A far-reaching consequence of long Left Front rule has been the manner in which debate and discussion have been made subservient to the CPI(M) party line with the result that to mount any critique of entrenched positions is difficult due to the lack of space for autonomous thinking. The challenge from Saifuddin Chowdhury's Party for Democratic Socialism, its organisational weakness notwithstanding, has perhaps provoked the beginning of some changes within the CPI(M) and the LF. Buddhadev Bhattacharya alluded to this in the run-up to the elections. Whether the substantial issues are addressed or swept under the carpet yet again after the LF victory remains to be seen, but in the long run the CPI(M) has to come to terms with the changing conceptual prisms through which it has habitually viewed the world.
