But this had not been easy. We had to face a three-pronged attack from the armed forces, the ``second front’’ comprising the CPI and other former partners of the Front and last, but not the least, the wayward Leftists who had indulged in a game of terror. So even as we rejoiced at our victory after the elections were called, it was but tinged with a certain element of sadness at the loss of many of our colleagues and co-workers.

There was a major difference between the previous elections of 1969 and this time. For one, the Left had been united on the earlier occasion but this time some of our partners had either openly sided with the Congress or formed a spurious eight-party front on an anti-Congress platform with the sole intention, however, to defeat only the CPI(M). It was going to be a tough fight this time though the realisation had seeped in that the Congress had suffered a moral defeat already.

The Congress had also split into two because of infighting and the greed for power’ now we had the Congress (Organisation) and the ruling Congress. The ruling Congress was led by Mrs Indira Gandhi; she had earned some popularity after she had abolished the privy purse and nationalsed banks, not to forget the nation’s role in the freedom struggle of Bangladesh. We supported these steps on principle.But it was at this time that the dictator in her came out in the open; we could never forget that it was she, who as the then Congress president in 1957, had organised the toppling of the Communist government in Kerala. She had centralised all power and split the Congress itself. Her role during the dark days of President’s Rule in Bengal could never be forgotten.

Belying our hopes, the terror regime continued unabated-and in fact, increased- after the announcement of the elections.The Congress had been forced to call against its wishes; now it became desperate. Our election meetings were made targets of attacks and permission was withdrawn in many places when sanction had earlier been obtained.My own constituency of Baranagar was not spared; in fact, I could not even enter the area till the day of polling. Many of our supporters had to leave their homes and take shelter elsewhere. The police did not bother. Baranagar was out of bounds for any CPI(M) man. And this was not an isolated case.There were many areas where we could not even campaign and basic election activity like putting up posters had to be given the go-by. In fact, more than campaigning, our main concern was how to protect ourselves.The administration joined in this dance of death; between January 1 and March 9, 1971, more than 70 of our comrades were murdered. The government issued an order banning the entry of three CPI(M) candidates, Robin Sen, Dilip Majumder and Gokulananda Roy, from entering their respective constituencies. Another candidate, Binoy Konar, spent the entire campaign period in jail.

I was attacked again.On January 27, 1971, I was to go to Basirhat for a meeting. As our car approached Basirhat College, bombs started raining, two of them hitting the rear engine.The car got stuck and we had to take another one to reach the meeting venue. Abdullah Rasul and some other leaders had accompanied me to that meeting.

But the Congress, sensing the mood of the electorate, was getting more and more restless. In their desperation, a plot was hatched to eliminate some of our candidates and other leaders. The idea was to heap the blame on us though it was widely known that our party, as a political entity, never ever believed in the annihilation of individuals.

The respected Forward Bloc leader, Hemanta Bose, was the first victim of this conspiracy.The veteran leader was hacked to death in broad daylight on February 20 on Shyampukur Street in North Calcutta. Though the Forward Bloc was our political rival in the elections, Hemanta-babu had not uttered a word against us in the preceding two years. He was a ``most suitable candidate’’ for murder given his clean image and the respect he enjoyed with everybody.He was also ``ideal’’ for the disinformation campaign that had been unleashed against us.The Naxalites had already announced that they would eliminate election candidates. But the Congress, without as much as a minor excuse, started crying hoarse from rooftops that the CPI(M) was behind the murder.The ruling Congress leader, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, was in North Bengal at that time. On stepping down from the aircraft at Dum Dum airport, he announced immediately that he was in the know of things and that the CPI(M) was indeed responsible for the ghastly crime.

We were, to put it simply, stunned. We had no words to describe the cowardice and the barbaric way in which a revered leader like Hemanta Bose had been killed, not to mention the way in which the Congress was trying to pin the blame on us. In a statement, our party general secretary, Pramode Dasgupta, said, ``This is not a matter that should concern any particular political party; those who have the slightest regard for democracy should do some soul-searching.Our party expresses its distress at the killing and appeals to the people to observe a general strike in protest. We demand stringent action against all those who have unleashed this wave of violence and conspiratorial killings in the state.’’ A general strike was observed in the state on February 22.

The eight-party front had also joined in the chorus led by the Congress in condemning us for the killing but at the end of the day, most of them realised that they had made a mistake.

Elections were finally held and the people came out in numbers to exercise their franchise. Ten people were killed in police firing on election day. The results started coming in. The position was thus:

Total seats: 280

United Left Front

CPI(M) 111; RCPI 3; Workers Party 2; Biplabi Bangla Congress 1; Forward Bloc (Marxist) 2; Independents 4

Total: 123

Ruling Congress 105

The eight-party front

CPI 13; Forward Bloc 3; SUCI 7; Gorkha League 2

Total : 25

Others

Bangla Congress 5; Muslim League 7; Jan sangh 1; Jharkhand 2; SSP 1; PSP 3; Congress (Organisation) 2; RSP 3

Despite the reign of terror let loose against us, the CPI(M) emerged as the single largest party; no doubt we would have fared much better had it not been for the intimidation that we had had to face prior to and during the polls. Elections were not held in the constituencies of Shyampukur, Ukhra and Dum Dum where the candidates had been killed.In the elections held to the Dum Dum and Ukhra seats three months later, our candidates, Tarun Sengupta and Lakshman Bagdi, won and the total seats of the party in the Assembly went up to 113.

Baranagar, my constituency, became the focus of all attention. I was pitted against Ajoy-babu and since almost all the other partners of the United Front supported him, it boiled down to a straight contest contest between us; the chief minister of the previous two governments was fighting his own deputy. The Congress also kept an eye on this seat and there was anarchy everywhere. CPI(M) supporters were evicted from the area and many were arrested. Even then, I won by a margin of 11,053 votes. I got 43,340 while Ajoy-babu polled 32,287 votes. In a message to my electorate, I said, ``The people of Baranagar have foiled the heinous plot of traitors. I salute them for electing me. Ajoy-babu’s party has been made redundant in the state. But I do not consider this as a personal victory. The struggle of the people has been vindicated."

The cowardly killing of Hemanta-babu had also had an impact. It was obvious that the disinformation campaign against us had swayed some of the voters and as a result, a few of our seats in Calcutta did not come our way this time.

The Lok Sabha elections had also been held simultaneously with the state polls. The CPI(M) won 20 of the total 40 seats, the ruling Congress got 13 with the RSP, Muslim League, Bangla Congress and PSP getting one apiece. The Congress-supported Communists won three seats.

The CPI(M) won Darjeeling, Malda, Krishnagar, Nabadwip, Mathurappur, Diamond Harbour, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Hooghly, Arambagh, Ghatal, Ausgram, Asansol, Bardhaman,Katwa,Birbhum,Srirampur, Bisnupur and Bolpur.

I was chosen to lead the party as well as the new Front of Left parties in the Assembly. I wrote a letter to the Governor saying, ``I have been chosen leader of the newly elected legislators of the CPI(M) as well as the Left block. I hope that you will initiate discussions with me on the formation of the new ministry at the earliest.’’ Pramode Dasgupta called a press conference and made public our claim to form the government. But the Governor had other ideas. Games were being played behind the scenes whose sole objective was not to let us assume power. He wrote to me saying that he would not call me to form the government. I replied:

``I have received your reply to my letter. Your stand regarding the huge influence and base of the Congress at the national level and the emergence of the CPI(M) as the single largest party in Bengal has not surprised anybody.However, this is a dangerous trend and could prove fatal for parliamentary democracy.Your attitude will only encourage the Congressmen who are trying to come to power by any means. Your stand may also help the perpetuation and prolonging of President’s Rule in the state. You have said that it would have been possible to call the leader of the single largest party to form the government had the state not been under President’s Rule.Such a logic is childish, irrational and untimely.

You are misusing your powers as Governor.Your job is to see whether a government can be formed.The rest has to be left to the representatives of the people; you seem to be taking over that role too. In the present context, I feel that a government can be formed. The Constitution will take its own course if this government loses the people’s mandate or an alternative government cannot be formed. But it is quite useless to tell you all this because I understand that you are working under certain pressures.The people of Bengal can take care of their own rights and have been witness to the dangerous games that have been played after the polls. There is no point in talking to you now. If you do believe in democratic norms and agree to hold talks within those parameters, then I have no reason not to discuss matters with you."

The worst which was expected to happen took place. Under pressure from the Centre, the Governor allowed a reactionary coalition government to be formed; it was headed by the leader of the five-member strong Bangla Congress leader, Ajoy Mukherjee, in a House of 280 members. Parties like the Congress, CPI and the Froward Bloc supported him in unision.

Parliamentary democracy came under a cloud after this serious deviation by the Bangla Congress, Syndicate Congress and Muslim league who had been rejected by the people. History has proved that the subsequent rise of dictatorial rule and its extreme manifestation through the imposition of Emergency had its genesis in that act of betrayal of the people by these power-brokers in Bengal. It was as if the state had become a laboratory for wrong political experiments and a killing field where democracy was the target.

Indira Gandhi and her advisors knew fully well that the people of West Bengal would not take this lying down. A blueprint was made to further corner the CPI(M) and the attacks on our supporters grew by the day. Prohibitory orders were issued throughout the state a day after the elections and no CPI(M) meeting or rally was allowed. Secret police teams were formed to eliminate our leaders. In this backdrop, our party issued a lengthy appeal on April 7,1971. The appeal read:

``The incidents that have taken place after the installation of the present government through undemocratic methods are a matter of serious concern. The people are being faced with a frontal attack.We have been disallowed from holding rallies at the Brigade Parade grounds on March 28 and at the Sahid Minar on April 11. Such bans are being enforced in the districts and block levels too.The police, accompanied by the CRPF and Armymen, are raiding houses of our comrades with flimsy pretexts. Arrest have become routine. Binoy Konar has not been released even after he was elected, the bar orders on Dilip Majumder has not yet been withdrawn and the arrest warrant on Robin Sen is still in force. The BPSF secretary, Subhas Chakraborty, has been arrested without reason. The plot is thickening.

``The killing of our veteran leader and former MLC, Santosh Bhattacharya, is not a stray incident. The police, along with antisocials and the Naxalites, are being used with the intention to eliminate our leaders.The new ministry, at its very first meeting, has issued orders that `normal’ law and order situation must be restored at any cost.

``The ruling Congress is indulging in a diabolic game to perpetuate its regime. The Centre is helping it in every respect. They are bent on tarnishing democracy with blood. We appeal to all the democratic-minded people and the toiling classes to take up this challenge and face the onslaught to force the government to withdraw its black laws and foil its plot.

``We have always said that we are against killing of individuals.But the disinformation campaign has carried on unabated. We have been blamed for the murders of Hemanta Bose and Nepal Roy as well as the killings of the candidates in Dum Dum and Ukhra. This sustained campaign is only meant to perpetuate the terror regime and lower our prestige and image in the eyes of the people. But we believe that the people of West Bengal cannot be swayed by such propaganda. We hope that they will stand by us and foil the attempts to spread the culture of murders.’’

The people believed us and in its desperation, the Congress stooped even lower; this time, their tried to give a sort of government approval to their plot. A ``secret’’ note was passed on from the detective department in Delhi to its Bengal counterpart which spoke of a conspiracy by the CPI(M) to hire mercenaries to eliminate political opponents. To give it an air of authenticity, some names were also mentioned in the note.

After we came to know of this note, I wrote an official protest letter to the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. It said,

``Such tactics have not paid any dividends before and they will not succeed this time also. They may vitiate the atmosphere temporarily but in the end such morally bankrupt politics can only be consigned to the dustbin of history. I expect and request you to go into the conspiracy being hatched against us and hope that the basic tenets of democracy are not given the go-by even in the political fight against your opponents.’’

I made out a press statement also. The report had named the Calcutta district leader, Rajdeo Goala, and 24 Paraganas leader, Lakshman Bhattacharya, as the conspirators in the killings of individuals. The CPI(M) had not cowed down in the face of such attacks and the people had always stood by us. The ``secret’’ report was a desperate attempt by the Congress to finish us.

In the meantime, our state party secretariat member, Benoy Choudhury, was arrested. After being harassed through the day and into the late hours, he was released. On the other hand, Ajoy Mukherjee and his rag-tag coalition was drifting away from the Congress. The Congress, always eager to grab and enjoy sole power, was getting impatient of the government and started its typical machinations to pull the rug from under Ajoy-babu’s feet. Infighting started among the coalition partners and the Congress was convinced that the Government would be reduced to a minority during the Budget session. The rulers could not ``buy’’ MLAs and all their efforts to muster a majority failed. Fearing that the Opposition would be asked to form the government in case it was defeated on the floor of the House, the government immediately recommended a dissolution of the Assembly. And the Governor, without scant regard for any democratic norm, did just that deep into the night of June 25. It was President’s Rule again Bengal.

During the regime of the coalition government, the CPI(M) had lost 101 comrades, among them Comrade Shivshanker Choudhury of Bardhaman district and veteran leader of the teaching community, Santosh Bhattacharya.

The Delhi throne, however, did not have full trust in Dhawan and instead sent a Congressman to ``oversee’’ the situation during President’s Rule In Bengal. Union education minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray got additional charge of West Bengal without any portfolio. By that time, Ray had become adept in the art of political manoeuvring, opportunism and had cultivated the usual Congress syndrome of an unsatiable lust for power. Perhaps that was one reason why he was handpicked for the job by Mrs Gandhi; in trying to please his boss, Ray initiated one of the darkest periods of the political history of Bengal.

Ray posed as if he was honestly inclined to stop the era of violence in the state.To this end, he even called an all-party meeting to discuss ways and means of solving the problem. But we had no doubt about his real intentions; he had been sent to usher in the Congress by the backdoor. However, we decided to participate in the meeting all the same.

The meeting was held on July 7 and Harekrishna Konar and I, as representatives of the CPI(M), submitted a memorandum. At the cost of sounding repetitive, I shall extract parts of the memorandum.

It said,``Our party feels that soon after the fall of the United front Government in 1970, some changes were made in the administration with much fanfare on the advice of the Centre and the Congress party in Bengal.The sole intention was to strengthen the forces against the CPI(M) and other democratic parties. Insult after insult were heaped upon the CPI(M) and the real culprits were provided shelter. The government administration was given a free hand to indulge in violence openly. The stand of our party regarding these developments is wellknown. We believe that the ruling party, desperate in its attempts to crush our democratic movement, has unleashed this strategy of mindless violence. Your party has been unable to face the challenges of the immediate political scenario and has even given the police and other armed forces the green signal to provide help to the Naxalites, who are avowed votaries of individual annihilation. When the people have tried to protest such activity, then the police has also come forward to help the Naxalites. The administration has even remained totally indifferent to the killings of more than a hundred innocent policemen belonging to the lower ranks. It will not be wrong to assume that a section of policemen is alsi involved in this conspiracy to rattle those among them who are trying to build a democratic movement. Nobody can deny the fact that after the fall of the United Front, the cases of individual killings have been rising significantly. Unfortunately, killings did take place during the regime of the United Front Government too but they pertained to clashes related mainly to land rights and were fallout of the peoples’ movements. The party’s main concern is to safeguard our physical welfare and this is hampering our political struggle. You must remember and appreciate under what circumstances you have called this all-party meeting.

``Do you expect us to believe that you have called this meeting to punish the very same people that your administration and the police force have protected all months? We cannot but remember the way you and your party put up a smokescreen to shield the real killers of Hemanta Bose. What happened to that investigation? Tarun Kanti Ghosh and you have achieved what the police sniffer dogs could not. Do you have an answer as to why a police officer, within hours of the crime, told newsmen that the CPI(M) had committed the murder? And who killed Congressman Nepal Roy ? Who attacked Justice T.P. Mukherjee who was investigating the murder of eight youths in Barasat?Who killed Ajit Biswas and Justice K.L. Roy? Will you go into the numerous incidents when Congressmen had provided shelter to Naxalites? Have you ever wondered as to how the police have turned a blind eye to the arson, looting and murders that have been committed throughout the state? Isn’t it a fact that Congress ministers and other representatives of the Union Government have put the fear of the lord in the minds of honest policemen? Are you aware that the officer-in-charge of the Jorabagan police station and the Deputy Commissioner (north) have murder cases against them but are moving around freely with the blessings of your party leaders? The city is under police raj; in one single incident on May 29 in Netaji Colony, five people were killed. We do also remember that on June 1, even as the people of Calcutta and its suburbs were observing a strike against such atrocities, you yourself addressed a gathering where you warned us of violent retaliation and sympathised with the Naxalites? On May 22, four employees were gunned down by policemen led by the officer in charge of the Noapara police station ; their only crime had been that they had the guts to protest against the murder of one of their colleagues by antisocials. No probe has yet been ordered despite such assurances in the Lok Sabha. Thus we cannot be but wary of your intentions in calling this meeting.Your impartiality is under a cloud.

``In Bardhaman district alone, 13 of our party comrades have been killed. The administration has been reshuffled to facilitate such incidents. We must not forget that the Congress lost miserably in this district. All the assailants are wellknown in the area and the violence has always been perpetrated in broad daylight with witnesses. The police is aware of their hideouts but even then not a single killer has been put behind bars yet. More than six people have died in the hands of the CRPF and the police in Durgapur but yet again, none of the killers have been arrested.Your party organised a counter to the lawful strike by labourers in Durgapur, the likes of which have not been witnessed in any industrial township of this country. Only a few days back, the thugs of your party killed Comrade Mahadev Banerjee shortly after he alighted late at night from a train at Kalna station. No arrests have been made in this case yet. Armed hooligans of your party raid villages during the silence of the nights, but your police goes ahead and arrests innocents. However, we are not into this list your black acts. We are only trying to highlight the fact that it is your party which is responsible for this sad state of affairs in the state.

``The killings of individuals is but only a part of the problem. We would like to know how you would qualify those who, posing as Congress students and raising your party flags and festoons, routinely intimidate government employees inside Writers Buildings.How can you possibly inculcate a sense of fairness and respect for democratic functioning when a coalition government, instead of inserting advertisements and holding interviews, doles out jobs to only your party workers? How do you expect to bring the police closer to the people when all they do is to heap atrocity upon atrocity on the unsuspecting public?

``This list could have been endless. Your party has not stopped at anything. It has used its powers to dislodge a government and not allow the opposition party to form another. It is obvious that your party is willing to go by the norms of democratic functioning only as long that suit your purpose; once it ceases to be so, there is no hesitation in throwing it out of the window. And, after all this, we have to take it that you are a believer in democracy!

``But your plan has sometimes boomeranged and antisocials whom you have used for your dishonest ends have not balked at killing your men. We all stand to gain if we learn from history. In the latter half of the 19th century, terrorists were used in Paris against the socialists. After some time, these terrorists turned against the ruling class itself. So this is not a new experience. Your people are being sacrificed at your own altar of violence.We feel sorry for the victims. But the government has been a failure in educating itself from history.There is a tendency to institutionalise violence. All because of political expediency.

``You have mentioned the need to discuss the development programmes in the state. But how can such efforts ever be concretised given your history of appeasement of the landed class? How can any changes be effected if there is no fresh look at the relations between the Centre and the state and there are no fundamental alterations in the Constitution? Such important matters need time to discuss and cannot be done in a hurried, unplanned fashion. All your grand talk is meant to confuse the people and an exercise to refurbish you sagging image.