Bengal is reeling under unending Centre-state political confrontation

Dateline Kolkata

The political leaderships at the Centre and in Bengal are in a constant tug-of-war. With the BJP at the helm of affairs at the Centre, and the Trinamool firmly holding on to power in Bengal, every decision involving the two governments generates enough heat to keep politics on the boil.

The most recent point of contention is the exclusion of the state government’s proposed tableau for the Republic Day parade, featuring Subhas Chandra Bose — this being his 125th birth anniversary year — and the Indian National Army. The presentation, according to the letter Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, would have also carried portraits of other prominent figures from the region who made contributions to the freedom struggle. Netaji’s grandnephew Chandra Bose (a former vice president of the BJP in the state) told Deccan Herald that while the Centre (Central Public Works Department’s tableau) is also expected to feature Bose, Bengal’s tableau should still have been given a chance.

On January 7, after a long time, Mamata and Modi attended a programme together, though the medium was virtual. The occasion was the inauguration of a new campus of Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute. The facility was built with the Centre and state sharing the Rs 530-crore cost in the ratio of 75:25. Mamata told the PM that while he was formally inaugurating the medical facility that day, the campus had already been ‘inaugurated’ by the state as it had come in handy in handling the Covid pandemic.

While mentioning the scarcity of doctors and the need to have more seats in medical colleges, She publicly complained to the Prime Minister about West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar questioning her decisions to strengthen the state’s health infrastructure by adding people from “outside”, pointing out that she had done so following the PM’s suggestions. She said that despite differences in ‘political outlook’ between TMC and BJP, her government follows and executes Centre’s directives.

While participating in virtual meetings with Modi, Mamata has, on at least two occasions in the past, expressed unhappiness at not being allowed to speak.

Besides the administrative friction, there is a long list of allegations that has been raised in the political domain in recent weeks. In September, the Centre denied Mamata permission for a trip to Rome. A proposed visit to Nepal last month was also not permitted, allegedly due to political differences.

In December, the Trinamool chief was vocal against the Centre for freezing the bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity (MoC). It was said that this would leave a considerable number of poor without treatment and food. Later, it was discovered that MoC had itself written to its branches not to operate its bank accounts while it resolved the FCRA issue with the government.

Besides administrative affairs, the state-Centre fight is visible in the state’s cultural affairs, too. A national tag for Gangasagar Mela that takes place on Sagar Island in southern Bengal and hosts lakhs of pilgrims annually has not been given by the Centre, despite repeated requests, it is alleged. The UNESCO’s inclusion of Durga Puja to its list of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ also saw statements by political leaders, but more to settle political claims surrounding the festival.

A few weeks after returning to power last year, Mamata had skipped a review meeting with the Prime Minister on Cyclone Yaas. The political stand-off has continued since then.

Two major points on which Bengal came close to putting its foot down on issues that are in the domain of the Centre were the extension of the BSF’s jurisdiction along the international border, from an earlier 15 km to 50 km in Bengal, and the Pegasus snooping allegations. In November, the state Assembly passed a resolution against the Centre’s move to extend the jurisdiction. When the Pegasus controversy erupted, the state went ahead and announced a two-member commission in July to investigate the matter.

While the strains in state-Centre relations resurface occasionally, it’s evident that the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata and the state administration are never on the same plane. While a section of Trinamool leaders believe that the Bengal Governor has been playing a wider role than the Constitution bestows on the post, Governor Dhankhar continues to question most decisions of the state that involve him.

The appointment of vice-chancellors to the state universities, instructing state officials for availing details and attending meetings on certain occasions, recruitment of consultants by the state government, challenging the state’s appointments to several bodies, holding up assent on an amendment bill for bifurcating a local municipal corporation — Governor Dhankhar has tweeted on most issues where he differs or has reservations over state government’s decisions.

A constant state of confrontation between the two major political parties has become a political necessity in the region. The Trinamool leadership has often blamed the Centre for non-cooperation. Mamata had in November charged the Centre with ‘bulldozing’ down the country’s federal structure. BJP leaders, meanwhile, have maintained a steady flow of tweets to claim that Trinamool doesn’t care for the laws of the land.

Like the rest of the country, Bengal too fought the surge in covid infections. Allegations and counter-allegations infected politics in the region in the absence of a coordinated political effort. Could Covid have been tackled better if the two sides had cooperated? It’s important to ponder.

After the last two elections – the 2019 Lok Sabha and the 2021 state Assembly elections, the Trinamool and the BJP could both have played a more helpful role for the state. Confrontational politics has, however, dominated over everything else.

The political and administrative domains overlap. The constitutional boundaries of the country’s federal structure are being challenged frequently by both parties in power. This should be of concern, given the need for the development and growth of the state.

DHNS