Nemesis in Bengal

The fervent prayer from every sensible person in West Bengal today is that Ms Mamata Banerjee will alter her style of governance in the coming weeks and, in doing so, tap the full development potential of her stunning election triumph last year. It is an earnest prayer, because such a transformation is the only thing standing between Bengal's economic revival and the State plunging deeper into the quagmire of stagnation and poverty. Indeed, over the past few days, things have reached a climax with the Chief Minister giving vent to her avatar as an Opposition leader, even though she is the person wielding power in the State. What else can one say of a Chief Minister who takes to the streets with aplomb just to teach the Opposition a lesson in gathering a crowd? On February 29, the former Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, walked the streets of his Assembly constituency in Jadavpur in protest against the assault on a photo-journalist on the day of the recent countrywide general strike. The crowds that gathered during the CPI(M) leader's protest were “huge”, according to one newspaper report. On the following day, the Trinamul organised a protest-march by a couple of Ministers in the same area, which evoked a pathetic response from the populace.

POPULARITY PROTEST

On March 3, Ms Banerjee got into the act, her only goal being to get a bigger crowd onto the streets, which would underscore the view that her “popularity” was undiminished. The CPI(M) had organised its protest against the assault of a journalist by Trinamul supporters (caught on camera). Clearly, Ms Banerjee couldn't have arranged a protest on that issue because, in that event, she would have acted against her own party. What gives the incident a hint of serious implications for the future is that while the CM had described the assault as “fictitious”, the police made arrests on the specific charge of assault (which included a policeman who has been placed under suspension). Clearly, this mindset of the Chief Minister has to change, if the masses who voted for her party are to see better days. But how can she effect such a change “efficiently”? Clearly, she doesn't have a strong party organisation which can take her message to every nook and corner of the State. The blunt fact is that the Trinamul Congress in West Bengal is riven by factionalism and dissension, so much so that, in recent days, two senior Ministers have been openly insulted in the districts by their own party men.

BASIC PROBLEMS

Mamata Banerjee, therefore, has two very basic problems which she has to handle on an emergency footing. First, she has to tell herself that she is the Chief Minister of the State Government, and not merely leader of the Trinamul Congress. Secondly, she has to revamp and strengthen her party organisation which, as everyone knows, cannot but take time, perhaps even a year. Both the tasks are extremely difficult in the given circumstances, but both are indispensable. To compound all this is the fact that, on the economic front, there is simply no beacon of hope, as of now. For not only does the State have empty coffers, whatever the reason, the direction of policy (SEZ for Infosys, etc) is increasingly getting enmeshed in “noble intentions” which, at the end of it all, look like translating into committing collective hara-kiri . Ms Banerjee must realise before it is too late that she is wasting an opportunity for effective governance, which very few Indian political leaders have got in recent times.

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