A tumultuous time in Bengal

Among the five Indian states poised for elections within the next few months, West Bengal could witness more political edginess and tumult than other states. Its politics is interspersed with excessive political ferment; sometimes purposeful, more often self-defeating. The state is again poised at a cusp, needing a careful political process and decision-making.

Having ruled Bengal for the past 10 years, the TMC dispensation has notable political challenges thrown at it by the BJP. State governments in Bengal have mostly not had to face palpable anti-incumbency that develops over a period when one wields power. Nevertheless, if the ruling party has created certain notable breaches, calling for improvement and criticism, and a steadfast political opposition has resolutely put itself up within the political ambit, then anti-incumbency takes shape, sooner rather than later.

Such a situation is confronting the ruling TMC administration, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The BJP is currently the principal political challenger to the TMC. The Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front are unlikely to make much impact. Among the BJP leaders in the state, an unquestioned leader is yet to be agreed on. Moreover, nobody from among them has yet spelled out any reasonable programme or vision, which would receive credible resonance with the electorate at large. Recurring incidents and events of barnstorming the state by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda only seek to bolster the enthusiasm of the state BJP leadership and party workers. Currently, the state BJP leadership has consensus on basically one aspect: berating and fulminating unremittingly against Chief Minister Banerjee.

There are rising allegations against the TMC government. They range from nepotism, high-handedness, corruption at several places, wrong allocation of policy priorities, whereby some have been unduly favoured while others have been wrongly left high and dry -- lapses in enabling more organised and gainful economic investment, attempting to prevent the rise of any political opposition within the state, and glaring instances of appeasement of some. Add to this, certain impetuous utterances and acts of Mamata Banerjee, and desertions of some senior leaders from TMC to BJP. All this has created some disquiet.

For instance, after the qualified drubbing the TMC suffered in the parliamentary elections in 2019, Mamata Banerjee spoke about that electoral outcome with barely controlled dissatisfaction, hurt feelings and anger. She apparently spoke of hardly having any regret for having appeased a section of the population, and if required, would do so again in the future without hesitation. Realisation that there needed to be a house-cleaning within the party was expressed only through some elliptical hints.

Here lies a crucial crux of her and her party’s dilemma, so skillfully hammered upon by the BJP. It has been alleged that state authorities have, at times, looked the other way when fringe elements of a minority community indulged in violent, irregular acts.

Furthermore, there is a political narrative, entailing that for very narrow, dangerous and easy political gains, the ruling party has encouraged wayward acts of some, to the consternation of others. Even earlier, the CPI(M)-led Left Front administration had also acted quite similarly. But the Left Front had apparently done that gradually, and behind a veneer of epithets such as “secularism” and “people’s welfare”, used skillfully during their long spell of uninterrupted reign, before collapsing from the collective aftermath of its irregular acts and destructive politics.

The TMC is facing flak on the raging issues of illegal smuggling along the Indo-Bangladesh border, and on the illegal immigrants, infiltrated from Bangladesh. In the border districts of Malda, Dinajpur and North 24 Parganas, the BJP’s utterances on these matters could resonate well with the many voters residing there.

Nevertheless, there is a touch of irony in it. The TMC could respond by stating that strict vigil along Indo-Bangladesh border is the responsibility of the BSF, a central force. Why did the BJP-led NDA regime at the Centre apparently allow lapses in the BSF’s operations? Not long ago, it was reported that the acts of some officials of the BSF had assisted some smugglers!

However, the TMC dispensation has given effect to certain laudable policies. It has increased the building of good roads across the state. Small scale and medium scale industries have been encouraged and supported by the state government. Agriculture has been subjected to sound, practical policies to enable farmers to improve their livelihood. The state’s tourism industry -- lying in near doldrums for almost three decades before 2011 – has, at present, become much more revamped, reorganised, and tourist-friendly. Add to this, admitting certain faults, and recognising the need for administering certain correctives in governance would surely be to the benefit of the TMC.

Striking the correct levels of political equilibrium, which would determine reasonably good governance at all levels, bringing about economic stability, and refusing to compromise with any security issues should be uppermost for the principal political players in Bengal.