The Left Front and the 'Unintended City' Is a Civilised Transition Possible? Jai Sen The recent drive by the Left Front government in West Bengal to phase out hand-rickshaws is a feature of the grand plan to modernise Calcutta in the context of globalisation. Unlike the last time, in the early 1980s, when the Left Front had attempted to abolish hand- rickshaw, there has been little protest from any quarter today.