Gangster State: The Rise and Fall of the CPI(M) in West Bengal

Gripping' SHASHI THAROOR 'First-rate' AAKAR PATEL 'Illuminating' RUPAM ISLAM Allured by the unrestricted power of the CPI(M), Presidency College scholar Rajat Lahiri joins its student wing, the Students' Federation of India, and trains to become one of its foot soldiers. On achieving full-fledged membership, he does not hesitate in getting his hands dirty for a regime inherited by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee from an ailing Jyoti Basu, and marred by corruption and violence. This change in leadership, prompted by the arrival of a strong contender in Mamata Banerjee, sustains the existing nexus of crime and politics and paves the way for fervid protests and their brutal suppression by the state. With the situation spiralling out of control and public support fading, the stage is set for the Singur movement and violence in Nandigram. After witnessing the party's historic defeat in the 2011 Legislative Assembly election, a disillusioned Rajat leaves Calcutta, only to return as a journalist covering the gradual and thorough decimation of the CPI(M) over the following decade. In this compulsive work of creative non-fiction, political journalist Sourjya Bhowmick explores the burning question: Will the CPI(M) ever recover from the 2021 Assembly election, or will it be pushed into permanent oblivion by the formidable Trinamool Congress and the relentless BJP? Title Page Dedication Contents Prologue PART I – COMMUNIST CALCUTTA 1. Fault Lines 2. The Communist Who Never Read the Manifesto 3. The Road to Revolution: Golpark, Gariahat and College Street PART II – COFFEE HOUSE REVOLUTIONARIES 4. Porashona and Politics 5. Ideas versus Violence 6. Topography of Fear 7. Bengal’s Buddhadeb, Our Gorbachev 8. Power Didn’t Flow from the Barrel of the Gun PART III – FRIENDS BECOME ENEMIES 9. Us versus Them 10. Rot at the Roots 11. Nuclear Deal and the Subaltern 12. Fear and Loathing in West Bengal PART IV – HEADING TOWARDS PORIBARTAN 13. Sound of Silence 14. The Art of Rigging 15. Mobs and Mayhem 16. Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis PART V – DETACHMENT: INSIDER BECOMES OUTSIDER 17. The Revolution Will Be Televised 18. Pride and Prejudice in the Drawing Room 19. Mamata Appeases, BJP Rises and CPI(M) Eats Fish Fry 20. High Hopes and Grand Alliance PART VI – UNHOLY ALLIANCE 21. Lumpenproletariat of Bengal 22. Confessions of a CPI(M) Leader 23. Caught Red-Handed 24. This Will Be Avenged PART VII – CHANGING COLOURS 25. Vietnam, Nandigram, Ram Naam 26. The Hate Wave 27. Aage Ram, Pore Bam 28. Prelude to the Endgame 29. Khela Over Epilogue Author’s Note and Acknowledgements Praise About the Author Copyright