Ironically, the TMC's Siliguri fiasco- the party together with the Congress achieved a comfortable majority, but its insistence on hogging the office of Mayor and other functionaries prevented a joint civic board- has done both the Left and the opposition camp a world of good. For the ruling Left front, thanks are due to the wily local CPI(M) leader and Minister, Ashok Bhattacharya, who engineered a coup of sorts by helping the Congress to form the board , promising left support from outside. As a political victory, it is small, but it could well be a signpost indicating major changes for the future. . For the Left Front, it proved the first rallying point as it sought to stop the Congress-TMC juggernaut rolling from one electoral success after another, ever since the Nandigram troubles. It also served a warning to both the TMC and the Congress that the ruling front, with its share of 42% of the aggregate vote in the state, could not be written off in terms of political strategising - not yet.

The TMC-Congress combine must start to act as what it purports to be, a genuine coalition, following established coalitional norms. So far, it had been the TMC all the way, with the Congress yielding ground on every count almost to the point of self-obliteration . The reaction from the TMC was along expected lines, up to a point. No one was surprised when Ms Banerjee and her followers publicly ripped into the Congress, but they soon swallowed their anger and announced their plans for a joint front for the assembly by -elections. The bitter pill has had some salutary effect.

The Left front and the Congress played down the ditching of the TMC at Siliguri as a local phenomenon, but this did not deceive anyone. The fact is, finally the CPI(M) had found a way to retain its rapidly depleting political relevance even at the State level, following the decision of the party central leaders to snap ties with the Congress over the Indo-US nuclear deal. Quite apart from gloating over the success against the TMC, some party elders in private aired the idea of aligning with the Congress more often to keep the TMC at bay, whether on the issue of economic development, or at the political level, wherever possible. They feel that if this involves taking on the central leadership led by Mr. Prakash Karat, so be it. Survival, not ideological bickering, is important.

In essence this means reversing its decision to go against the Congress, under pressure from the party's Bengal--- its biggest—unit. If cordial relations between Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister and Union Finance Minister Mr,.Pranab Mukherjee are anything to go by, the Congress too would not consider such a development unwelcome. Not least because of Ms Banerjee”s frequently strident opposition to some policies of the second UPA government over land reforms and other matters, which often stymies proceedings at Union cabinet meetings.

In short ,what happened at Siliguri should induce greater circumspection within Ms Banerjee during the days ahead. It was clear that relishing the success of the municipal and Lok sabha elections, she had not reckoned with the possibility that the Congress and the CPI(M) could ever come together again ! Now she knows better and must treat the Congress with more respect and stop writing off the Left Front as dead and buried.

The other worrying factor is that by and large, common people also supported the Left Front and the Congress for coming together to prevent a deadlock at Siliguri, instead of rallying behind the TMC. The reaction of the CPI(M)”s allies was mixed. The RSP protested against the support extended to the Congress, on grounds of morality and suggested that it had not been consulted. This, given the standards of state and national politics in 2009, seema nothing but sanctimonious humbug.

Far more understandable were the reactions of the CPI and the Forward Bloc, both supportive of what had happened. It has to be seen if the new beginning made at Siliguri becomes a catalyst for change or a mere flash in the pan. It is still difficult to foresee the LF doing very well in the coming Assembly elections in 2011. After all, the decision to go with the Cong(I) still means the left can only expect to function as an uninvited junior partner for the party ruling the Centre, which will not be very consistent with the strident anti -Centre rhetoric that emanates from Gole Market. For the rest, the pathetic performance of the state administration in almost every sphere - be it transport, law and order , power, health, poverty alleviation

Bhattacharjee's belated decision to rev things up desperately by setting up a Chief Minister's Secretariat, has come at least five years too late. Both Bhattacharjee and the state government have lost much credibility over their failure to implement the Tata small car project and the Nandigram incidents. The Corporate houses have no faith in either, as is evident from the lack of reaction from Wipro and Infosys over the offer of fresh land for their projects. The lack of invitations for the Chief Minister from corporate gatherings of late is also an indication industry does not expect much from him. There is far more engagement with Ms Banerjee as a Union Minister, instead. (IPA)