1998 Elections in West Bengal-A Major Setback for Left Front

A Major Setback for Left Front Ranajit Das Gupta Though the number of seats won by the Left Front in West Bengal in the 1998 Lok Sabha election has remained unchanged, what has happened is nothing short of a major setback. The results also indicate the utter failure of the LF leaders and grass roots level activists to judge the popular mood and the extent of their distance from their own support base. There is no doubt that there have been serious lapses in the functioning of the LF state government and administration and in that way incumbency has certainly been a factor. But this is only a partial explanation, The need is to reckon with the reality of the political setback suffered by the LF, probe into the deeper reasons and seek answers in terms of ideological and political factors. This paper is intended to be a modest contribution to this task.