A point of no return!

On the 27th of March, the first phase of the elections will be taking place in West Bengal. The fate of contestants in 30 constituencies would be sealed on the day. The second phase is as crucial too, as the TMC Supremo Mamata Banerjee would be directly facing her one-time protégé and the present bête noire, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP.

It is a do or die battle for the embattled TMC leader. The day of her nomination did not begin well, with a mysterious accident on her leg the same evening. She did all things wrong from that point. She must’ve checked in at the Nandigram Hospital but decided to drive to SSKM hospital and extract political mileage from the supposed injury. The plaster on her leg mysteriously disappeared and was replaced by a crepe bandage, Didi’s scriptwriters expecting the State to melt in sympathy and return her in the elections.

The scene of Mamata in the wheelchair did evoke emotions, as in her characteristic manner, she blamed her political opponents (read the BJP) for plotting to kill her! She had even suspected earlier of a faulty Air conditioner, the handiwork of her opponents attempting to kill her. Her delusion is now finding fewer takers as she is moving around in the wheelchair. The memes on the social networks can explain the public reaction to ‘Bengal-on-a wheelchair,’ as the opponents are demanding that her medical records be made public.

I wrote categorically that her injury and ‘immobilization’ was ill-timed and will not bear fruit, unlike the breakage of the Vidyasagar bust before the last lap of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Minus five points to her on that!

While she has played the only trump card, the sympathy card, the BJP could have many more cards up their sleeves. Rarely have I seen the PM and the HM touring the State so intensely. All efforts are being made to defeat Didi at Nandigram to create a chaotic scenario in her party. I guess she would win, but an able CM like Buddhadev Bhattacharjee too had lost earlier. Any attempt to bring in Abhishek Banerjee will ensure the speedier collapse of the TMC.

The day’s pre-poll surveys place TMC and the BJP in a photo finish, in which case, TMC will easily stitch up with the Sanjukta Morcha to form a coalition government. The BJP will then unleash their power to cause a split in the TMC without much effort. In any case, a weak government and a strong opposition does not augur well for the State.

I must blame PK for strategizing for the TMC. Didi may be correct; he is a Bogiragotho, an ‘outsider,’ and may not know much of Bengali ethos. Everything from Didi ke bolo, Cut money return, making the CM move around in the wheelchair speak of cinematic approach. I guess he has played bad and is not fit to be chased around by parties. For those who think Modi is the worst in the nation, Mamata was the only brave voice against him and the BJP. Narrow and parochiality came in the way of stopping the opposition from forming a grand pre-poll alliance to fight Modi together. Thus Modi won even before the race began.

Mamata’s repeated reference to BJP’s likely meddling with the EVMs, her plea to the congress and the left voters to vote for TMC candidates, and her pleading to the minorities, reminding her past contributions to the welfare of the community, all point at only one direction, a point of no return.

Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix