It never rains but it pours. Even as the central leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was seeking to grapple with the factionalism that has come to the fore in Kerala, the secretary of the West Bengal state committee, Anil Biswas, was struck down by a cerebral stroke. Both states are going to the polls in less than a month?s time and the last thing the party wanted was organizational problem. In West Bengal, of course, the absence of Biswas from the state headquarters does not present any immediate problem, but the issue of whether a permanent successor to him can be found is going to remain alive as it carries with it factional considerations. And that may hinder united functioning.

Kerala first. The state which was the first to host a non-Congress ministry led by the communists also has a long track record of bitter inner party squabbles. When E.K. Nayanar became the chief minister, it was not smooth going for him even though he had the backing of a personality like E.M.S. Namboodiripad. GauriAmma, who was a strong contender for the post, did not like the decision the party took and eventually broke away. Her departure did not affect the party to a great extent but ordinary people were taken aback given her stature, and her later diatribes against the party did not help it much.

Those attacks often had personal overtones, as do the ones being unleashed by the followers of the state secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, and the veteran leader, V.S. Achuthanandan, against each other. For the party as a whole what must be most regrettable is that a man like Achuthanandan, one of its founder members, should have crossed swords so openly on the issue of nominations for the coming election. In a way, it has torn apart the veil. The party, despite its professions, is seen as being essentially election-oriented, much like any other ?bourgeois party?. That a supposed ?hardliner? like Achuthanandan should have allowed this to happen can, of course, bring smiles on the faces of the so-called ?moderates?.

Why are such squabbles so frequent in Kerala? One explanation, a sympathetic one, is that the state has so many ?giants? that ego clashes are natural. There was, however, no public evidence of any such clash between Namboodiripad and A.K. Gopalan even though both were towering figures in the communist movement of Kerala and the country as a whole. A suspicion does gain ground that the entry of Gulf money into the state in abundance has to do something with this ? the charges of financial irregularities against Vijayan may be unfounded but speak volumes about the environment in the state. The path of liberalism has been known to be fraught with dangers.

How the politburo will tackle the situation is not known at the moment. But what seems certain is that while some kind of patchwork may be arranged, a long-term solution is not in sight as the fight has become personal. Of course, if the party fails at the hustings, then that failure may have a sobering effect on both sides and the hatchet may be buried. But surely that is not the kind of solution that anybody in the party is looking at.

On the face of it, the problem in the eastern state is different. But is it really so? The stumbling blocks to finding a successor to Anil Biswas may well appear.

The current indications are that the CPI(M), and the Left Front, will again return to power in May and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will again be the chief minister. For the last few years, he has been on what he sees as the ?rectification path?, trying to get the party to ?rid itself of worn out ideas? in the sphere of economic development. He could not have set out on this path without the active support of the state secretary, Anil Biswas, who also helped in getting the majority of the politburo to veer round to his way of thinking. Now Bhattacharjee would be expecting the same kind of support from the party. Who would he like as the head of the organization?

As things stand, the obvious choice for the secretary?s job should be Biman Bose. He ought to have got the job earlier, but there were reservations about his ?inflexibility?. Given that background, Bhattacharjee may not really feel comfortable with him ? he could not have forgotten how Bose had once dismissed the noises being made about information technology with, ?what is this IT all about, is it something to be eaten or put on the head?? His straight-talking had also at times led to problems like when he got in trouble with Justice Amitava Lala.

At his age, he will not be able to change himself, and why should he if the party rank and file loves him for what he is? But having him in charge at Alimuddin Street may cause constant jitters to the chief minister who is so eager to be on the right side of both the chambers of commerce and the powers that be in New Delhi, irrespective of whether it is L.K. Advani or Manmohan Singh running the show. Not all in the party love him for this, but Anil Biswas was able to admirably perform the balancing act. Shaped as he is in the conservative mould, Biman Bose may have less interest in such balancing and more in asserting the supremacy of the party over the ministerial wing. He, for one, would never tell the moneybags that trade unions are largely becoming irrelevant, as the technology minister, Manab Mukherjee did recently in New Delhi. Nor can he be expected to be as low-profile as was Saroj Mukherjee and Sailen Dasgupta after him.

Right now, the party has introduced an arrangement by which the work of Biswas will be taken over jointly by Bhattacharjee and Bose. The argument that this has been done so that Bhattacharjee can explain to the workers the implications of his ministry?s policies while Bose deals with the organizational tasks, is too simplistic. Is it to be believed that Bose, a politburo member for long, would not have been able to explain issues related to government policies? The only explanation can be that the party did not wish to put Bose in sole charge as it was not sure how the chief minister would react if that temporary arrangement were to become permanent in the days to come.

But if Biman Bose is not to be the choice, who else is there? The party may decide on somebody like Madan Ghosh, former secretary of the Burdwan committee and now a secretariat member. He has organizational experience and may not cause any problems for Writers? Buildings or for the leaders in New Delhi who would not like a person who is too domineering as the secretary of the most powerful state unit. But since the time he took up his duties in Calcutta, Ghosh has been more of a backroom boy, not really known to members all over the state. Benoy Konar is more qualified, but then age is not on his side. Also, with Nirupam Sen from Burdwan, the de facto number two at Writers? Buildings, a secretary from the same district may lead to problems of another kind.

The absence of Anil Biswas is therefore being felt in more ways than one. It is true that the leadership in a communist party is collective but it is also true that a single leader is needed who can help shape a collective opinion. Right now, such a person does not appear to be in sight. And if the choice is not made carefully, then who can vouchsafe that West Bengal will not also go the Ke- rala way?