インド・西ベンガル州における2011年州議会選挙 : 左翼戦線政権の長期支配とその崩壊の要因 <研究ノート>

インドの西ベンガル州では2011年の州議会選挙において34年間におよび政権を担っていた左翼戦線(=LF)政権が崩壊した。本稿では,LF政党が長期政権を維持できた要因ならびに2011年の選挙での敗北に至るまでの経緯を述べ,その選挙結果を分析する。2011年の選挙では,農地買収問題などによる世論の批判の高まりからLF 政党は惨敗した。しかし,長期政権下で作り出された政党が支配する社会に対する人々の不満は既に蓄積されており,農地買収問題はその不満を一気に噴出させたと言える。選挙結果では,貧困層のLF政党支持率は他の階層と比べ依然高い傾向にあり,貧困層からの信頼をある程度保持していることがうかがえる。LF政権の長期にわたる支持の安定性を支えていた要因として,不安定な経済状況から生み出される人々の政党への依存や政党との縁故による便益供与の恩恵が指摘されてもいる。しかし,2006年度と比較すると,貧困層の間での支持率の低下は決して小さくはない。農地買収問題を機に党や政治のあり方そのものに対する不満が高まったと考えられる。左翼政党にとって党の組織改革や意識改革が必要であろう。

After 34 years in power, the Communist Party of India [Marxist] (CPM)-led Left Front (LF) was soundly defeated in the West Bengal Assembly election held in 2011. What made the LF government stable for such a long period, and what were the causes of the electoral rout in 2011? What challenges is the Left facing going forward? With attention to these questions, this paper reviews the West Bengal Assembly election in 2011.

Despite an unsatisfactory performance on the economy and social development, the LF gained broad support from voters, particularly the rural poor, in the years since it first came to power in 1977. As some scholars point out, its electoral success can be attributed to the people's dependence on the parties under conditions of economic stagnation, so-called clientelism between the parties and the people, which seemed to create a party-controlled society.

Although the LF again won an overwhelming victory in the 2006 election due to its drive for industrialization under the leadership of the Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, it soon faced stiff protest from local people against land acquisitions for big industrial projects in Singur and Nandigram. It can be said that these incidents unleashed the people's resentment against oppressive party control of the society. The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), the main opposition party in West Bengal, led by Mamata Banerjee, successfully spearheaded the people's campaign against the government. This brought about a big political gain for TMC.

The election results show that even though the LF could retain, to some extent, its support base among the rural poor, compared with the result of 2006 elections, its share of votes among the poor has considerably decreased.

The election review report of the CPM stressed the difficulties of working under the overall neo-liberal setup and dealing with widespread violence against the party. However, it does not seem to make clear how they will tackle such problems as abuse of authority, corruption, and other wrongdoing among the party members, even though they recognize these problems.

Due to increasing criticism against party control of society among the rural poor, organizational reform is the main challenge for the Left.