Mamata earns people's ire as one goons-raj replaces another

Dateline

Mamata Banerjee sailed in to power on the wave of poribortan (change). This attractive catchword of her election manifesto not only turned the tide in her favour but routed the Left Front government after 34 years in power.

People gave her the mandate, as she promised a change — change for a better Bengal, to free people from the iron fist of Leftist politics of alleged nepotism and corruption. But after 20 months of the Trinamool Congress government in office, the change seems to be only for the worse.

In this period, the red flag with the hammer-sickle-star (symbol of CPM) has been replaced by the tri-coloured one with flowers and grass (symbol of Trinamool Congress) in the middle. But just like earlier, the government and the administration are dictated by the party, overseen by the hooligans and milked by opportunists, only of different hues. A rudderless state reeling under a financial burden of more than Rs 2 lakh crore, is ruled by a party devoid of any credible ideas, and headed by a chief minister who has no ideological or administrative foundation, but only populist slogans to fall back on.
From development to law and order issues, she has not only proved herself a naiveté, but her rule has merely been an extension of the disastrous regime of the past.
In the initial burst after taking oath, Banerjee drove home certain points emphatically — attracting businesses, waking up the administration from deep slumber and making her ministers and senior officers accountable for their work and actions. But in nearly two years of TMC’s rule, the people of the state are yet to see any of the promises coming true.  

Whether it was the Park Street rape case, on which she made some insensitive remarks, or the infamous television debate with the Bengali youth, where she branded those asking her some uncomfortable questions as ‘Maoists’ or the arrest of a person for circulating a cartoon critical of her, Mamata Banerjee has drawn all-round flak for her highhanded and authoritarian attitude in handling situations. 

Recently she lashed out at photojournalists at Mati Utsab (earth festival), threatening to slap them (ek chor marbo — will give you a tight slap) — a repetition of her outburst at her security guards (apnader chabkano uchit — You should be whipped) after there was an alleged delay in the arrival of her car at the Kolkata book fair. Speaking at a rally, recently, she asked the people whether she should go and beat up the prime minister for not meeting the state’s demands!

Major embarrassment

For the Bengalis, used to the sophisticated ways of the Left leaders, the feudal and uncouth methods being employed by Banerjee have come as a major embarrassment. The elite and the educated class, who supported her initially, have begun to desert her in droves. They find her style of functioning shocking to say the least. It seems that West Bengal today is being ruled by a ‘subaltern’ political class led by a leader who built her reputation on the streets, but has failed to transform herself when given a responsible role.

Even if we brush aside the impromptu remarks as a result of her administrative inexperience, on a broader canvas, the government has been fumbling to woo the industrialists or investments. While the government is groaning under a mountain of debt — Rs 2.26 lakh crore in 2012-13 — thoroughly inadequate revenue and private sector investments have meant that the government has failed to deliver on all fronts, especially in generating jobs for the youth.

Though Banerjee has been trying to attract investment — one major area where she could have scored over the Left parties —  investors are reluctant to step into West Bengal because of the government’s inflexible attitude about land allotment and anti-SEZ policies.

Not only that when it comes to Singur and Nadigram — the hotbed of anti-land acquisition agitations spearheaded by Mamata Banerjee before she swept to power — the disappointment is palpable. The people, who were once the harbinger of ‘change’, have not only changed their stance but feel indignant that they have been ‘fooled’ by the Trinamool Congress leader.

The law and order situation is also in a pathetic state. Nowhere is the politician-criminal nexus more apparent than in Bengal. The nonchalant manner in which a hoodlum shot dead a police officer in a crowded place in Kolkata’s Garden Reach area in broad daylight during a spell of disturbances over a students’ union election was a reflection of the state of affairs. The fact that the goon is  a known associate of the ruling party has not surprised anyone in the state, which has seen how the police are reluctant to act against anti-socials with links to the ruling party, as during the Leftists’ rule.

The scene has become murkier with the removal of Kolkata’s police commissioner R K Pachnanda, reportedly for arresting some of the culprits who have a Trinamool Congress background. The latest outbreak has followed almost continuous lawlessness, which made Governor M K Narayanan describe the condition in the state as “depressing and disturbing” because of ‘widespread goondaism.’

The Hoogly water is now flowing over the nose and a time has come for the government and the party to act. Trinamool Congress and its leader Mamata Banerjee will have to introspect seriously and throw away the bad elements, lest it will have to confront voters who will stand with red cards in their hands before polling booths.