68 SOCIAL SCIENTIST inspire intellectuals like Rahul Samkrityayan, Prem Chand and others but made the Kisan Sabha movement an important and living factor in the politics of Bihar to this day. As for the ideological impact of Tebhaga, Konar, one of the architects of the Bengal peasant movement, has this to say: The peasant movement of West Bengal has step by step gone deep into the lowest stratum. At one stage the movement was started, in 1946-47, on the question of the share of produce. At a later stage a powerful movement against eviction was added to it in 1954-55. Still later, in 1958-59, a movement was started for the recovery of benami lands (those transferred secretly and fraudulently in another's name) in certain predominantly sharecropping areas of 24-Parganas and Midnapore districts. The government had spoken about investigation. At other places the movement continued against eviction and on other issues." "Opportunity came in 1967 with the formation of the United Front government. ... At this time the land movement assumed mainly the shape of taking possession of vested land and its distribution... The land that had been legally vested in the government but was yet in the possession of thcjotedars was actually taken into possession and distributed. 'Get the lists of such land from the government and occupy it yourselves9 was the slogan that advanced the peasants to some extent.. . The sorrow for their land lost over generations and their dream of getting it back boosted their consciousness to new heights. That the level of their consciousness was raised was amply manifested in the mid-term election. Rice was sold at Rs 3 or 4 a kilo in 1967, but that did not confuse the poor, though it somewhat perturbed the middle class. In the widespread democratic movement of 1968 the village peasant along with the working class and urban people played a relatively better role than before. Following the formation of the new United Front Government the high tide of the peasant movement swept the entire countryside with unprecedented speed. The 'petitioning* attitude of the earlier period was discarded. The slogan for occupying Khas (vested) land gained new momentum and the peasant mind was greatly enthused. Eviction was stopped. The sharecroppers did not surrender their land. Even in some cases they went as far as to restore their right to the land from which they had been evicted one or two years back. It means that the struggle against eviction and the struggle/or land merged together.^ Thus we see how the Tebhaga struggle not only had continuing |idcological impact, but how it developed the consciousness of the peasantry to a higher plane over years. Moreover, today Bengal has a Left Front