Rural Development as a Polititcal Process: Lessons from Marxist Rule in West Bengal

Abstract The east Indian border state of West Bengal is the largest political entity of the world ever to vote for a Communist government in free elections. This paper tries to give an analysis of the policy of the Left Front government which came to power in 1977 and is dominated by the Communist Party of India (Marxists). Given the preeminence of agriculture the analysis focuses on the rural development policy. The origin of left power is traced back to the profound crises accompanied by agrarian unrest in the mid-sixties which resulted in the first non-Congress government in 1967. Further, the various aspects of the land reform programme of the Left Front government are described. In a final step the electoral situation is reviewed - particularly after the 1987 elections - to assess the further prospects of land reforms in West Bengal.