'The political situation in the country will depend on the electoral outcome in Maharashtra.'
"So long as Sharadji (Pawar) is there, I expect a positive outcome (in the Maharashtra assembly election) under his stewardship," says Biman Bose, 84, the senior-most leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Biman Babu lives in the CPI-M's office in Kolkata and lives a frugal life. He is not an office bearer of any CPI-M committee, but actively works for the party and is an invited member of the CPI-M's state and central committees.
The day before we met him, he had travelled to another district of the state for a party function.
A veritable repository of anecdotes and history he spoke about how theirs was the first party to demand complete independence at the Congress' Ahmedabad session in 1921 when the Congress was pushing for dominion status.
The letter written by M N Roy created a stir and resulted in passing the Purna Swaraj resolution instead of dominion status.
"The soil of Bengal is ripe for revolutionaries," he says.
Sitting in his first floor office, sipping lemon tea and dressed in a crisp white dhoti-kurta, Biman Babu spoke to Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman about the current political situation in the country.
- Part 1 of the Interview: Comrade Sitaram Yechury, Lal Salaam!
As the senior most member of the CPI-M, what is your reading of national politics in the short term?
The political situation in the months ahead will depend on the electoral outcome in Maharashtra. A new chapter may open due to the verdict in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra has been an important state right from the time of Independence. It is the commercial capital of India and the glory of Maharashtra never faded in that respect.
So long as Sharadji (Pawar) is there, I expect a positive outcome under his stewardship.
What about Bengal? Can the Left conceive a revival and return to power confronted by the BJP's increasing appeal and reach in the state?
What happened in the 2021 assembly election may not be repeated in 2026. The Left and other forces are combined in a good manner long before to fight back both the BJP and TMC in an effective manner.
If that can be done, we can expect something different than what we saw in 2021.
But you don't have any young face to take on Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek who is not even 40?
That narration has no connection with reality. You attend any students', youth or womens' programme and you will realise that what you have been briefed is incorrect.
More than half of CPI-M leaders including the state committee members are within the age group of 30-50. Are these leaders old?
People on the streets say the Marxists cannot come back to power because they are a party of old men.
The district secretaries are young. They are within 50. Our state secretary has just crossed 60.
I am not a member of any committee because I am an old man, but I am an invited member of the central committee and state committee. I work for the party.
To give you an example, the CPI-ML in Bihar fielded young candidates like an ex-JNU student union president from Nalanda in the Lok Sabha election.
Sitaram Yechury had firm belief that the Bengal party should develop not only in the state, but for the rest of the country because revolutionary movements have a distinct place in Bengal.
If they can appeal to the youth in a planned manner, then it can draw many young people to the Communist party.
What will it take for the CPI-M to come back into political reckoning?
It depends on many conditions, but I can tell you that Marxists do participate in the government when they can influence policies and this sort of arrangement can come in the future. You should not be worried about that.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
