Fact is, be it education, power, health, transport, pollution-control, civic services, poverty-alleviation, minority welfare and even industrialisation, Bengal lags behind most other states. In fact, Bengal's position is nearly at the bottom of the heap, with even Bihar and Jharkhand beating it in some social indices. Obviously, our rulers are embarrassed at their inability to provide even basic amenities to a vast majority of the people of Bengal even after having been in power for more than three decades now. But being Marxists, they're adept at spinning a web of lies. Perpetuatingmyths--like, for instance, their avowed commitment to human rights, or tolerance of dissent, or multi-partydemocracy--is something Marxists excel at. And it is only when their shameless hypocrisy gets exposed that they reveal their ugly, atrocious, and true face.
Guv's Act
And this is precisely the reason why they've let loose such a lot of vitriol on Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Gandhi's innocuous act of undergoing a voluntary power cut for two hours every day as a show of solidarity with Bengal's 'power-less', really got the CPI(M)'s goat. Because the Mahatma's grandson unwittingly laid bare the hollow claims of the Marxists in a very telling and voluble manner. By deciding to get power supply to the Raj Bhavan switched off for a couple of hours every evening, the Governor eloquently and, like a true Gandhian, turned the spotlights on the sufferings (due to routine power cuts) of the common man in Bengal. Nothing can stand out as a more powerful testimony to the dismal power situation in Bengal, and Bengal's Marxist rulers' abject failure to remedy the situation, than the grand Raj Bhawan in Kolkata bathed in spectacular darkness.