Rahul-Buddha bonhomie: How conveniently Congress has forgotten Sainbari murders

The coming together of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on a stage in Park Circus Maidan in Kolkata on Wednesday (April 27) was termed by the CPI(M) top brass as a unprecedented event in the country's politics.

On the occasion, Rahul Gandhi expressed fear about the future of democracy in a state where a three-year-old was heckled allegedly by Trinamool Congress (TMC)-backed goons.

This marriage on the stage in Kolkata was seen by the state leaders of the Left and the Congress as a master stroke in this high-stake battle with the ruling TMC. But one bereaved family in Burdwan town, about 101 kilometres from the state capital, may have felt an excruciating pain seeing the two leaders together. [Congress is talking about CM, deputy CM; it has zero seat in next phase]

The family is of the Sains.

CPI(M) cadres were accused of killing members of a family which was observing a family function

On March 17, 1970, the Sain family in Burdwan was attacked during a six-month-old child's naming ceremony and many members of the family besides an outsider were killed, allegedly by CPI(M) supporters. Two other witnesses were killed later. Two top leaders of the CPI(M)---one of whom also became a minister in the Left Front government later---were accused in the incident.

The family, which was attacked, was known to be a supporter of the Congress and the Left supporters were said to be angry over the failure of the second United Front (UF) government of which their parties were a part. [Why ABP Group is hell-bent to defeat Mamata Banerjee]

The chief minister of the second UF government, Ajoy Mukherjee, had tendered his resignation a day earlier, and the CPI(M) was cornered in the state politics. Observers say the Sainbari massacre was the result of the culture of a violent party polarisation that Bengal has witnessed over the years. Even the then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, had visited the bereaved family after the incident. [In Roopa Ganguly, BJP has found a 'rich-man's Mamata]

Today, Rahul Gandhi is showing sympathy for a 3-year-old; did he feel how that family in Sainbari will feel seeing him on the same stage with the Left?

Fast-forwarding by 46 years, the grandson of Indira Gandhi---Rahul---is speaking about heckling of a three-year-old kid while sharing the stage with Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, whose government had onboard one of the CPI(M) leaders accused in the 1970 bloodbath.

In 1970, the frustrated Left cadres did not hestitate to put even the six-month-old kid into the fire (though he was saved) after losing power. In 2016, those frustrated cadres are no less determined to use the instance of manhandling of another child to gain public sympathy. On either occasions, children have been made part of the ugly power politics that the Left has indulged in.

Both Congress and Left know that this election is about their own survival more than Mamata's defeat

The Buddhadebs and Rahuls have forgotten the incident conveniently because today, both's parties are fighting a battle for their survival. The mathematical calculations that began with the sharing of seats between the two parties turned into a chemistry on Wednesday and buried the last remaining vestiges of ideology.

The 'proletariats' have joined hands with the 'burgeoisie' without any qualms for unless they survive, all their hollow political talks will have no relevance whatsoever.

In a desperate zeal to defeat Mamata Banerjee, both the Left and Congress have proved that they have little regard for the common man irrespective of what they say from the decked-up stages. This exercise of forging an electoral tie-up speaks volume about these two parties' surrendering the ideals of democracy while fighting an election and shamelessly betraying the faith of those who fought throughout their life for the ideals of either of these two old parties.