Realising that they can’t beat the Trinamul Congress, the beleaguered CPI(M) has decided to ape them. State secretary of the Marxist party, Biman Bose on Wednesday raised a slogan which has become the clarion call of Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee. Perhaps after the back-to-back poll debacles, it has dawned on the CPI(M) leaders that Ms Banerjee’s slogan “Ma Mati Manush (mother, land, people)” has got the popular imagination.
To win back the support of the people, the CPI(M) has now decided to bank on the same slogan which they have time and again decried in the past.
Commenting on the Madhya Pradesh court’s verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy, Mr Bose chanted the same mantra apparently borrowing it from its arch-rival. “In the interest of the Indian people, the land, mothers and sisters of the country, all elected Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs from the state should raise their voices against the civil nuclear liability bill. If it is passed, then more such tragedies will occur and the perpetrators from outside, like the US, will go scot-free. The liability will be squarely on the Indian state,” Mr Bose said.
“We are issuing the appeal in the interest of the Ma Mati Manush (mother, land, people). Everybody should protest against the bill and oppose it. We are extending this appeal to the Opposition MPs also,” he said after a meeting of the Left Front partners.
Significantly, the CPI(M) leaders, including chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had ridiculed the slogan raised by the Trinamul Congress chief as tamasha before the civic polls. Mr Bose’s sudden fancy to use the same alliteration landed the party in an embarrassing situation. “The out of turn use of Trinamul’s rhyme by Bimanda will surely give us a loss of face. He should have been wise not to use this slogan which we have bantered time and again,” said a leader of the Left Front.
Asked whether the Left Front was trying to hijack the Trinamul Congress chief’s popular slogan, Mr Bose, however, put up a brave front saying, “The Left Front always speaks in the interest of the people, the land and the mothers and sisters of the country. Due to the Bhopal gas tragedy, 25,000 Indian people have died, our land has suffered, and mothers and sisters are giving birth to crippled children.”
The Left Front partners have, meanwhile, decided to chalk out a programme for raising awareness on the nuclear bill by involving all Left organisations.