Mamata Banerjee is that classic cusp figure in Indian politics. She answers perfectly to the description of a ‘regional’ leader, but has always threatened to take on a national profile. Before the elections, she even fashioned herself as a prospective prime minister, the fulcrum of an anti-BJP front. Despite her arrantly provincial bearing—very Bengali in her persona and in the politics—she has a national brand recall. When her state government faces a crisis, as is happening now, she makes headlines not just in Calcutta, but in Delhi and Bangalore too. She cut her teeth in politics in the rough and tumble of Youth Congress, as the quintessential street-fighter—four decades later, that still defines her. After her rise in parliamentary politics in 1984, she did what was thought inconceivable—vanquishing the powerful Left in its very fastness, crafting a street credo that cracked both high-minded Communist theory and its often cynical practice on the ground. But now she is바카라 웹사이트engaged in a mother of all battles, and it라이브 바카라 coming from the ground.
After being in power for eight years as an undisputed helmswoman, she is facing a new enemy, the바카라 웹사이트BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a party that had a marginal presence in Bengal. Yet, the BJP has grown into a massive force,바카라 웹사이트even threatening to unseat Mamata—a prospect as impossible as her own triumph against the Left.바카라 웹사이트Winning 18 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the BJP라이브 바카라 voteshare in 2019 has surged to 40바카라 웹사이트per cent바카라 웹사이트from a mere 17바카라 웹사이트per cent바카라 웹사이트in 2014—some 2.30 crore votes, compared to 55 lakh five years ago. Yes, a lot of that came at the expense of an atrophying Left and Congress. And yes, the TMC too increased its voteshare—to 43바카라 웹사이트per cent (2.47 crore) from 39바카라 웹사이트per cent. But superimpose these figures on the assembly map: of the 294 assembly seats바카라 웹사이트in Bengal, the BJP is ahead in 121,바카라 웹사이트and in another 37 seats,바카라 웹사이트they are behind by less than 2,000 votes. That라이브 바카라 within striking distance. BJP state vice-president Jayprakash Majumdar, an educated Bengali middle-class face of the party, says:바카라 웹사이트“It is now Mission Bengal for us.”
The one thing common between the Left and Mamata is cracking now. Bengali society, which was boastful of its secular-liberal credentials and abhorred politics based on Hindi, Hindutva and communal preaching, is now gleefully talking the language of the BJP.바카라 웹사이트On social media, educated Bengali Hindus바카라 웹사이트have finally found a vent to pour out their long-bottled-up hatred for the ‘other’, the Muslim community, condemning the Left and Mamata바카라 웹사이트in the same breath for their avowedly (and frequently tactical) secular politics.바카라 웹사이트The only state besides Punjab that underwent the horrors of Partition on a massive scale, Bengal has never had politics that articulated that pent-up anger—till now. Bivas Chakraborty, a noted stage personality,바카라 웹사이트notes바카라 웹사이트with regret, “The educated middle-class Bengali society has gone over to BJP.”
BJP workers confront TMC cadres after the LS win on May 23 in Calcutta.
The field was fallow for a long time. The Congress and the Communists allowed바카라 웹사이트no space for communal politics,바카라 웹사이트but turned a blind eye to society. The Partition in 1947 had created millions of Hindu refugees who nursed a genuine grievance for the loss of their homes.바카라 웹사이트In the absence of a cogent political explanation, that had long turned into a grudge against Muslims. Major communal바카라 웹사이트riots in 1950, 1964 and 1992, and many minor ones, give lie to the carefully built secular-liberal narrative바카라 웹사이트cherished by the Bengali ‘mainstream’.바카라 웹사이트The truth is, after the 1950 riots,바카라 웹사이트Muslim ghettoisation had started—in Calcutta and outside, they started living in areas where they felt more secure.바카라 웹사이트Conversely,바카라 웹사이트Bengali Hindu middle-class localities started shunning Muslims. Even today, it is very difficult, well nigh impossible,바카라 웹사이트for an educated Muslim executive to get a house on rent in a Hindu locality in Calcutta. Says Chakraborty,바카라 웹사이트“Why blame BJP alone? It라이브 바카라 true that they openly preach communal hatred. But바카라 웹사이트we are also guilty of nurturing communal feelings.”
The Left and Congress,바카라 웹사이트in their heyday,바카라 웹사이트would gloat about Bengal being free of ‘that barbaric culture’, a favourite term used by Jyoti Basu to denigrate the BJP. The liberals would trot out the names of the Bengal renaissance pantheon to insist their society was above retrograde politics.바카라 웹사이트Yet there was no serious attempt to cleanse the poison left by Partition. Ian Buruma바카라 웹사이트has written how바카라 웹사이트Germany, unlike Japan,바카라 웹사이트tried to consciously grapple with the guilt of the Holocaust. ‘Hindu’ Bengal, in deed if not in word, was more Japan—despite Muslims trying to defy the logic of ghettoisation, freely taking part in Durga Puja, for instance.바카라 웹사이트But there was no real reciprocity, no regular social intercourse.바카라 웹사이트Not all of it was fake. A Hindu girl once topped exams studying from a madrasa. Still, tokenism was easier than actual assimilation for parties. Pradip Bhattacharjee, a Congress leader,바카라 웹사이트recalls the shock of seeing religious identity taking primacy over political ideology in his party after the Babri Masjid demolition.
The Sachar Committee report of 2006 should have been enough to bust the myth of a happy, secular Bengal. Muslims occupied the margins in education, health and employment. The Left regime was in denial, and got its comeuppance when Muslims—27바카라 웹사이트per cent바카라 웹사이트of Bengal라이브 바카라 population—turned their back on them. When Mamata rode to power in 2011 through anti-Left peasant movements in Singur-Nandigram, Muslim peasants were a significant part of that.바카라 웹사이트Soon after,바카라 웹사이트Mamata announced a바카라 웹사이트committee to be headed by Justice Sachar바카라 웹사이트to study the conditions of Muslims in Bengal. Her rule saw ‘secular’ politics touching its shallow, exhibitionist heights—huge posters of her offering namaaz, head covered, adorned ‘Muslim’ localities, and that other thing—stipends for imams and muezzins, the BJP라이브 바카라 favourite bugbear. But, as Kamaruzzaman, president,바카라 웹사이트All Bengal Muslim Youth Federation, points out, nothing happened on the Sachar Committee front.바카라 웹사이트“Instead, within a few months after coming to power, Mamata declared she had completed 90바카라 웹사이트per cent바카라 웹사이트of the task.” In 2016, Amartya Sen라이브 바카라 Pratichi Institute brought out a바카라 웹사이트report that showed socio-economic justice for Muslims was as elusive as ever.
The monthly allowance for imams and muezzins바카라 웹사이트came in 2012—Rs바카라 웹사이트2,500 and Rs바카라 웹사이트1,000 respectively. Paltry sums perhaps, but an inflection point. Immediately challenged by the state BJP, the Calcutta High Court ruled the order invalid, discriminatory and violative of the Constitution. To circumvent the court order,바카라 웹사이트Mamata rerouted it through the Wakf Board. For a reported 24,784 imams and 18,593 muezzins in Bengal, the government was now spending around Rs바카라 웹사이트126바카라 웹사이트crore annually.바카라 웹사이트It did not go down well with the Hindu gentry or the economically stressed plebeian.바카라 웹사이트Her tokenism extended to pandering to religious heads,바카라 웹사이트like the imam of Tipu Sultan mosque in Calcutta or the head of Furfura Sharif. That was bound to have its consequences. On triple talaq, for INStance, Mamata was found siding with the clerics바카라 웹사이트rather than Muslim women, giving flesh and blood to the BJP라이브 바카라 ‘appeasement’바카라 웹사이트narrative.
There were, to be sure, genuine welfare initiatives. In 2012, she upped budgetary allocation for the department of minority affairs by 73바카라 웹사이트per cent. An employment bank was set up in all districts to recruit Muslim youth, and loans,바카라 웹사이트stipends and scholarships were offered to Muslim students.바카라 웹사이트But바카라 웹사이트with the economy faltering, job creation was at its lowest, and all there was to show was words.
Mamata라이브 바카라 other faults are also catching up with her. A typical populist leader, Mamata always put herself above her party—her voluble speechifying is filled with “I”, never “we”. In widely telecast district stock-taking meetings, she would criticise and undermine government officials and local elected TMC officials,바카라 웹사이트but credit always devolved on her alone. In 2016, to deflect criticism of corrupt candidates (the chit fund scam had broken), she told voters: “In all these 294 assembly seats, I am the candidate. You vote for me.” Internally, there was her mercurial temper that kept even close associates and bureaucrats on their toes. A senior minister used to say jokingly, “It라이브 바카라 a game of snakes바카라 웹사이트and ladders. You don’t know when you would be in front of the snake and slip down to the bottom.”
Mamata라이브 바카라 continuing popularity, as evidenced by her voteshare, stems from targeted welfarism and genuine administrative talent. Under the Kanyashree scheme, girl students바카라 웹사이트get Rs바카라 웹사이트750 annually till age 18,바카라 웹사이트and a one-time payment of Rs 25,000바카라 웹사이트then—there are 52 lakh existing beneficiaries, another 1.5 crore have been sanctioned. Under the Sabuj Sathi바카라 웹사이트scheme, some 40 lakh students바카라 웹사이트of classes IX and X got cycles. Last year, she announced a new university in the name of Harichand and Guruchand Thakur, founding fathers of the Matua sect,바카라 웹사이트a sizeable (30 lakh)바카라 웹사이트refugee community of Namashudras, a most backward rung in Hindu society. Another was announced for the Hindi-speaking community—for Biharis in Bengal,바카라 웹사이트she declared a state holiday for Chhath. Serious money went out as dole바카라 웹사이트to clubs and youth organisations—in바카라 웹사이트2018, Mamata admitted to have spent over Rs 600 crore on 15,000 clubs.
Mamata at an Iftar in Calcutta.
Also, new roads came up in remote districts, and city amenities바카라 웹사이트improved. In the hitherto godforsaken Jangalmahal바카라 웹사이트radical changes바카라 웹사이트were a revamped ration distribution system, where rice and wheat flowed at cheap rates.바카라 웹사이트In government hospitals she tried to offer treatment, medicines and clinical tests free, but faltered because of fund constraints. Since 2011, she has바카라 웹사이트established over 20 universities and a number of superspeciality hospitals in the districts—not always sticking to fiscal logic, according to Ranabir Samaddar, a political scientist. For all that, the once Maoist-inflected Jangalmahal, which massively voted against TMC, looms as a site of agitation that the BJP can appropriate. Not to speak of Darjeeling, a time-bomb in itself.
But the economic fundamentals, always gloomy, put paid to Mamata라이브 바카라 visions of munificence. There are no jobs. Rural youth바카라 웹사이트are바카라 웹사이트migrating바카라 웹사이트to other states—Kerala, Mumbai, Surat are preferred destinations. For those left behind, the only succour was the parallel economy. Panchayat funds, through which바카라 웹사이트most rural development work바카라 웹사이트gets done,바카라 웹사이트are one big source—think 3,300 gram panchayats, 341 panchayat samitis and 21 zilla parishads to get a grip on the scale at which central funds flow. The Left used to pilfer on that with impunity. The TMC, as with most of its politics,바카라 웹사이트expanded on that. Panchayats bring바카라 웹사이트money and local predominance—no wonder panchayat elections바카라 웹사이트were violent. Last year, the TMC took it to absurd levels, blocking opposition candidates바카라 웹사이트from filing nomination papers. On poll day,바카라 웹사이트TMC musclemen바카라 웹사이트blocked potential opposition voters.바카라 웹사이트The TMC won some 34바카라 웹사이트per cent바카라 웹사이트panchayat seats uncontested. Massive anger went untapped till the BJP came as a viable support system.
There were graver flaws.바카라 웹사이트Bengal saw a proliferation of ‘syndicates’, unofficial cartels바카라 웹사이트that forced바카라 웹사이트realtors바카라 웹사이트to shell out a percentage of the project cost against the supply of low quality building materials. Active patronage of party satraps바카라 웹사이트meant the syndicates바카라 웹사이트became the face of the TMC. That meant extortion.바카라 웹사이트A legacy of the last decade of a decadent Left rule, again, the TMC took it to new heights. Even party leaders were not spared. Sugato Bose, grandnephew of Subhas Chandra Bose and former MP, learnt it the hard way. One evening in 2017, TMC extortionists went to his ancestral house and demanded money before he would be allowed to take up renovation. He had to contact higher-ups,바카라 웹사이트and the matter was leaked to the press, before being resolved.
Meanwhile, industry was stagnating—Mamata was, after all, the face of the anti-Tata agitation at Singur. Revenues were never enough—new superspeciality hospitals had no senior doctors. Newly established universities had no teachers or바카라 웹사이트infrastructure. And government employees, frustrated with tardiness on the pay commission,바카라 웹사이트have started agitating.바카라 웹사이트On top of that comes the recent agitation of junior doctors, signalling impatience in바카라 웹사이트other sectors. For many, BJP is not just a rabble-rousing upstart but an alluring alternative.
A disheartened Mamata could take lessons바카라 웹사이트from the Left라이브 바카라 experience바카라 웹사이트even in this hour of moral defeat.바카라 웹사이트In their바카라 웹사이트first two decades,바카라 웹사이트they rode on some good work—land reforms, rural empowerment through panchayats,바카라 웹사이트regularising teachers’ salaries etc.바카라 웹사이트But when agriculture started stagnating바카라 웹사이트in the ’90s and growth halted, they went down the neo-liberal path ushered in by the Rao-Manmohan regime, forgetting that Bengal라이브 바카라 peasants would not be beholden to them forever.바카라 웹사이트For the Left itself, curiously, Mamata is still their ultimate nemesis. Their own바카라 웹사이트decimation notwithstanding, they are more interested in seeing Mamata fall. Even during the doctors’ strike, some Left leaders uncritically lent support to it to corner Mamata.바카라 웹사이트Her appeals to the Left to rally behind her against the BJP are—as a political positioning—too little, too late.
As things stand, the current gem of counterintuitive politics—that Left supporters went over to the BJP—has a grain of truth to it. But that doesn’t explain all of it. It라이브 바카라 the silent polarisation that worked against the Left. It바카라 웹사이트lost its rural바카라 웹사이트Hindu voters to the BJP and바카라 웹사이트Muslim voters to TMC.바카라 웹사이트Pabitra Sarkar, ex-VC, Rabindra Bharati University, thinks Bengal라이브 바카라 affair with the BJP won’t last—it라이브 바카라 just an available tool to counter TMC extortionism. But the BJP itself has its Mission Bengal 2021바카라 웹사이트ready, a multi-pronged바카라 웹사이트attack to pulverise the TMC, including isolating Mamata by pinning down her key men on corruption charges.
How will she face the storm? Thespian Bratya Basu, a minister in Mamata라이브 바카라 cabinet, admits they need to communicate the ‘grave danger ahead’ to the grassroots.바카라 웹사이트Mamata has floated two outfits, the ‘Jay Hind Bahini’ and ‘Bangojanani Brigade’, to do that. But others in the party are sceptical of her knee-jerk outreach programmes. Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside TMC is one of suspicion and intrigue, where everybody is suspecting others of being secretly in touch with the BJP.
Also, time라이브 바카라 running out. In July 2020, some 99 municipalities,바카라 웹사이트including seven city corporations,바카라 웹사이트will go to polls. Earlier, of 127 municipalities, TMC controlled 125—even the Left never had such hegemony. Now, it라이브 바카라 her turn to face the heat. An outright crisis, and a sacking, may create a sympathy wave—so the BJP may prefer to keep her haemorhaging, via strikes and defections. Will she endure? Her asset and her liability are both one: she herself—the bane of a personality-led party. She is courageous, and can be counted on to mount the stiffest challenge the BJP바카라 웹사이트may have faced from a ‘regional’ leader.바카라 웹사이트But her style of functioning favours sycophants over saner minds.
Her real weapon is a brand of nativist politics based on Bengali pride. Against the BJP라이브 바카라 more universal Hindu-Muslim divide, she has her own Bengali vs non-Bengali spirit, an appeal to ethno-linguistic identity, to a people that famously celebrates it. The BJP comes across as a ‘north Indian’ party, talking of Ram instead of Kali and Durga. It lacks a Bengali vocabulary as of now. It also lacks a mass leader of any significance. The space it is moving into is a kind of unacknowleged gap in Bengal라이브 바카라 collective psyche. What happens from now on will be one of the most fascinating stories in Indian politics.
By Rajat Roy in Calcutta
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