Even her fiercest critics would concede that Mamata Banerjee was in her element in the West Bengal Assembly on Thursday, her performance surpassing past displays of political firepower. In a crisp white cotton sari with a striking yellow border, the chief minister dominated proceedings, shouting slogans against the BJP, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister with the fiery energy that marked her opposition years in Singur and Nandigram during the Left regime that she ultimately toppled. Once known as "mercurial Mamata"—unpredictable, volatile—that persona was back, the newest avatar, clearly honed by years in power into a more shrewd and formidable political force.
Thursday’s House drama, however, does beg the question: why? Why did Mamata unleash such fierce, borderline unparliamentary attacks on the Prime Minister and Home Minister by name? With most observers betting on her to return as chief minister in next year’s Assembly elections, what sparked Thursday’s fire? A tactical move to secure a bigger victory? Or -- hard to believe -- but is there a flicker of doubt?
Mamata’s supporters will call this line of thought blasphemy. Doubt? Flicker? Not winning in 2026? Mamata? I unhesitatingly share their disbelief. And yet, having watched her remarkable rise to power, I also know this: no one reads the mood of Bengal better than she does. Could she be sensing a shift that her supporters can’t yet see? Catching a whiff of trouble where her loyalists still smell roses? Is that why she has raised the pitch as early as now, more than half a year ahead of the polls?
'SIR'cus
The impending Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of Bengal’s electoral rolls could be Mamata Banerjee’s toughest test yet. In Bihar, it led to the deletion of 65 lakh names. In Bengal, speculation is one to two crore names may be struck off the electoral rolls. In the elections last year, Bengal had 7.6 crore voters. If a significant chunk of the names deleted after SIR belong to the minority community, Mamata’s core support base could be hit hard.
But it is a challenge that cuts both ways. The fear of CAA, NRC, and now SIR had also driven many Muslims to ensure their documents are in order and rally behind Mamata.
The chief minister is not taking any chances. That may explain why she was mum when the Urdu Academy of which she is chairperson disinvited celebrated poet and public intellectual Javed Akhtar from an event in Kolkata this week. Akhtar had been invited to speak on Urdu in Hindi Cinema. But one of Mamata’s ministers Siddiqullah Chowdhury said no. There is no space in Bengal for 'atheist' Akhtar who, his detractors allege, abused Islam in public. Some citizen groups asked her to step in for freedom of speech and against communal polarisation. But she has held her silence.
Bengali Asmita
But back to the Thursday drama. A special session of the House had been called to pass a resolution against attacks on Bengali speakers, especially in BJP ruled states. Fact is, some bona fide Indians have been wrongly sent across the border to Bangladesh. Reports suggest both Hindus and Muslims have fallen prey to anti-Bengali sentiments.
BJP MLAs heckled and interrupted Mamata the moment she rose to speak. Bedlam followed. Marshals marched out five suspended BJP MLAs. Mamata was on her feet, urging BJP MLAs to sit down and her MLAs to join her in slogan shouting: Modi Chor, BJP Chor, Amit Shah Chor. The BJP returned the compliment.
The resolution condemning attacks on Bengali speakers and Bengali Asmita took a back seat.
Teacher scam
Before she arrived at the Assembly on Thursday, Mamata celebrated Teachers’ Day. That’s a sticky wicket. The current relationship between teachers and Mamata is not the happiest. A job for cash scam in 2016 that cost almost 26,000 teachers and non-teaching staff their jobs has soured ties. Pressured by courts, the state-run school board where the scam took place this week released a list of 1800 teachers who had allegedly paid bribes for recruitment. Many “tainted” bribe givers on the list were found related to leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Mamata’s party. A few also had BJP leaders as kith or kin but the TMC outnumbered them.
Despite these recent revelations, Mamata did not do what she should have: condemn the scam and the “fraudsters” -- the bribe givers and receivers. Instead, in her Thursday speech to teachers, she addressed the tainted teachers as “poor things” and promised to make good somehow, “if not as teachers, then as Group C or Group D employees in schools”. Her stand has sent ripples through civil society and the teachers’ community. How can she turn a blind eye to corruption by a section of teachers and TMC leaders and instead of condemning them, offer help and sympathy?
Obviously, she has the elections in mind. If thousands of tainted teachers lose all hope of jobs just before the polls, it could impact the results. Remember, these teachers -- the genuine teachers and the tainted ones -- are from across the state, from rural areas and the hinterland. Their plight is horrific. Serving teachers are watching.
Breezy but...
Publicly, Mamata Banerjee strikes a breezy, unbothered tone. Her message seems clear: the votes will keep coming, no matter how poor the governance or how deep the corruption. But her blistering performance in the Assembly on Thursday notwithstanding, some of her supporters are beginning to wonder if she knows more than she’s letting on. Is she bracing for a tougher fight in 2026 than anyone expected? This may not be the beginning of the end, but after 15 years in power, anti-incumbency is a reality — and Mamata may have to pay a price.
