A newsman looks back at election campaigns since 1952 and notes the difference made by money

The election narrative has changed vastly in the last seventy years, threatening the very fabric of the Indian constitutional body and the survival and sustenance of the opposition

Representative Image (Photo Courtesy: Social Media)
Representative Image (Photo Courtesy: Social Media)
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Nitya Chakraborty

As the first phase of the polling in Bengal and Assam began on Saturday, March 27, my thoughts went back to the first assembly elections in West Bengal in 1952 in which I actively participated as a campaigner.

I was 10 years old, a school student. But my leftist family background helped in becoming an active worker of CPI soon after our family arrived in Calcutta in 1950 as refugees from East Pakistan. It was a period of intense struggle for our family for survival but for me, Calcutta was the city of hope which would revolutionise Indian society.

Veteran freedom fighter Jyotish Joardar was the candidate for the United Left Front led by the CPI. He was the candidate of Socialist Republican Party, a constituent of the front, but CPI supporters worked for him in the then Tollygunge constituency of which Dhakuria, our locality, was a part. We all took part in processions, street corner meetings and finally helped the polling agents of the Front. I used to distribute voter slips. The Congress workers also did the same, there was no rancour and rarely any clash took place. Joardar won defeating the heavyweight Congress candidate in that election.

In the 1957 assembly elections, I was in college and had some reputation as a good speaker. I was asked by the party to address street corner meetings and sometimes, I did five such addresses in different parts of the constituency. Haridas Mitra of PSP, father of the present Bengal finance minister Dr. Amit Mitra was the PSP nominee of the Left Front and the CPI workers of Dhakuria campaigned for him. I also worked for our legendary Monikuntala Sen who stood as a CPI candidate from Kalighat. I divided my time between my constituency and Kalighat. Both won with thumping majorities.

In the 1962 assembly elections, we young activists organised a poster campaign focusing on the issues the CPI mentioned in the manifesto. A few artistes collaborated. I remember going to a number of constituencies where CPI candidates were contesting, with that poster campaign which drew big crowds. In fact, the then Calcutta district council secretary Jolly Kaul praised that campaign in a party meeting.

Then came the crucial 1967 assembly elections. The CPI was divided in 1964 with the formation of CPI(M).Our friends who organised the earlier exhibitions also got split and in the assembly elections, there were two fronts one led by the CPI(M) and the other by Bangla Congress and the CPI. As a member of the CPI, I jumped into the election battle in favour of the CPI leader Somnath Lahiri, who was contesting against CPI(M) nominee Haridas Malakar. The mood was tense as the then CPI(M) secretary Pramode Dasgupta declared in a public meeting that the CPI candidate's deposit would be forfeited.

By then following the reconstitution of the constituencies, our constituency was named Dhakuria, my local area and we faced one of the fiercest election battles. Some clashes took place but overall, both sides admirably conducted the electoral battle. It was a direct fight between the CPI and the CPI(M) and finally the CPI candidate who was one of the most respected CPI leaders in Bengal, won. I took Lahirida to a large number of areas and had the occasion to talk to this left icon on a number of issues. I still remember his oratorical talent and simplicity. He was the best journalist in Bengal in those days.

The 1967 elections led to the fall of the Congress government and formation of a coalition government of both the fronts but it did not last; again fresh elections were held in 1969 and a non-Congress government was formed with Bangla Congress leader Ajoy Mukherjee as Chief Minister. This also did not last. I participated in campaigning as an activist for the last time in this 1969 assembly elections. Soon after the results were out, I left for Delhi to take up a job as a journalist.


Now the role became different. I was observing the election scenario more as a dispassionate observer though the sympathies lay with the Left and I was in touch with the CPI and the CPI(M) leaders during assignments. I covered the 1971 Lok Sabha elections from Delhi for the first time and visited both Bengal and Bihar. It was apparent that Indira Gandhi would win. The seventies witnessed JP movement, imposition of emergency and then 1977 Lok Sabha elections.

I was back to Calcutta before the elections working in Financial Express. I could not visit districts but it was one sided as the Janata Dal-CPI(M) combination swept the poll in the wake of the Emergency. The assembly elections were also held in 1977 in which the Left Front led by CPI(M) swept by defeating the Congress. Jyoti Basu became the Chief Minister.

In 1980 Lok Sabha elections, Indira Gandhi came back with a good majority. I attended a few meetings of Mrs. Gandhi in Bengal and the adjoining states. The mood for the Congress was upbeat but in Bengal, the Left Front dominance was supreme. In 1984 Lok Sabha elections after Indira Gandhi’s assassination on October 31, I visited the districts extensively in Bengal on behalf of the Economic Times where I was working then.

During the campaign, I had a meeting with a lady official from US Embassy in Delhi who was in Kolkata observing the campaign. We exchanged views and she told me of her meeting with both CPI(M) and the Congress leaders. She predicted that the Congress will get minimum 14 seats in Lok Sabha from Bengal. I did not believe it at that time but the sympathy wave worked in Bengal at that time and the Congress vastly improved its position in 1984 elections under Rajiv Gandhi. The party got 16 seats in Bengal out of the total of 42 seats.

I shifted to Delhi from Kolkata again in 1986 and during the 1989 Lok Sabha elections, I visited Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Congress got defeated in the wake of Bofors campaign but the Janata Dal government led by V P Singh also did not last. Another Lok Sabha election was held in 1991 and following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in May, the polling was deferred midway. After the final phase of polling, the Congress came back with P V Narasimha Rao as the Prime Minister but with short of majority.

I had the opportunity to have an interesting one hour discussion with Rajiv Gandhi in February 1991 at 10 Janpath. Initially, P Chidambaram and Gulam Nabhi Azad were there with him but soon after, both of them left and I led the discussions along with three other senior journalists. In fact, Rajiv listened more. He was interested in knowing what went wrong for the Congress and what needed to be done to restore its image. It seemed to me that he was ready to come out from the shell of his yes men to reach out to other views. He seemed very sincere to start a new phase of rejuvenation of both the party and the Government. Destiny decided otherwise and he was killed three months later.

The coalition politics had its own problems and the sustenance of such amalgam of parties with leaders having big ego requires leaders of high acceptability. BJP had Atal Behari Vajpayee but the anti-BJP opposition lacked the stature of that eminence. The opposition had a golden opportunity in 1996 to nominate Jyoti Basu as the Prime Minister but that was missed due to the CPI(M) leadership not agreeing to that. Elections were held again in 1998 and then finally the 1999 Lok Sabha elections led to the formation of a stable BJP led government headed by the Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.

The 2004LokSabha elections were held in the background of BJP’s India Shining campaign and there was a general feeling that Vajpayee would come back. But BJP and NDA lost and the UPA led by the Congress was formed leading to a new government headed by Dr. Manmohan Singh. The UPA had two terms after securing a majority in the 2009 elections also without Left support. Then came 2014 Lok Sabha elections and India witnessed a big change.

2014 elections for Lok Sabha was focused on Narendra Modi and for the first time, the BJP leadership made use of social media in the campaign in an unprecedented manner to build the image of the future PM. The nature of the campaign and the use of technology went to a new high and the BJP was fortunate to get the help of a bunch of NRI supporters who provided all technical support.

Though Sam Pitroda helped the Congress party to some extent in working out proper communications strategy, the GoP was no match to the resources capability of the saffrons. A combination of money power, optimum utilization of RSS cadres at grassroots level and social media assaults against opponents formed the BJP campaign strategy which helped the party to win comfortably in 2019 Lok Sabha elections


In 2021, in the third decade of the new century, this technological shift has widened even more. BJP has sharpened its apps programme and both apps and Twitter apart from facebook are being used to spread fake news and target opposition at the will of the ruling regime. The central agencies are being used against the targeted opposition at the whim of the ruling party. It has become an unequal battle and it is evident every day in Bengal and Assam elections battle.

The election narrative has thus changed vastly in the last seventy years threatening the very fabric of the Indian constitutional structure and the survival and sustenance of anti Hindutva parties. There is no level playing field. Now it is for the opposition to show despite such manifestation of power and use of undemocratic methods, they are still capable of snatching victory.

( The writer is a senior journalist and commentator based in New Delhi. Views are personal)

(IPA Service)

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