Jyoti Basu

Calcutta: West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, has described Rajiv’s victory as the victory of emotionalism. Rajiv had no ideology, no political program or manifest except appealing to the sentiments of the people, he said. He conceded that Indira Gandhi dead had proved stronger than Indira Gandhi alive. After a long interval Congress

(1) Has been able to break into the powerful Marxist citadel in West Bengal. It has captured 16 of the 42 seats in that state. In the outgoing Parliament it had only 4 seats. Congress gains are generally confined to the urban areas; it has made inroads in the rural sectors also by increasing its vote percentage. State congress (I) leaders are demanding resignation of the Marxist Government. People, they say, have rejected the Marxists and have lost the moral right to continue in office.

 

Article extracted from this publication >>JANUARY 4, 1985