Netajis Forward Bloc struggles to stay afloat amid financial woes dip in vote share
Kolkata Jan 23 PTI As the country commemorates Netaji Subhas Chandra Boses 125th birth anniversary the Forward Bloc which had in 1939 emerged as a faction of the Indian National Congress under his leadership struggles for political survival having been plagued by financial crisis numerous splits and lack of management The organisation riding on Netajis influence on the masses had established its electoral presence post-Independence in states such as Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Kerala and Assam with West Bengal being its main stronghold but eight decades down the line the party now limited to just some pockets of the country has no MP or MLA in its kitty Although the present leadership is mulling a revival strategy lack of resources and the Forward Blocs role in playing second fiddle to the CPIM with no independent identity of its own is proving to be the biggest roadblock for the party It is true that we are facing a deep crisis There was a period post-independence when we had our MLAs in Maharashtra Bihar states of southern India and West Bengal Now we dont have a single MP or MLA representing our party The membership count too has dwindled over the years We are now discussing a revival strategy AIFB general secretary Debabrata Biswas told PTI Apart from Netaji the party also boasts of having several stalwart leaders as its members including including H V Kamath Hemanta Basu RS Ruiker S B Yagee and SS Kavishar among others Biswas pointed out that multiple splits and exodus of stalwart leaders to other parties are the two major reasons for the Forward Blocs downfall Post-independence we had many stalwart leaders who not just helped the party grow but also provided leadership in the absence of Netaji However the glue to hold together everybody went missing after Netaji was gone Starting 1948 the party faced several splits first between Ruikar and the Yangee group and then in several other states Plus many leaders openly advocated the merging of Forward Bloc with the Congress with some of them later joining the Congress or other political outfits The death of senior leaders also led to a huge void that we failed to fill up he said History suggests that Bose after resigning from the post of Congress president on April 1939 had decided to form a bloc within the party to consolidate Left and socialist-minded leaders under one platform Bose was elected as its first president and H V Kamath as its general secretary The party was later renamed as All India Forward Bloc AIFB — a socialist political organisation Over the years the AIFB became a constituent of the CPIM-led Left Front losing its independent identity Its vote share in national politics dipped from 035 per cent in 2004 to 005 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha elections In Bengal the slide was sharper — from 480 per cent in 2011 to 053 per cent in the 2021 assembly polls Currently the AIFB has just a handful of panchayat members in some of the pockets of West Bengal The party leadership pointed out that failure to groom the next-generation leaders and draw youth to the organisation are also prime reasons for its present existential crisis After death or exodus of senior leaders we failed to groom young cadres Although there is a lot of respect and curiosity about Netajis life and struggle among youth we failed to bring them into the party fold On top of that confusion on whether to follow Subhaswad ideology of Netaji or Left ideology has alienated a section of people No doubt he was a Leftist but he preached the ideology of Samyavad — the doctrine of synthesis or equality Biswas said Echoing him AIFB state secretary Naren Chatterjee said lack of financial support has also aggravated the woes In present-day India if you want to gain foothold in politics you need money After the Left Front lost power in 2011 our finances were badly hit We are now running the party based on levy collected from members party subscriptions and donations by party sympathisers But thats not enough If we want to strengthen the party we need money he said Speaking about the partys revival plan Biswas said talks are underway for an organisational overhaul with special thrust on Netajis policy of inclusiveness and Samyavad The AIFB is viewed as a partner of the Left Front Talks are one to change the partys constitution its policies in accordance with the vision of Netaji There will be Left unity but we will have a separate identity that Netaji admirers across the country would identify with he said However members of Netajis family feel it would be a challenging task for the Forward Bloc to revive the organisation in the present political scenario where the CPIM itself is struggling to stay relevant The Forward Bloc over the years became a second fiddle to the CPI M And now with CPI M itself in the lurch things are tougher for the Forward Bloc The present-day Forward Bloc is a modified version of what Netaji had formed the freedom fighters grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose who was associated with the party for a decade told PTI Netaji was a proponent of a Left ideology that was rooted to ground realities in the country he did not blindly follow other communist nations Chandra Kumar Bose said Sugata Bose another grandnephew of Netaji and an eminent historian said the Forward Bloc of the post-independence period has very little to do with Netaji and his ideals He left the Forward Bloc formed INA and fought for Indias independenceIt is a mistake to equate the fringe political party with what Netaji had formed in 1939 His ideals are above politics Bose also the chairman of Netaji Research Bureau said Political pundits feel the Forward Bloc is a spent force in West Bengal and its resurrection would be an arduous task Post 2011 most Forward Bloc leaders joined the TMC in West Bengal Just like it failed to keep its flock together across West Bengal the same happened elsewhere Its revival would be a tough task and seems unlikely anytime soon political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said PTI PNT RMS RMS
Kolkata Jan 23 PTI As the country commemorates Netaji Subhas Chandra Boses 125th birth anniversary the Forward Bloc which had in 1939 emerged as a faction of the Indian National Congress under his leadership struggles for political survival having been plagued by financial crisis numerous splits and lack of management The organisation riding on Netajis influence on the masses had established its electoral presence post-Independence in states such as Tamil Nadu Andhra Pradesh Kerala and Assam with West Bengal being its main stronghold but eight decades down the line the party now limited to just some pockets of the country has no MP or MLA in its kitty Although the present leadership is mulling a revival strategy lack of resources and the Forward Blocs role in playing second fiddle to the CPIM with no independent identity of its own is proving to be the biggest roadblock for the party It is true that we are facing a deep crisis There was a period post-independence when we had our MLAs in Maharashtra Bihar states of southern India and West Bengal Now we dont have a single MP or MLA representing our party The membership count too has dwindled over the years We are now discussing a revival strategy AIFB general secretary Debabrata Biswas told PTI Apart from Netaji the party also boasts of having several stalwart leaders as its members including including H V Kamath Hemanta Basu RS Ruiker S B Yagee and SS Kavishar among others Biswas pointed out that multiple splits and exodus of stalwart leaders to other parties are the two major reasons for the Forward Blocs downfall Post-independence we had many stalwart leaders who not just helped the party grow but also provided leadership in the absence of Netaji However the glue to hold together everybody went missing after Netaji was gone Starting 1948 the party faced several splits first between Ruikar and the Yangee group and then in several other states Plus many leaders openly advocated the merging of Forward Bloc with the Congress with some of them later joining the Congress or other political outfits The death of senior leaders also led to a huge void that we failed to fill up he said History suggests that Bose after resigning from the post of Congress president on April 1939 had decided to form a bloc within the party to consolidate Left and socialist-minded leaders under one platform Bose was elected as its first president and H V Kamath as its general secretary The party was later renamed as All India Forward Bloc AIFB — a socialist political organisation Over the years the AIFB became a constituent of the CPIM-led Left Front losing its independent identity Its vote share in national politics dipped from 035 per cent in 2004 to 005 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha elections In Bengal the slide was sharper — from 480 per cent in 2011 to 053 per cent in the 2021 assembly polls Currently the AIFB has just a handful of panchayat members in some of the pockets of West Bengal The party leadership pointed out that failure to groom the next-generation leaders and draw youth to the organisation are also prime reasons for its present existential crisis After death or exodus of senior leaders we failed to groom young cadres Although there is a lot of respect and curiosity about Netajis life and struggle among youth we failed to bring them into the party fold On top of that confusion on whether to follow Subhaswad ideology of Netaji or Left ideology has alienated a section of people No doubt he was a Leftist but he preached the ideology of Samyavad — the doctrine of synthesis or equality Biswas said Echoing him AIFB state secretary Naren Chatterjee said lack of financial support has also aggravated the woes In present-day India if you want to gain foothold in politics you need money After the Left Front lost power in 2011 our finances were badly hit We are now running the party based on levy collected from members party subscriptions and donations by party sympathisers But thats not enough If we want to strengthen the party we need money he said Speaking about the partys revival plan Biswas said talks are underway for an organisational overhaul with special thrust on Netajis policy of inclusiveness and Samyavad The AIFB is viewed as a partner of the Left Front Talks are one to change the partys constitution its policies in accordance with the vision of Netaji There will be Left unity but we will have a separate identity that Netaji admirers across the country would identify with he said However members of Netajis family feel it would be a challenging task for the Forward Bloc to revive the organisation in the present political scenario where the CPIM itself is struggling to stay relevant The Forward Bloc over the years became a second fiddle to the CPI M And now with CPI M itself in the lurch things are tougher for the Forward Bloc The present-day Forward Bloc is a modified version of what Netaji had formed the freedom fighters grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose who was associated with the party for a decade told PTI Netaji was a proponent of a Left ideology that was rooted to ground realities in the country he did not blindly follow other communist nations Chandra Kumar Bose said Sugata Bose another grandnephew of Netaji and an eminent historian said the Forward Bloc of the post-independence period has very little to do with Netaji and his ideals He left the Forward Bloc formed INA and fought for Indias independenceIt is a mistake to equate the fringe political party with what Netaji had formed in 1939 His ideals are above politics Bose also the chairman of Netaji Research Bureau said Political pundits feel the Forward Bloc is a spent force in West Bengal and its resurrection would be an arduous task Post 2011 most Forward Bloc leaders joined the TMC in West Bengal Just like it failed to keep its flock together across West Bengal the same happened elsewhere Its revival would be a tough task and seems unlikely anytime soon political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said PTI PNT RMS RMS
