BEING a journalist for over twelve years, Shutapa Paul has written about many Indian Politicians, but one who strikes out to her at this hour is Mamata Banerjee. Also with the general election of 2019 looming ahead, Paul feels that there could be no better time to tell Didi’s tale. Her book Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee does a well-rounded job of bringing out the challenges, struggles, achievements and the critiques of the regional leader.
“A lot is spoken about the leaders on the national stage but there is lot of talk about an alliance of regional like-minded parties ahead of the elections and Mamata could play a major role in that. She is an interesting personality, a grassroots politician. And the book is not a hagiography but a balanced take on the firebrand politician and her politics,” says Paul. The book looks at her childhood, her early days of struggle, her days of being a student leader, her days between the NDA and UPA government, and finally when she defeated 34 years of left rule in Bengal. With the kind of research that has gone into it, she believes that through her book a few records will definitely
be set straight.
Being an unauthorised biography, it was a challenging book for Paul to write. While Mamata Banerjee encouraged her to go ahead with the book, she didn’t agree to give Paul an interview. “I had to come up with novel ways of finding out more information about her. Some of her writing helped me, but I also tracked down her school teacher,” she says.
Being a woman, Paul understands the struggles that women face in India. “It takes women longer as the odds are against us. So my admiration for Mamata Banerjee definitely comes through,” adds she.