Right step or misstep?

Until a few months ago it was unthinkable that a member of TMC party would dare to state anything remotely against the party, much less against the party supremo, Mamata Banerjee. The restraint seems shredded, as more and more disenchanted leaders from the party have started criticizing the party and its leader. That there is a widespread suppressed anger within the party, that is coming to the fore is no secret.

Mamata alienated herself from a section of her citizens by overtly leaning towards the minorities. It cost Mamata dearly in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, TMC losing 12 of the 42 seats earlier held and BJP gaining 16 and taking their tally to 18. The crisis managers, which included a bureaucrat, persuaded Didi to appoint a professional to strategize the victory for the party in 2021 Assembly polls. Thus, Didi appointed Prashant Kishor, the only poll-strategist with a successful track record.

Prashant Kishor, or PK as he is more known, soon became a familiar face with the members of the TMC party, who banked heavily on the poll strategist’s magic for a revival of political fortunes. The party suffered from rampant corruption, and a recoup of their rather unholy image was much needed to retain the power. Mamata was the only face, but the danger of the very same face coming under attack for misgovernance started affecting her as well.

PK had a tough job in separating the leader of TMC, Didi, projecting as innocent and disconnected from the few allegedly corrupt elements. PK launched a bold scheme for TMC to get common people connected directly with Mamata over the phone. But the effort soon turned into a nightmare with calls flooding in about cut money by leaders and the menace of the syndicate mafias. In many places, leaders were gheraoed, demanding the return of the illegal gratifications. 

I guess in the midst of all this, Mamata came unscathed with her image largely intact. If PK was successful in his goal in redeeming Mamata, he quickly won many enemies in the party, who started loathing him. PK wielded much power and started controlling the activities of all leaders, perhaps even Mamata’s. PK watched the performance of the MLAs and became an influencing factor over their re-election possibilities.

The State has decided to take the welfare schemes to the doors of its citizens. The bold initiative, ‘Duarey Sarkar’, or ‘the Government at your door’ could be another misstep lacking public information, particularly concerning the flagship scheme called ‘Swasthya Sathi.’  Swasthya Sathi, the healthcare scheme, assures every family up to 5 lacs covering the secondary and tertiary care up to Rs. 5 lakh per annum per family. Even if one crore persons, of the State’s 9.5 crores population, seek assistance for half the amount, the scheme would cost Rs. 2.5 lac crores each year, which is close to the total annual expenditure of the State. Am I wrong somewhere?

As I was driving down, I found a huge gathering in a park, serpentine queues in the Covid times. I caught up with a few to enquire the reason. The joyous chorus reply was that they were waiting to get their name registered, expecting five lacs to be received from ‘Didi.’ It reminded the ‘fifteen lacs in every account’ poll promise by Modi that repeatedly returned to haunt him. The BJP has started with a counter-offensive, ‘Aar noy onnay,’ ‘no more injustice’ by holding rallies and meetings.

In all, the poll season has come alive, and one can brace for lots of fireworks.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix