JOIN USThe chasm between Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and the Congress is widening with each passing day.
Mamata has time and again embarrassed the Manmohan Singh government on several issues, making a mockery of coalition governance. There have been several flare-ups between the two coalition partners since Mamata assumed charge as West Bengal chief minister last May.
In her typically unpredictable style, Mamata has opposed UPA government’s many policy decisions and crucial legislations, including opening up multi-brand retail trade to FDI and Lokpal Bill. Her decision to oppose the Teesta river sharing deal and pull out of the prime minister’s tour of Bangladesh is too significant a development to be overlooked as just another tantrum by the mercurial leader.
The scene of confrontation has now shifted to the real political turf: Bengal. Mamata is determined to sideline the Congress, her dispensable junior coalition partner in the state. The pretext, if she requires one, is the renaming of the Indira Bhavan in Kolkata after the famous poet Nazrul Islam. No wonder the Congress is miffed, and its leaders are not taking it lying down. They are all set to confront her in her home turf. As if to provoke her, they have accused her of acting like the Left’s B team. The Trinamool leader is furious and sees in this the emergence of a Congress-Left axis to discredit her government.
Today, the problem with Mamata’s theatrics is that she is no longer fighting the Left Front rule in the state. She is in power. It is one thing to be a rabble-rouser as a minister at the Centre for several years in the past with her eyes fixated on capturing Writers’ Building in Kolkata, but an entirely different proposition when you continue it while ensconced in the seat of power. Her priority ought to be governance, not street politics.
She had promised ‘regeneration’ of Bengal. It is doubtful if she has delivered on her promises for the first 200 days in power. The role change, from that of an opposition leader to one of a decision maker, has not yet sunk into her fiery persona. A permanent state of political confrontation that she appears to have made a habit of will no longer help her deliver on tall poll promises. At stake is her credibility as a ruler and reliable coalition partner. It’s time she made a quick switch from a rhetorical politician to a responsible leader and administrator.