Mamata Banerjee Is On A Perfectly Safe Wicket, Never Mind The Unrest In The City Of Joy

The phrase “stoop to conquer” could well have been coined to sum up West Bengal Chief Minister and prime ministerial-aspirant Mamata Banerjee’s smart handling of the civil disobedience movement which hasn’t lost steam since the horrific rape and death of a woman trainee doctor inside Kolkata’s government-run R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Despite battling unprecedented street protests for 80 days and counting — arguably a national record for a mass agitation — Mamata is on top of the situation. She remains the boss, thank you!

There is no doubt biplob, or rebellion, in the Kolkata air these days. The widespread anger against the administration is evident from the sloganeering, long processions and even longer human chains, demonstrations by groups of women at night, defiant street theatre and poetry, and plunging entire localities into darkness by switching off lights to display people’s ire. A big chunk of mourners even refused to celebrate Durga Puja with the traditional gaiety and pomp associated with Bengal’s biggest annual religious festival, despite impassioned pleas by the powers that be to shelve their sorrow-cum-anger out of respect for the goddess.

The all too evident waning trust in the Trinamool Congress government is especially significant because Mamata’s party gave the principal opposition, the Bhararatiya Janata Party, a bloody nose in the Lok Sabha elections barely a few months ago. The BJP won only 12 seats compared to 18 in 2019. Moreover, the Trinamool Congress won all the four assembly by-elections soon after the parliamentary polls, underlining its dominance and the BJP’s declining fortunes despite all-out efforts by heavyweights like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, not to speak of a bevy of BJP chief ministers, to somehow wrest West Bengal.

In the current scenario, many television channels are loudly and persistently proclaiming that Mamata will meet her Waterloo next month. They are predicting that the Trinamool Congress will lose all the six assembly by-elections which will be held on November 13, along with by-elections for nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh and state elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. What fuels the agenda of these TV channels is hardly a secret, but even by the low standards of the electronic media these days, their propaganda is downright delirious.

I can say with conviction that the Trinamool Congress will win at least five seats, and possibly all six, beating the BJP hollow. The upcoming by-elections will be a cakewalk for Mamata because she has handled the mass agitation pretty well. Essentially, she eschewed confrontation and dealt with the protesting young men and women with tact and patience — more like a guardian than a CM. All those predicting that Mamata will lose face and the Trinamool Congress seats are either blissfully unaware, or pretending to be unaware, of the true character and nature of the upsurge — and the upper hand that Mamata enjoys in the midst of protests.

The objective of the civil society-led movement by junior doctors and fully backed by students and professionals in their 20s and 30s, is not only to ensure justice for the young doctor who was brutally raped and murdered, but cleansing the corruption-ridden health infrastructure system. The upsurge in the full glare of publicity has naturally brought Bengal into sharp national focus, raising a few awkward questions about Mamata’s authority and grip on the protests-filled state.

But the fact of the matter is that the protestors are by and large Trinamool Congress voters who wanted Mamata to take drastic action. And she did! She gave in to virtually all their demands, including the removal of the Police Commissioner, which was a major placatory step. The agitating youth forced Mamata to wait for them for hours holding an umbrella in the rain. Her entreaty to the protestors assembled outside the CM’s residence to come inside and have a cup of tea — which was turned down — was telecast live, and made her look vulnerable and shaky. But she read the collective anger correctly, and capitulated instead of being coercive or haughty.

I foresee her making more concessions ad giving in to more demands. She has diligently kept her lines of communication with the agitators open. All told, it is a classic case of stooping to conquer.

Let’s not forget that the movement has been studiously apolitical. When the BJP tried to cash in, it got a mouthful from the junior doctors, compelling the right wingers to beat a hasty retreat. And what needs to be clearly understood is that the movement’s goal is justice for the victim and institutional reforms to curb corruption — and not the ouster of the Trinamool Congress government. Importantly, the uprising has never demanded Mamata’s resignation. If anything, it has pinned all its hopes on Mamata; it expects better from Mamata and genuinely wants her to raise her game. The CM still remains a beacon of hope amid the pervading gloom. Not once have the junior doctors helming the upsurge denounced Mamata or given any call to boycott her. On the contrary, they have repeatedly responded to her outreach, held marathon meetings with her and extracted major concessions.

The BJP’s frustration and acute disappointment is evident from Suvendu Adhikari’s public lament on Sunday that the biggest weakness of the rebellion — which hasn’t lost steam even after 80 days — is that its leaders trust Mamata too much!

Electioneering for Naihati, Haroa, Mednipur, Taldangra, Sitai and Madarihat is yet to pick up although the four major contenders — Trinamool Congress, BJP, Congress Party and Left Front have declared their candidates. The state is set for a sweeping Trinamool Congress victory regardless of naysayers who are not prepared to concede that Mamata is home and dry.

The author is an independent, Pegasused reporter and commentator on foreign policy and domestic politics