Despite her party’s drawbacks, the Mamata-led Trinamool continues to be in the pole position in West Bengal, notwithstanding the routing she and her party faced in the much touted ‘Bengali-neighbourhood,’ Tripura. The more severe blow to her was her loss in the Sagardighi byelections in West Bengal, where an INC (Congress) CPM combine represented by Bayron Biswas won, defeating the Trinamool candidate. It may be interesting to note that Bayron was an erstwhile member of the Trinamool party and was denied a ticket to contest, whereupon he switched sides to the Congress party.
Bayron Biswas, his family name meaning trust, did not live up to the trust reposed on him by his electorate, as he switched sides yesterday, back to the Trinamool party after winning on a Congress ticket just 3 months ago. This may seem like trivial news in a country bogged down with the twin high TRP stories of the Sengol in the new parliament and a 16-year-old girl bludgeoned to death under public glare and apathy in Delhi. However, the passable feature of another MLA jumping ship from one self-styled flag bearer of Indian democracy to another may have far-reaching national implications.
The symbolic conquer, the admittance of a Congress defector who had won the elections just the other day into Trinamool, has rattled the State Congress Party, and in particular its President Adhir Choudhury. The Left, with whose support Bayron is far from amused Didi, who is among the cleverest politicians in India today, could have sent only a strong message to all: “That I alone am in total control of my state.” This message is particularly for the BJP, which has been flexing its arms despite its loss in Karnataka with PM Modi’s successful Pacific Region trip.
Didi is not a stranger to taking risks and can convert every difficulty into an opportunity, like the ‘Khela Hobe’ war cry with her plastered leg. However, this time admitting the Congress defector MLA into her fold may have ramifications from a national perspective. Mamata Banerjee, unpredictable in her style of politics (from gheraoing the CBI office to fasting against the arrest of her corrupt ministers), may have pulled the final straw with the Congress party, which could reconsider partnering with her in Bengal in their fight against the BJP.
The BJP is a common enemy for many people, and the parties in Karnataka could defeat it by working together. The Congress party is at loggerheads with the AAP, and if Didi’s Trinamool also challenges the might of Congress, the 2024 runaway win for the BJP is sealed.
Didi must work harder to disprove the oft-repeated complaint that the Trinamool is the B team of the BJP. The admission of the new Congress MLA into her party is neither comforting on a national nor a regional scale. Subendhu Adhikari has been wooing the opposition to join hands to defeat Mamata, who, for all of them, is a greater regional foe than a poorly led West Bengal BJP party.
It’s like removing the cog in the wheel of a running chariot, and the results are on the wall.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix
