I have been missing the drama in West Bengal for the last few days. On one end of the road, the State Government staff are fasting and protesting for their claim of Dearness Allowances. There are a few employable others, eligible as per the merit list, who have lost to those who have bought or bribed their way in as teachers in place of those who qualified in the tests. After a sharp rap on their knuckles, the CBI and the ED have intensified their investigation into the recruitment and other scams.
It may not be off the mark to state that more high-ranking officials of the education departments are either arrested, in jail, or under investigation for corruption. Those arrested are led by the former education minister, Partha Chatterjee, with new names popping out every other day and leading to seizures of properties or cash worth crores of rupees. Certainly, Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, is not at all amused. It was becoming increasingly difficult to feign ignorance over the many scams singeing the party.
Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification gave a splendid opportunity to the CM to do what she is best at: sit in dharna in protest against the Central Government’s policies and its denial of funds to the state for many ongoing projects of the housing and road departments, including the crucial 100-day rural employment MGNREGA funds. Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification was an ‘also-ran’ issue! Strangely, however, neither the CM nor her party members or any official has knocked on the doors of any court over the denial of monies, which have stopped many crucial development works on the eve of the panchayat elections. Maybe the centre is waiting for such an opportunity to disprove the claims of the state, including compliance audit reports as per rules.
Therefore, the CM hit protest mode, sitting on a dharna for 30 hours and singing her way with passionate songs, so heart-piercing that her cabinet colleague representing the I.T., Electronics and Tourism sectors, Babul Supriyo, wept openly and was not missed by the CM. There was the usual rhetoric with fiery speeches against the BJP, Modi, cooperative federalism, denial, and deprivation of funds for the state. Didi roared, “If you continue to deny us the funds, we shall march to Delhi.”
Delhi was not without its share of Trinamool activities as the party’s MPs held protests with placards reading ‘Save democracy, Federalism and Parliament.’ The TMC thus deviated from its set course to stay away from the Congress party and joined the protest march and a meeting organised by the Congress party to discuss a unified course of action. However, such sudden policy U-turns by the party are not new, as an impulsive Mamata is the sole arbiter and decision-maker to lay down policies for her party.
That the CM is confused regarding poll alliances to take on and defeat the BJP is more apparent than ever before. After losing the Sagardighi by election, she defiantly stated that her party would fight all the elections alone, even as some of her party leaders were hobnobbing with the left for an electoral alliance. The attempt may be to cut off the Congress Party from the left. Her party MPs joining the Congress march and meeting are deviations, but they may not be the final scene in a long serial.
Despite all these, my gut feeling is that Didi has distanced and insulated herself from the recruitment and other scams and may return unscathed in the forthcoming Panchayat elections. 2024 general elections, though, may be a different situation altogether!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
