Does the change of government in West Bengal augur well for business?

A majority of respondents feels that business has better prospects after the rout of the Left. This is hardly surprising considering that 34 years of Left rule have lowered West Bengal's standing as a business destination. Business in the state, which had blossomed under the British who made Kolkata a manufacturing hub, withered away following strikes and agitations by Left-backed unions. Businessmen are likely to be wary of Mamata Banerjee's ruling Trinamool Congress, too, because of the memory of Singur. But at least they know her party does not ideologically abhor private enterprise as did her Left Front predecessors.