What lies ahead in 2021 for West Bengal? Part-2

If TMC had to be a short story, it might have ended in 2016. The TV channels, a leading print media group vehemently against Mamata and the ruling TMC party, were repeatedly publicising the Narada scam clips. The lady defied all logics and romped in with more than three-fourth Assembly seats. TMC had adopted the Left’s well-oiled election-engineering-machinery and the swing of ballots in the booths during those crucial hours of voting.

Perhaps due to many decades of communist rule, West Bengal disregarded castes and community complexities. No one complained of a Brahmin dominance as in Tamil Nadu or elsewhere. Bengal otherwise has been progressive in its inclusivity, intellect and vision, while casteist wars are still witnessed elsewhere in the country.

Mamata introduced several populist schemes of which the Kanyashree, empowering the girl child, Sabuj Sathi, a bicycle scheme for the students, and Khadya Sathi, a subsidised food scheme stand out. The Kanyashree scheme was awarded as an outstanding scheme by the UNICEF. However, she also resisted the Central schemes to benefit her State demanding that the funds be routed through the State.

No Bengal leader knows their State as intently as Mamata. She has mastered the art of reading the pulse of her supporters. She relies heavily on the support of Muslim Minorities in the State, forming 27% of the population. Mamata never hesitated to appear in public wearing a hijab and posing in prayer mode during Muslim festivals. For the minorities, Didi is a messiah and the only reliable saviour. Too much leaning on the minorities has had their pitfalls too. To counter criticisms, Didi introduced financial sops for the Durga Puja organising committees and local community (Para) clubs.

Despite the optimism, industrial investment has not taken off in the manner planned. The Tata motors exit cast a deep shadow indeed. Other than Jindal’s cement plant in Medinipur, there has not been any big-ticket investment. Much of the publicised lacs of crores investments include budgeted public sector activities from various Central projects. Didi’s stubborn rejection of land acquisitions can never take the industrialisation dream forward, now or in the future.

Mamata successfully turned to the cultural side, helping out movie and music industry and instituting several recognitions to rival the Padma awards of the Central Government. But a state cannot run only on these peripherals. Her overseas tours to woo investors fell steeply short of expectations.

Mamata regained her image after winning the three Assembly by-polls, including one which the State BJP President Dilip Ghosh vacated after winning the Lak Sabha seat. Kolkata’s mood could have been gauged with the Municipal Elections in April 2020, which has been deferred due to COVID.

BJP exploited her overt appeasement of the minorities and started polarising the Hindu voters with a clarion call of ‘Jai Shri Ram,’ that snowballed during the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. The tilt of the rural Hindus rewarded the BJP handsomely, winning them 18 of the 42 seats, TMC limited to 22 and Congress 2 seats. The middle-class Kolkata and South Bengal voters though were not swayed by the Ram rhetoric and stayed with Mamata’s TMC.

Sampath Kumar

Intrépide Voix

In pic: CM Mamata receiving the Kanyashree award from the UNICEF

Next: The rise of BJP in West Bengal!