‘Powerful’ Mamata has much to lose
Time Magazine’s decision to name Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee one of the world’s 100 most powerful people couldn’t have been more ironic.
It comes at a time when the “populist woman of action” is drawing criticism from many quarters after some of her fledgling government’s recent decisions sparked public outrage and a media furore.
No doubt Banerjee is still powerful. She’s been instrumental in stalling some of India’s biggest economic reforms and key policy decisions. But the state of West Bengal is now facing the heat of her maverick actions.
As the state chief minister goes from strength to strength in charting her own course, critics wonder what lies ahead for the 57-year-old firebrand leader?
Banerjee’s ouster of the world’s longest-running elected communist government was hailed as a watershed event last year. The Trinamool leader came to power on the promise of bringing ‘poribartan’ (change) to West Bengal. But her obstructionist attitude at the centre and the functioning of her own state government could derail her political career.
Perhaps the people of West Bengal didn’t know ‘poribartan’ could translate into — jailing a university professor for posting a cartoon on Banerjee, dubbing rape cases a conspiracy against the government, rewriting history textbooks in schools, banning English-language newspapers from state-run libraries. The list goes on and the opposition Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPI-M) says Banerjee’s rule could be described as “semi-fascist”.
Out of the DMK frying pan and into Mamata’s fire for Congress
Fresh from negotiating the continued support of one key coalition ally, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party heavyweights must now tackle the demands of the more politically canny and locally powerful Mamata Banerjee.
As the bleary eyes of Congress negotiators turned over the morning papers on Wednesday after almost two days of political horse-trading with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the relief of front page headlines declaring the Tamil Nadu party’s climbdown will have been cut short by the ominous presence of Banerjee and her own seat-sharing demands in the political minefield of West Bengal.
Banerjee, Railways Minister and leader of the opposition in West Bengal, is commonly referred to as “Didi” – Hindi for elder sister – and can often appear to be spearheading a one-woman party.
Negotiations with the Trinamool Congress, with the savvy Banerjee courting a burning desire to end 34 years of Left Front rule in the state, and sensing a weakened Congress party that needs to balance a continued parliamentary majority with a strong performance in the state elections, may make the talks with the DMK look like a cakewalk.
As with the Tamil Nadu party, the simmering feud with Trinamool, which contributes 19 seats to the Congress-led coalition, comes down to seat-sharing in April’s state election. Banerjee has reportedly rejected demands from Congress to allow it to contest more seats than she is currently offering.
Banerjee’s current position- described as a “take-it-or-leave-it” offer – of 58 seats for Congress to contest, is short of the 98 demanded by Congress officials in the state. 294 seats will be up for election next month.
“With its two most powerful allies threatening cabinet resignations and offering no-compromise seat agreements within days of each other, perhaps ensuring the stability of the current government should be priority number one.”
The only thing that can be guaranteed is that there is absolutely no chance of the Centre falling apart on this issue. It was the DMK which gave in without a whimper not the Congress. However, it won’t be the same with Banerjee, she knows she is going to win and can call the shots and I am sure that eventually the Congress will accept her offerings.
This is simply hard bargaining before any election and reading too much into it is just filling up words and making copy.
More importantly, I would like the Bengal elections out of the way and Mamta crowned in Bengal. That will get her out of Delhi and maybe the nation will get a full time Railway minister. She has created a holy mess in Delhi and pity the guy who has to clean up after her. She has, however, made out a strong case of why coalitions should be discouraged. Gradually more and more people are beginning to realise this. Us non-Bengalis are thankful to her for having brought this to the surface.
Jyoti Basu – poster boy of Indian communism
(UPDATE: Communist patriarch Jyoti Basu died on Sunday)
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rushed to Kolkata on Thursday just to pay a 22-minute visit to the hospital where 95-year-old Jyoti Basu is battling for life, the trip spoke volumes about the communist patriarch’s relevance in Indian politics.
India’s longest serving chief minister is on ventilator support but the throngs of teary-eyed followers outside the hospital, the 24×7 mediapersons camping outside and the steady stream of political dignitaries indicate the respect Basu commands across the political spectrum.
The Prime Minister offered to fly in experts from anywhere in India to treat Basu.
A day later, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda also visited the ailing leader in Kolkata.
“I remember what Jyoti Basu has sacrificed. He made me the prime minister of this country,” Gowda told reporters recalling the political stalemate in 1996.
In May 1996, Basu, then firmly in the saddle as the longest serving chief minister of West Bengal, was on the verge of becoming India’s first communist prime minister as a consensus choice amid political chicanery.
Regardless of whether or not you support Jyoti Basu’s politics, in today’s India where politicians are so power-hungry and corrupt, we don’t see someone who would sacrifice the all-important position of prime minister on political ideology and collective decisions. I wish the so-called Gandhi’ite Congress leaders were like that. (Please don’t compare him with Sonia Gandhi.)
Are the Maoists gaining ground in West Bengal?
Hundreds of tribal people backed by the Maoist guerrillas stormed the high-speed Rajdhani Express, one of the country’s most prestigious passenger trains, in West Bengal on Tuesday. Police and security forces could free the train and its driver after a five-hour-long hostage drama, including a gunfight with the rebels in the forest.Maoists have stepped up violence across eastern and central India and internal security experts say it indicates a growing dominance of the insurgents in the state.The rebels raided a police station in West Bengal this month and abducted a senior official after gunning down two of his colleagues.Police officer Atindranath Dutta was held captive for two days and freed in exchange for 23 tribal women lodged in prisons for suspected Maoist links.Maoist attacks on police posts are nothing new in an area that has witnessed an anti-insurgency operation since June and the rebels have taken effective control of large swathes of the countryside.The insurgents say they are waging war on behalf of the poor and the landless against the state. The attack has raised concerns and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the swap was an “exception, not a norm.”Security experts say the Maoists, whom Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has identified as the country’s biggest internal threat, have thrown an open challenge to the authorities.In June a combined force of central paramilitary troops and state police retook control of Lalgarh, a town captured by the Maoists in West Midnapore district of West Bengal.The government began cracking down on the rebel leaders and sympathisers since then.The policeman abduction episode has apparently galvanised the communist government in West Bengal which has said it will heavily weaponise policemen and fortify its police stations. The NGOs working in Maoist-affected areas blame the government for the state of affairs.Is increasing Maoist violence in West Bengal indicative of a growing clout of the rebels?
@the last thing we need is a rag-tag group of ‘terrorists’ using outdated ideology which has its own systematic suppression.- Posted by bulletfishbulletfish: Actually Maoist problem is very big problem. They may appear rag-tag, but they are committed. The reasons are genuine issues they have, ignoring for a moment the politics of Maoism. Poor are sandwiched between Indian state who claims 9% growth and gun-totting Maoists. Indian govt does not seem to have a non-military plan to deal with the issue and Maoists will not let the poor shun the gun. If they do not shoot, they are shot. Everybody is at fault.I have a Bihari friend from Delhi whose parents recently chose to settle in native a Bihari village to help the poor in the village. But the rising violence by Maoism has forced them to move back to Delhi. Maoists militants are contributing themselves to the poor-rich gap.
After wooing voters, Mamata charms Bengal Inc
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee rolls on with a bagful of bounty for one and all in West Bengal, even as the state’s corporate big wheels close ranks with her.Her eyes all set on the 2011 assembly elections, Banerjee shed the image of an anti-industry politician, using to the hilt the resources the world’s largest employer (Indian Railways) could offer.The industry-basher epithet stuck thick on Mamata after Tata Motors made an angry exit from Singur last year, bowing before a wave of protests over 400 acres of farmland acquired forcibly by the communist state government for the Nano plant.Just when a section of people and political pundits had written her off, Mamata’s gamble with the land movement and the state’s poor human rights record paid off.Now in a hurry to catch the 2011 train, Mamata (referred to in local media as chief minister-in-waiting) has impressed industrialists with her impatience to fast-track projects in West Bengal.She is now offering land to set up factories, emphasizing on setting up Public Private Partnership (PPP) models to develop the infrastructure of railway and industry.”Mamata means business” wrote The Telegraph after her August 21 meeting with industrialists. The largest circulated English daily from eastern India had less than a year ago written against the Trinamool Congress chief for driving out the Tatas from Singur.Mamata’s meeting was a durbar of sorts as she addressed members of the country’s three leading chambers of commerce and urged industrialists to set up shop on available railway land.”I urge you all to take the opportunity and use the land available to set up industry,” she told industrialists, chanting her slogan of Ma, Mati and Manush (Mother, Soil and People).Mamata said the railways had already prepared a land bank and about 112,000 acres are available.With her popular railway budget and various initiatives, the ghosts of Singur seemed to have been exorcised. Mamata said land disputes can be avoided with proper planning and human approach.The meeting, which has been organised by the Railways, cleared any doubts about her anti-industry posturing in the past.For now it is brand Mamata that rules Bengal as excitement builds up in the run-up to her big show in 2011.
To,Mamta Didi, now as you have achieved your goal of destabilising Bengal’s 32 years record of peace and communal harmony as a peace loving bengali I request you to let bengal not to go back to your old violent days of 70s unleashed by you and your old friends like Subroto Mukherjee,Soumen Mitra and other oldies. Please guide the present young generation to a violence free politics of coordination and cooperation with all politcal parties for the betterment of West Bengal.
Does India need its army to tackle the Maoists?
I have been noticing a debate in newspapers and television channels about the need to call in the army to tackle the Maoists and wonder whether it is indeed time to turn towards them before the movement spirals out of control.
Last week, hundreds of Maoists, who are expanding their influence in India, chased away police from a tribal area based around the town of Lalgarh about 170 km (100 miles) from Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state.
By attacking Lalgarh and then keeping the police at bay for four days, the Maoists demonstrated their growing influence over poor villagers and their capability to strike close to a big city like Kolkata.
(For Analysis on how Maoist insurgency can hurt industry in India, click here )
Thousands of villagers caught in the crossfire have left their homes in panic and have been put up in makeshift government camps. They are clearly shaken by the siege and the subsequent police campaign to sanitise Lalgarh.
Indian states have time and again asked the central government that it might need the army to fight the Maoist movement, which is rapidly spreading in the country.
But for the moment, India is banking on the police to tackle the Maoists and equipping its forces with modern weapons and training to fight the Maoists in their own den.
Do we need the army to tackle the naxals? The short answer is no. What we need is political will and a well trained, motivated, professional police force – unfortunately it lacks all the above.
The army should not be used to solve problems created by neglect, lack of good administration. It is foolish to pit the armed forces against their own countrymen.
Will it use the army at some stage? Probably yes. The army seems to be the only remedy politicians have now a days to get them out of a mess they themselves create. In the long run, this is detrimental to the army and the country’s security. what we badly need is people with a broader vision in administration and politics.
Bengal intellectuals queer pitch for communists
Amidst the stream of billboards, posters and party flags flooding Kolkata’s chaotic streets in the run-up to elections, a glazed hoarding featuring popular intellectuals of West Bengal is catching everyone’s eyes these days.
“Pariborton Chai” (We want change), reads the hoarding popping up at regular intervals, in opposition of the communists who have ruled the state uninterruptedly since 1977.
The hoardings are part of a campaign with a difference – It is not mounted by the opposition Trinamool Congress-Congress combine, but by a group of powerful intellectuals who have joined hands against the communists.
Battle lines were drawn by the intellectuals, who had patronized the Marxists for decades, after the government began seizing farmlands for industrialization and allegedly used repressive means to tame those opposing the policy.
The divide became official after the police firing of Nandigram on May 14, 2007 that killed 14 and triggered more violence, largely blamed on the communists.
In what is now infamously known as the Nandigram Recapture operation, communist cadres allegedly used brutal force in November that year to regain their lost bastion, a cluster of villages in south Bengal which flared up over land acquisition fears for a chemical hub.
At least 50 people, mostly farmers, have been killed in protests over land disputes with West Bengal’s government since 2007.
hi..persons whose snaps are used in that poster, have all been involved with ultra left campaigns and are led by ultra maoist campaigners going strong day by day in west bengal. Situation is that, mamata has been gaining popularity by portraying herhelf as the mesiah of the maoists have nots..!! so its not going away from communism at all..its a change from pseudo communism to a complete armed maoist kind of communism..!and their leadrs are the ones who are themselves established rich artists..who has got acres of land at no price from west bengal govt in recent times, where actual land cost is more than 20 milion INRs…what bengal need, probably good guys taking over all the parties..instead of illiterates and misbehaving people like mamata, somen taking control..congress, cpm, tmc all should promote smart leaders….not half educated actors/anti socials..so..!! 
from frying pan to fire…
Stars add glamour to Trinamool’s campaign in Bengal
The controversial seizure of land for industry by the ruling communists in West Bengal may be the biggest chink in their armour for the 2009 polls.
But the opposition Trinamool Congress is not leaving anything to chance in this general election — it’s also taking help from the stars.
Enter Tapas Paul. The archetypal Bengali film hero in the closing decades of the 20th century is already a lawmaker in the state assembly.
This time around, Paul is setting sights on a seat in parliament.
The baby-faced and paunchy actor usually played the saintly do-gooder in tearjerkers that won him many hearts in rural areas.
Now Paul and his long-time heroine Satabdi Roy are adding colour to the election campaign of Trinamool Congress.
Both may be past their prime but they are still crowd pullers in their constituencies — in fact, an overcrowded stage gave way recently when Roy was out campaigning.
Regarding “Last year, the state government was forced to cancel a chemicals complex project in Nandigram, a cluster of villages, after running battles between farmers, police and communist cadres.”, I have to mention that the afore said chemical project was never announced by West Bengal government, at least officially.
Only there was a rumor regarding that. But the battle by “Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee” still continues even though state government stated that no land will be auired fro the project.
Its only a political gimmick by some freaky minded people like our so called DIDI…
Will West Bengal’s Muslims vote for the left?
Are the ruling communists in the stronghold state of West Bengal losing the confidence of its traditional Muslim voters, ahead of their most crucial electoral test this month?
For decades, Muslims have always felt safe in West Bengal, although they have been caught in an uncomfortable position elsewhere in the country after each bomb or militant attack.
West Bengal’s left boasted that Muslims, a little over 26 percent in the state of 80 million people, were free from discrimination and were living in harmony.
But the ground situation has changed in the last five years with the government pushing for industry after years of land reforms.
Violence over acquisition of land has seen Muslim groups pouring into the streets to protest against the left, and saying they would not vote for them again.
Muslims are also saying they have been ignored for top job positions and were the worst affected when it came to losing farmland for industry, an allegation denied by the communists.
“The Muslims have always stayed with the communists for years, but now they are angry,” says Ahmed Hassan Imran, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Bengal.
MUSLIM VOTERS HAVE REALISED THAT THEIR SITUATION IS WORST THAN MUSLIMS OF ANY OTHER STATE IN INDIA, AND LEFT PARTIES ARE JUST USING THEM TO COME TO POLLS.WEST BENGAL NEEDS SERIOUS ” CHANGE” AS ALREADY ITS TOO LATE.
Singur: It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it
As the deadlock over Singur and the Tata Nano plant rumbles on, much of the debate seems to be missing the point.
This week, Mukesh Ambani said a “fear psychosis is being created to slow down certain projects of national importance” and said industry should be encouraged to make such large investments.
But in the words of the old song by Ella Fitzgerald (and more recently Bananarama) “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it”.
When I visited Singur back in February 2007, the government claimed that 95 percent of the 14,000 farmers on the affected land had voluntarily accepted an offer of compensation.
The government also claimed the land was not fertile, supporting just one crop a year, and said the compensation package was “exemplary”.
A day spent touring Singur was enough to shed doubt on those claims. Not only was this good, well-irrigated land supporting several crops a year, but more importantly many farmers insisted they had not agreed to leave their land.
In village after village, I found, farmers said they had not signed consent forms, insisting that communist party workers had falsified their signatures.
And now the people have given a fitting reply to CPM goons who murdered so many with impunity.
In Singur Mamata’s party won with even more votes than last year’s in spite of chatteringboxes’ projections that ordinary people in Singur no longer liked Mamata because they now realize the harm she did.
She is a disaster only matched by the powerful elite IAS force. Really!