the first time after Independence that the Congress had failed to get a clear majority in the state Assembly. The CPI(M) got 18.5% of the votes while our Front got 26.5 per cent, the Bangla Congress got 9.9 per cent, the Communist Party of India (Rightists) 6.2 per cent while their Front got a total of 20.3 per cent. The Congress got 39 per cent of the votes.

The scenario in the Lok Sabha elections was like this : The CPI(M) won 15 seats out of the 16 it contested (15.66 per cent of the votes), the Congress won 14 seats (39.8 per cent), the Communist Party of India (Rightist) five seats (8.9 per cent of the votes), the Bangla Congress five seats (9.87 per cent) and the Opposition tally went up to 26 in all.

In the Assembly, the CPI(M) got 18 seats out of the 30 it contested in 24 Paraganas, 7 out of 18 in Burdwan, 5 our of 15 in Calcutta, 4 out of 12 in Hooghly, 3 out of 11 in Howrah, 2 out of 5 in Nadia, 1 out of 11 in Midnapore, 1 out of 3 in Murshidabad, 1 out of 3 in Maldah and 1 out of 4 in Cooch Behar. This was the district-wise gains.

While we had not been able to defeat the Congress outright, for the first time, we had reduced the Congress to a minority. This was a significant triumph. Chinks were now being seen in the Congress armour. We started negotiations with all Left and Democratic parties after the elections. What had not been possible before the elections, now become a reality; the first United Front government was formed keeping in mind the anti-Congress sentiments in the state. The United Front government comprised 14 parties.

Another aspect of the elections this time was that we had also to fight a section of the Communists this time and take on their allies, the Congress, too. In the state Assembly, our party had increased its strength from 33 to 43; given the scenario at that time and the attacks that we had had to face, this progress was extremely significant. At a time when the Congress and the revisionists had tried to project us as anti-nationals but had been reduced to an insignificant factor themselves, the fact was that we had been able to increase our strength and emerge as the strongest force among the anti-Congress parties gave us a major boost. Through the elections, the people had once again singled out the CPI(M) as the only fighting force against the vested interests of the Congress. The Leftists were set to rule.

After an analysis of the election results, we realised that our predictions in only 30 of 280 nominations had gone wrong. Our unity talks with the Communist party (Rightist) had failed on the question of 23 seats. When the results came out, it was seen that they had no logic to claim 18 of these seats; in 12 of them they had lost their deposits, in two constituencies, they could not even put up a fight and in four places, they got much fewer votes than us.

In the rest of the five seats, votes had been divided almost equally. It was now crystal clear that it was the revisionists who had been the stumbling block in the formation of a United Front before the election, which is why the Congress had got so many seats resulting from the division in the Left votes. We saw that because of the fight between the ULF and PULF, the Congress had got almost 70 seats more than they should have.

We also realised that our evaluation and assessment of six seats were totally wrong and that we should not have asked for these seats during the unity talks. We also openly admitted that the results were not up to our expectations. The elections had not reflected the true spirit of the people.

A major task before the elections was to fight the disinformation campaign launched against us with a majority of our top leaders behind bars. There was nobody to combat this onslaught and educate the people. There was a time constraint because of the seventh congress also; much of our time went in organising the conference. On the other hand, the revisionists and the Congress government joined hands against us and used the administrative machinery widely to their advantage. It is a fact that our run-up to the campaign and finally the elections was littered with thorns.

A certain sense of complacency had also worked in our party. An impression had gathered within the party ranks that since we seen to be the only viable opposition in the state, all the people ranged against the Congress government would be with us. We failed to realise that it is an onerous responsibility to educate the people when they themselves are in danger from the rulers. It was necessary to tell the people and show them the face of a real alternative while they were getting disenchanted with the Congress government. It was also necessary to make them aware that the basic structure of the system had to change; for this, a strong political and organisational set-up was needed and this could not be achieved in a day. We had seen the situation through a myopic vision; we had taken it for granted that the anti-Congress attitude of the people would naturally go in our favour. But not many realised that the spontaneous reaction of the people had to be necessarily channelised to a greater realisation; since this could not be done, the bourgeoisie ideals prevailed.

Though this did not happen in West Bengal, the Congress got badly drubbed in Kerala. Out of the total 133 seats, the Congress got only nine; the CPI(M) 154 and the Communist Party (Rightist) 120 seats.

The fourth general elections of 1967 were a major jolt for the Congress. Out of the 17 states where elections held, the Congress lost its singlelargest majority party status in seven. These states were Kerala, West Bengal, Madras, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orrisa. In the Lok Sabha elections too, the Congress votes came down to 37.87 from the 44.72 per cent.

The CPI(M) held its central committee meeting in Calcutta in the April of 1967 to discuss the post-poll scenario. After the meeting, a statement went out congratulating the people and appealing to them to take our struggle further.

We won five Lok Sabha seats in the elections. The candidates were Jyotirmoy Basu, Diamond Harbour, Md. Ismail, Barrackpore, Ganesh Ghosh, Calcutta (South), Bijoy Modak, Hooghly and Bhagwan Das, Ausgram, Fortythree of our candidates won in the West Bengal Assembly. We formed the United Front government. This was the first non-Congress government in the state after Independence. Ajoy Mukherjee, Praffulla Ghosh, Somnath Lahiri, Hemanta Bose, Jahangir Kabir and I were the first six ministers to be sworn in. Later, the ministry was expanded with 10 other portfolios. The other ministers were Harekrishna Konar, Niranjan Sen, Biswanath Mukherjee, Sushil Dhara, Amar Prasad Chakraborty, Nani Bhattacharya, Bhibhutibhusan Dasgupta, Jyoti Bhattacharya, Subodh Banerjee and Debaprakash Rai.

The first non-Congress chief minister of the state was Ajoy Mukherjee. He was the leader of the Bangla Congress. The election results showed that the CPI(M) had emerged as the singlelargest Opposition party; by that token, the top post should have gone to the CPI(M) in the event of a non-Congress government. There was no rationale in the Bangla Congress’s claim that they had to be given the chief minister’s post. However, for the sake of unity, we accepted their demand and Ajoy Mukherjee became the chief minister. The newly-elected legislators of our state again reposed their faith in me as the leader of the legislative party.

I became the deputy chief minister of the first United Front government with added responsibility of the finance and transport departments. Konar got land revenue and refugee rehabilitation while Niranjan Sen was in charge of the prisons portfolio.

We started form scratch, taking a stand diametrically opposite to that of the Congress regimes for the last 20 years. It was a very difficult task, since the administration and the political system had remained the same. Only the ministers had changed. It was an impossible job to bring about any basic change working within such a set-up. However, it was possible to provide some relief and create an environment for the people’s movement to grow. There were no roses strewn along our path. The new era had to start within such a framework.

The United Front government, immediately on assumption of office, announced that it would not implement any black law. It was also decided that all those held without trial by the Congress government would be released immediately. Sacked trade union leaders were reemployed and a policy decision was taken that nobody would be given the marching orders on account of his political beliefs. Everybody was free to practice their own politics irrespective of party affiliation. More than one lakh temporary government employees were made permanent. Employees of the State Transport Corporation and the Tramways who had been punished because of involvement in trade union activity were also rehabilitated. The police would henceforth never be used to curtail lawful trade union actively. All these announcements and implementations were a totally new experience for the people of West Bengal. Freedom was the catchword now. What was unimaginable during the Congress rule had now become a reality.

The Front government decided that the neglected landless and small farmers would be given land. The organised farmers sector came in aid of the government, identifying illegal and unlisted land, while at the same time drawing up list of landless and poor farmers. For the first time, land reforms went beyond just government files. As a natural step, vested interests and the landords and their political protector, the Congress, became furious. But despite the stiff opposition, in a matter of few months ,2.38 lakh acres of vested land was distributed among the landless and small farmers and another 10,000 acres of unlisted land were identified for further distribution.

Irrigation has to play a major role in the agricultural scenario of a state. A high-power committee comprising experts and representatives from government and private organisations was formed to draw up a master plan on the irrigation system. High-cost deep tubewells which had been sunk earlier but where lying in a state of disuse were now brought back into operation. Major steps were taken to further the Kansabati project. Special attention was paid to the Teesta Barrage project. An agro-industrial organisation was set up through which loans were distributed to farmers.

In another major step, the United Front government took over the administration of the Calcutta Tramways Company. Empahsis were also given on the refugee problem and an eleven-point programme was sent to the Centre for consideration. Around 25,000 families in the various refugee colonies were given due recognition, 6,000 houses in refugee colonies were electrified, more than 400 tubewells sunk and the dole stopped by the Congress government was renewed.

In all the drought-hit and flood-stricken areas of the state, taxes were written off and recovery of loans were suspended. The United Front launched relief work on a warfooting in the famine-affected areas of Bankura and Purulia. An announcement was made to bring parity of dearness allowance between State and Central government employees. Additional dearness allowances were increased for teachers, non-teaching employees of School and Colleges. A Pay Commission was also appointed for government staff and teachers. The government gave a helping hand to the employees of the Calcutta Corporation and Municipal Boards. It was decided to amend the civic laws and the draft was also prepared. Labour laws were also reviewed and recommendations for a new Bill were sent to the Centre. United Front government also decided to ease the tax burden on slum dwellers. Many advisory committees were set up to help the administration; the most significant of these was the food and relief committee which was set up from the district to the block level which had representations from all political parties and local administration.

Despite the plots by vested interests, lack of funds, indifference of the Centre and general discrimination, it is a fact that in the short rule of nine months, the United Front did take up many programmes for the welfare of the people and democracy at large which had not been ever witnessed in the last 20 years of the Congress rule.

Going beyond its limitations and opposition from many quarters, the United Front was in the process of proving that this was the only government which had an honest intention to fight selfish and vested interests. The working classes were also slowly coming alive to the realisation that only the United Front government was their true friend and the perfect instrument to help them in their onward struggle. This sent shudders down the spines of the vested interests like the Congress but it was a fact that though the Congress had lost in the elections, its influence and strength was still very much evident. Since it had its own government at the Centre, the Congress was using this to its advantage to nail the United Front government. Never did it occur even once to the Congress leaders of Delhi and Calcutta that to unnecessarily needle a democratically elected government was basically doing an injustice to the people.

The Congress in the state, the Congress at the Centre, vested interests, the police and a section of the bureaucrats plotted together to throw us out. The Centre increased its discriminatory tactics against the West Bengal government with respect to distribution of finance and famine relief. In some famine-hit districts, the Centre even decided not to send the allotted stocks of foodgrains. The rationing system was on the verge of collapsing, the price of rice went sky-rocketing. There was food crisis everywhere. The state government decided to set up food and relief committees in every district with the help of all political parties. But the Congress refused to join these committees. We must admit at the same time that the food department of the United Front government was also partially responsible for the food crisis. The government failed to take corrective and preventive measures to check hoarding which was being done with active support from Congress provocateurs. The food minister at that time was Dr Prafulla Ghosh. He did not take a firm step against the big mill owners and hoarders and this added to the food crisis.

The CPI(M) continually harped on the demand that the prices of foodgrains should be fixed and that a ceiling of Rs. 1.25 per kg should be made in respect of rice. The party also demanded that rations should not be reduced. Hoarders who were indulging in the blackmarketing should be arrested immediately; wide anti-hoarding steps should be taken. People’s movements should be organised to force the Centre to send relief and that the people should be told and educated as to how and why this food crisis had occurred. But the food minister seemed to be totally insular to such demands; instead, all he did was to make a ‘fervent’ appeal to the black marketers to have a "change of heart."

There were efforts by certain sections to incite riots on communal and provincial lines. Stray cases of rioting and arson were also reported. But the United Front dealt with these with an iron hand and gained the confidence of a large number of right-thinking people. It is important to bring to light the role of a section of the police and the bureaucrats in this plot against the government. I remember in incident an Howrah in which the CPI(M) leader Md. Illias, was assaulted by some policemen. Immediately, the leaders of the United Front as well as other district administration officials rushed to the spot. These policemen then attacked the leaders and officers, shouting anti-government slogans. The police also indulged in brickbatting. The land revenue minister, Hareykishna Konar ,was the target of such an attack. Further, the superintendent of police refused to arrest the erring policemen. Later, the chief minister also reached the spot .We came to know that the Howrah incident was not a stray one and that it had been planned earlier. A section of the top officers of the police and the administration had joined hands with Congress leaders. The intention was simple: the Howrah incident was to be turned into a state-wide police rebellion against the government.

Another plot was unearthed. There was some problem in the Naxalbari area of Darjeeling when some landowners refused to comply with distribution laws. Hareykrishna Konar and irrigation minister, Biswanath Mukherjee, however, intervened and resolved the issue. But suddenly, the top brass of the police ignored this formula and sent forces to the area. In indiscriminate firing, nine persons including six farmer women and children were killed. There was widespread discontentment in the state over this barbaric killing and our party demanded a judicial probe in the incident.

We also got information that just five days before the state government was sworn in, a plot had already been hatched to dislodge the ministry. Some officers in the rank of DIG, DC and SP alongwith top bureaucrats of the Union and state governments joined in this plot. The agenda was to create a law and order problem and impose President’s Rule on the state or split the United Front by resorting to the usual dubious means of money laundering.

The situation was slowly moving towards such precipitation. Many groups within the United Front were disoriented and disappointed after the new land reforms initiated by the government had hurt their interests. Add to this, the various enticements of other forces. Problems started surfacing during the elections to the state Legislative Council. The United Front candidate Sudin Kumar lost due to the treachery by 19 of his own MLAs. Two days later, a meeting of United Front legislators was called. A ruckus ensued; I said that we were prepared for the worst but it would be better if the chameleons and traitors came clean.

In August 1967, the crisis became severe. Using the disillusionment of the people because of the food crisis and price rise to its advantage, Congressmen almost daily disrupted the transport services including train movement. We decided that it was time that the people should be made aware of these plots. The United Front organised a general strike in West Bengal on August 24, 1967. But the worst could not be averted. Food minister Prafulla Ghosh suddenly resigned from the Cabinet. Following norms, he should have sent in his resignation paper to the chief minister; instead, Ghosh went straight to the then Governor Dharma Vira. Ghosh also announced that he had 17 United Front legislators with him. Some Front MLAs had indeed left us by then. We had a premonition that this was going to happen. The minister had not taken any positive steps to check the food crisis and had allowed the situation to drift. No minimum administrative measures were taken against blackmarketeers and hoarders who had created this food crisis. We had alerted him many times but he did not pay any heed. Finally he joined hands with the reactionary camp which had been active for sometime to dislodge the state government. On November 4, 1967, the news of the resignations were made public. An allegation was also made against chief minister Ajoy Mukherjee that he had conspired with the Congress leaders in Delhi to dislodge his own government. The very next day, the CPI (M) organised a massive rally at the Brigade Parade Grounds where an appeal went out to fight the forces working against democracy and keep the government intact. The meeting also announced that the betrayer-legislators had no right to vote inside the Assembly since they have lost the trust of the people.The only way out for them was resign and seek reelection.

The situation was discussed at an emergency meeting of the United Front. Given the situation, it was advised that the government should ask the Governor to convene a special session of the Assembly on December 18. But the Governor said that he could not wait till that date. The party secretary, Pramode Dasgupta, made a statement that mid-term elections were the only way out in West Bengal. Various democratic and people’s organisations arose against the move to install an illegal Congress government instead of the elected United Front government. We also demanded that mid-term elections should be held under a caretaker United Front government. We were adamant that the Congress should not be allowed to form the government since the people had already rejected that party. Not only that, those very people who had won the elections shouting anti-Congress slogans but had later trampled on the people’s verdict had set a disgraceful precedent which was a slur on the democratic fabric of the country. This was political opportunism at its worst; we felt that the Governor’s move to call them to form a government was totally against the basic tenets of the Constitution.

But the Governor was not willing to hear such words. Even before the Assembly session began, he dismissed the first United Front government on November 21, 1967 and called Prafulla Ghosh to form a new ministry with the help of the Congress. With scant regard for the anti-Congress verdict with which he had become a legislator, Prafulla Ghosh became the chief minister. An illegal Congress regime was foisted on the people.

But the people of West Bengal did not accept this without protest. On November 22 itself, a spontaneous strike was observed throughout the state. The chief minister gave a free hand to the police and Army to crush the protests. The entire city came under a cloud of bullets, teargas and lathis. More than 1,000 people were arrested and many lay unconscious in hospitals.

The United Front called a meeting at the Brigade Parade Grounds on November 22 and the government imposed prohibitory orders in various places so that people could not come for the rally. In fact, curfew was imposed in places like Kamarhati, Panihati, Khardah and north Dum Dum. The entire Brigade Parade Grounds was teeming with policemen who even broke down the dais build for the leaders. But the people new better. First, they tickled but in a matter of minutes, thousands of rallies converged on the Brigade.

The panicking police force launched a reckless attack on the rally. The people ran helter-skelter, many tried to enter the rally grounds but fell to police blows. Leaders like Biswanath Mukherjee and Amar Chakraborty were hurt in the police attacks. The next day also witnessed a strike. The police again fired indiscriminately. Five people were killed while more than 50 seriously hurt. A total of 2,500 people were arrested in 48 hours. It was police raj in Calcutta and its suburbs. Again, the next day, the police opened fire on a rally taken out by students. Five students, including a teenager, was killed at Sealdah and Jadavpur. Unable to cope with the rising anger of the students, the government ordered closure of all schools and colleges for a week. The chief minister warned that striking employees would have their trade union registration revoked. In a dictatorial circular issued to the state government employees, Dr Ghosh said that all those who had been employed in the last five years would have to face police investigations.

The state committee of the West Bengal demanded that the Assembly be dissolved, midterm elections be announced, political detenus be released and the police should go back to the outposts and prohibitory orders be withdrawn.

On November 29, the Speaker Bijoy Banerjee ruled Dr Ghosh’s government as anti-constitutional and adjourned the Assembly for an indefinite period. The Congress and the Ghosh loyalists received a setback. Bombs were thrown at the residence of Banerjee.

Another strike was observed on November 30. Suddenly the editor of "Ganashakti", Saroj Mukherjee, was arrested one day. The police caught him while he was returning from office. He was released after some days.

In December, we decided to organise a state level delegate conference of the United Front. It was presided over by Saroj Mukherjee and the third phase of the people’s movement began. The Governor had earmarked February 14 as the date on which the Assembly would be reconvened. Before this, eight legislators and one Legislative Council member of the United Front were arrested. Saroj Mukherjee and the United Front convenor Sudin Kumar were arrested. Speaker Bijoy Banerjee ruled on February 14, "On November 29, 1967, this Assembly was adjourned indefinitely and since there has been no change in the situation since then, I am again adjourning this House indefinitely."

Governor Dharma Vira had come to give his inaugural address. There was pandemonium inside the Assembly and the legislators were shoved and pushed. However, the adjournment took place in a matter of minutes. The Governor failed to deliver his address.

On February 20, despite all futile attempts, Dr. Ghosh and his PDF Ministry resigned. President’s Rule was imposed and midterm elections were announced.

The United Front congratulated the people and issued a statement. The following is the text:

"The United Front congratulates the people for the unity, resolve and courage in the face of the onslaught. The United Front believes that it is this attitude which has helped dislodge the Ghosh ministry. The great struggle which the partners of the United Front and its supporters had to face under adverse situations and an atmosphere poisoned by savagery and oppression needs to be hailed. We also salute the Honourable Speaker for the courage and steadfastness that he has shown through his historic ruling and who was not daunted by even a bomb attack on his residence.

"The falling of the Ghosh ministry signals the success and victory of the people. The Congress government at the Centre had tried to use its power and install an illegal government on the state through the backdoor. Above all, the ruling of the Honourable Speaker also proves that no Assembly session can be summoned by an unlawful government. The imposition of President’s Rule has only vindicated the basic honesty which went into the ruling. The United Front is suspending its law violation programme to discuss the current situation in the state.

"A strange silence prevails on the issue of midterm elections and the release of the political detenus, not to forget the infringement on the fundamental rights over the last few weeks. The United Front government demands that all political detenus be released immediately, prohibitory orders be withdrawn and the citizens' rights be reestablished.

"While suspending its law violation programme, the United Front appeals to the people of West Bengal to come together and launch movement after movement till their demands are met. We appeal to the people to launch a wider programme of struggle."

It was time for the youth to launch its own movement. The Yuva Sangha had by then fallen into the trap of revisionists and the youth festival was just another routine celebration. There was no other political programme on the agenda. There were no movement on the release of political detenus, the food crisis and the employment problems. Ridiculous excuses were shown in this context. The hopes that had swelled in the hearts of the youths after Independence had been dashed to the ground and they were now raring to launch into the arena of struggle. But the majority of the leadership was walking the path of revisionism and trying to alienate innocent minds.

During June 7-9, 1968 the Democratic Youth Federation held its first state conference; this is now one of the biggest youth organisations of the world. Even as it was born, the DYF saw imperialism and capitalism as its main enemies while freedom, democracy and socialism were its key slogans.