The cash for jobs scam is scalding the State government’s ruling party, though its charismatic leader, trying to show no signs of such happenings. I have written earlier about the need to come clean, as overconfidence could prove disastrous and adversely impact the forthcoming panchayat election results.
The TMC heaved a sigh of relief when its governor, Jagdeep Dhankar, resigned to become the vice president of India. No new governor would match the acerbic battler Dhankar. The new governor, a former bureaucrat, CV Ananda Bose, seemed different indeed, a seemingly soft person, smitten by the simplicity of Didi. He did an ‘a la Joy Bangla,’ promised to learn Bengali in a much-publicized event, and succeeded in addressing the West Bengal Assembly opening session with Trinamool members hailing and the BJP assailing and walking out of the house. Finally, he smoked a peace pipe with the education minister at a Raj Bhavan meeting, the latter gushing and oozing the goodness of the governor. The minister even found no problem with the governor continuing as the Chancellor of the State Universities.
All that seem a past. The governor was urgently summoned to Delhi and apparently told that Trinamool is not a centre-friendly party and is a staunch opponent. He came back with his mind re-engineered and shed his cloak of goodness. He put his principal secretary on notice and declined the state’s recommended list of officers. He went ballistic during the Ramanavami riots and warned the government. The governor turned his attention to the universities and sent a circular demanding pre-approval of large sums of money by his office and sending a weekly report of their work every week.
The message for Trinamool was clear: this governor was not the kind of Dhankar who was outwardly vicious but changed his stance every time he came face to face with Mamata di. The selection of Governor Bose could not have been a random one, but a careful pick after vetting by various forums close to the ruling centre. He had to deliver, or else!
But there is a more severe worry for the government: the Calcutta High Court, which has taken on the onerous task of directing the investigating agencies to dig into the several scams coming before it. The opposition seems to lose no opportunity by running to court on any and every complaint, virtually turning the courts into a parallel government. West Bengal has never before had its bag full of litigation.
Yesterday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in a Sashatra Seema Bal aircraft at Andal and faced no usual hardships, such as blocked airspace or refusal of landing rights for his helicopter at Birbhum. The ED and CBI have intensified their search and seizure operations ever since, trying to prove that the Trinamool party is corrupt, as made out to be. Shah has predicted a herculean 35-seat win for his party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Bengal government’s end by 2025.
Shah’s predictions could be only as good as my astrologer’s, who predicted that I would hit the jackpot soon. Instead, I’m being kicked by jackasses.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
