As soon as local residents came to know of the project-- it was framed without their knowledge--they decided to stall it. A park is a park, they said, and there was no way a sports complex could be built on an open space that is used by all members of the local community. With this groundswell of opinion against his dream project, Sil backtracked a few days ago. "If local people don't want a sports complex at the park, we will scrap the project. I had formulated the project in consultation with local representatives. But since they (the locals) don't want it, I will shift it elsewhere," Sil said. Didn't he, by the way, sound a lot like his party leader and Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee post the Ides of March carnage at Nandigram? Of course he did, and analyzing Sil's problem at the micro level would provide a good idea of what the CPI(M) is up against in Bengal and why.
Sil, very much like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, took it upon himself to decide what is best for the people. He says he consulted the residents of that North Kolkata locality. Technically speaking, hedid-- he spoke to members of the local unit of his party. But they, like their counterparts at Nandigram, had long lost touch with the people. Thirty years of uninterrupted rule have bred in the CPI(M) cadres and leaders an arrogance that's hard to match. 'We are the people' and 'we know best' have become their credo. Thanks to the systematic demolition and co-opting of most opposition forces, the complete subjugation of institutions like the police and administrative machinery, the reign of covert terror under which raising one's voice against the party invited swift and subtle or not-too-subtle retribution, the stranglehold of the party on all aspects of life and the complete absence of any independent voice, the party and its men have got away with whatever they imposed on the people of Bengal for so long.