CAS taking political turn in West Bengal

KOLKATA: There are indications that the Left Front government is preparing a fresh strategy to counteract the political mileage that the BJP-led government may derive (during the forthcoming polls) through its proposal of putting a Rs 72 (plus taxes) cap on monthly cable bills. Is the CAS (Conditional Access System) saga taking a political turn in West Bengal?
Officially, CPI(M) honchos refuse to go on record about any such move being incorporated up the sleeves of the high command but off-the-record conversations reveal that specific approaches are indeed being worked out.Says a Left Front leader, "The official line is that the state government is adopting a wait-and-watch policy. But we are trying to arrive at a consensus on how we should proceed on this issue (of CAS).
Then of course, there is the purported move by a little-known political party that has registered itself with the Election Commission of India as Jana Unnayan Mancha (JUM).
Although JUM has bagged three seats in the recently held state Panchayat elections, the party has made it clear that its claim to public fame over the coming months will be through CAS.
To kickstart its state-wide, ground-level activities JUM will convene its first-ever public forum on CAS this forthcoming Saturday where it has invited senior political leaders to share the dais with a host of prominent personalities and workers, cutting across party colours. The aim of the forum, according to JUM''s state secretary Ramanimohan Nag Chowdhury, is to protect consumer interest as the issue (of CAS) concerns policy matters involving public opinion.
The newly formed party, headed by former sheriff of Kolkata Prof. Sanat Biswas, will focus on other mass-based, political issues once the forum is over. Says Mala Banerjee, a consumer activist and one of the prime driving forces behind JUM, "Our party (JUM) comprises of well-educated members who are engineers, doctors, scientists and the like. Our objective is to try and bring a neutral colour to the state''s electorate. And CAS will provide our first forum towards that purpose."
Earlier, the Left Front government had made its anti-BJP stance clear when it had opposed July 15 as the implementation date for CAS. The state government''s position assumed significance at that time as West Bengal became the second state in the country (after Delhi CM Sheila Dixit''s similar line) to publicly maintain that the July 14 deadline for CAS implementation may not be possible after all.
In the final analysis with general elections scheduled next year it appears CAS is now threatening to snowball into a major political issue in the state, if not elsewhere in the country.