In West Bengal, every important political party is in the election fray. However, each one of them is fighting for a distinct objective. While the Congress and Left together are struggling for their sheer existence, the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is struggling to regain popular confidence. The BJP, on the other hand and after five rounds of polling, is struggling to further consolidate its edge. This election has become not just interesting but truly historic as well, thanks to several ‘first-time-in-history’ factors.
For the first time, Hindus in West Bengal are not refusing to see the writing on the wall. The vote bank politics of the Trinamool Congress is now being resolutely challenged by not just the BJP but the people at large as well. Jai Shri Ram has become a powerful articulation of the pent-up anger against minority appeasement. It no more means just the dictionary definition of the slogan. It has become a political clarion call of assertion of cultural identity.
There are at least four reasons for the clearly predictable defeat of Mamata Banerjee. Firstly, her party seems to have lost the very raison d’etre of its politics. Initially it was seen as a force that can honestly and powerfully challenge the hegemony of the Left Front. Between 2009-11, Mamata emerged as a challenger who was set to catch the unruly bull of Left Front politics truly by the horns and overthrow the regime. She fought the battle almost single-handedly. In fact, the Congress party’s kid-glove approach towards the atrocious Left Front forced her to challenge the Gandhis and establish a party of grassroots-level Congress workers, rightly named as Trinamool. Sadly, all this became a thing of the past.
Today, her party has become a cartel of selfish and corrupt leaders, using every weapon from the Left Front armoury to spread terror to retain power. Her famous slogan of Maa, Mati, Manush has now been reduced to money, muscles and minorities, the three key pillars of Mamata Banerjee’s electoral politics today. Many have distanced themselves from the campaign handled by the likes of Prashant Kishor as if he has been given a turn-key contract of ensuring Trinamool victory, while several have already deserted the party. The dominating grip of hired consultants has resulted in complete evaporation of authentic political volunteering. The party is known for neither idealism nor any ideology. And eventually, it has also lost its own identity and become almost a mirror image of the Left Front, against which Mamata had courageously fought.
The second reason for Mamata’s unstoppable decline is her becoming the wanton prisoner of her love and affection towards her celebrated nephew, Abhishek Banerjee. Once a firebrand leader who fought against the ruling dynasty of her original party, Mamata today is reduced to a leader blinded by her affection towards her heir apparent, allowing him complete control of the party organisation. Naturally, this has caused huge heartburn among the cadre, forcing several of Ms Banerjee’s close confidants to move away.
The third and very important reason is her unabashed indulgence in appeasement of Muslims for the sake of vote bank politics. She has not only disregarded Hindu sentiments all along, but also discriminated between belief systems. A few years ago, she announced honorariums for priests in temples and mosques. However, a priest at a Hindu temple is given less amount as against a priest in a mosque. Besides, for a Hindu priest, producing Aadhaar card and other documents is mandatory whereas a Muslim priest is required to give no such evidence. As a consequence, the number of beneficiaries is much higher among priests in mosques than those working in temples. This is just one example of her rank populist measures disregarding fundamentals of a democratic polity.
The fourth reason for the almost-certain loss of Mamata Banerjee is her bad governance with anti-development policies—again a legacy of her predecessors—at its core. One realises this fact while roaming in the streets of Kolkata. Once described as a City of Joy, this metropolis wears the look of a state capital that has driven away aspirational youths. Signs of poverty, misery and deprivation are there to see on footpaths, bylanes and semi-slum areas.
Mamata did precious little to help the city regain its glory. Her sheer partisan move of painting the roadside railings in blue and white—her party’s colours—failed to make the city become more colourful, vibrant and full of life. Absence of industries, tech firms and big trading houses has forced middle class youngsters to desert Kolkata, reducing it to a city of senior and senior-senior citizens. Once a true cultural capital of India, most of its theatre and dance performances or movie shows today witness a diminishing number of young audience. More tragically, this city also appears to be in the grip of political terror as many fear that if they openly canvass for the BJP, Trinamool goons will make their lives extremely difficult.
This huge deficit in her goodwill—her own creation, beyond doubt—has been duly taken advantage of by the BJP. Add to this the Herculean efforts put in by the saffron party’s organisation for over six months. The clinching factor, of course, is the confidence that all in West Bengal are reposing in the leadership of PM Narendra Modi.
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
President, ICCR, and BJP Rajya Sabha MP
(vinays57@gmail.com)