Kolkata Digest:

Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty said it long before others moved in: talk of withdrawing support to the UPA government at the centre, he said, was "idiotic" and nothing but a fatuous pronouncement by "so-called Left leaders who don't have to bear the consequences of their actions": Jaideep Mazumdar

Towards Rejuvenation?

Bengal is on a roll. That the Japanese Prime Minister chose Kolkata as his only stop in India after New Delhi attests to this. And Shinzo Abe didn't touch down just to visit Netaji Subhas Bose's residence-turned-museum or Tagore's home. He discussed business, promised investments and aid and expressed faith in Bengal's potential. Japan is already helping Bengal in a big way in developing infrastructure and in its chemical sector and more investments in these and other sectors will, no doubt, herald renewed attention on Bengal from global investors. Bengal is poised to take a great leap forward by becoming a gateway to East and Southeast Asia and fits in perfectly in the new 'Look East' policy enunciated by PM Manmohan Singh. The investment climate has changed drastically in the state, thanks entirely to CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's efforts. Finally, we can see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel and hope for a new, prosperous Bengal is in the air. Considering the fact that Bengal was lagging behind most other states and risked being bracketed with the 'Bimaru' ones not so long ago, this is no mean achievement. The turnaround, without any doubt, is for keeps and Bhattacharjee and his core team deserves our unqualified appreciation and praise for their efforts. Here's raising a toast to good times ahead!

Pragmatic Buddha:

The reason for this optimism on my part is the display of level-headedness and pragmatism on the part of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. At a time when his senior comrades were closeted in Delhi, splitting hairs over the Indo-US nuclear deal and wallowing in anti-Americanism, Bhattacharjee chose to stay back in Kolkata and play gracious host to Abe. And for reasons that were hugely pragmatic. Bhattacharjee could have delegated this responsibility to a senior colleague of his, but that he chose to stay back in Kolkata and build a personal rapport with the leader of a developed nation and one that's a close strategic partner of the US of A speaks volumes about our CM having his priorities right. His presence here, and absence from Delhi, sends just the right signal to industry and potential investors. In fact, even as the Marxists in Delhi are playing out their drama, Bengal's Marxists are speaking about new investments, building townships, highways and ports and getting auto giants to set up units here. That's why one can't but be optimistic about Bengal's prospects.The DisconnectIf proof of the divide between Bengal's Marxists and their dogmatic colleagues from Kerala and elsewhere was required, it came in the form of a statement from Bengal transport minister Subhas Chakraborty. Talk of withdrawing support to the UPA government at the centre, he said, was "idiotic" and was fatuous pronouncements by "so-called Left leaders who don't have to bear the consequences of their actions". Clearly, Chakraborty was referring to his party's apparatchiks who don't have to contest the polls that will result if the UPA government falls. The transport minister may be better known as a gadfly by even many of his party colleagues, but his disdain for the rootless CPI(M) leaders who call the shots in New Delhi is shared by many in his party's Bengal unit. Party patriarch Jyoti Basu's statement ruling out mid-term polls was, my CPI(M) sources tell me, a strong rebuke to his comrades in AK Gopalan Bhavan to rein in their rhetoric and be pragmatic. It is a happy development that the Bengal line (and never mind that CPI-M leaders will deny this vehemently) has started to prevail over the hardliners and ideologues in the CPI(M), for the 'Bengal line' represents progress, development and being sensible.

VVIP Visits:

The flip side of any visit by a VVIP to Kolkata is the interminable traffic jams and chaos that results.