How Mamata Banerjee's mastered the art of Left's criminalisation of politics
The 2011 Assembly election in West Bengal brought about a change in the government. People wanted a change from the 34 years of Left Front rule. Probably, there were reasons and change was justified. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee swept to power with a massive mandate. There were great expectations from the TMC government - and why not? Banerjee appeared to be a grassroot social worker and politician. Her simplicity prior to the state elections was unmatched - she appeared as the saviour of the downtrodden. Her aggressive speeches criticising her political opponents were impressive. She was primarily a firebrand politician who had suffered a lot in terms of both mental and physical attack from her opponents.
However, winning an election is just a first step: the Left Front in West Bengal won the elections continuously for 34 years. Does that mean their performance was brilliant and they met all the expectations of the people of the state? Well not really!
The Left Front, when they came to power in 1977, after struggling for many years - actually did perform for the first couple of decades. But their development work was restricted to the districts and they completely neglected the major cities. The credit certainly goes to the Left Front for the establishment of the "panchayat" system in West Bengal. Leaders like Promod Dasgupta and Benoy Chaudhury gave leadership to the party in right earnest. The introduction of land reform and "bargadar law", implemented during the early days of Left Front rule certainly helped the landless peasants to a great extent. Thereafter, under the leadership of Jyoti Basu the Left Front, in spite of internal rumblings, was able to stay united – which was a record of sorts. There was a certain stability within the government which was not seen earlier. Basu was an able administrator, which was stated even by his political opponents and critics. The law and order in the state improved, especially, after the chaotic era of the Congress regime of Siddhartha Shankar Ray.
However, in terms of infrastructural development, industry, education and health the state started to lag behind. Union trouble at factories made the owners close shop which was common for all sectors. Power situation including that in the city of Kolkata was pathetic. People got used to power cuts for hours and children got used to studying in candle light. The reasons may be bad planning of previous governments both at the Centre and the state. The Left Front government, however, has to take most of the responsibility for the power situation during 1977-1980s. The state used to shift the blame to the Centre, but it is felt they could have been more proactive in resolving the crisis.
In the field of education the Left introduced the thoughts of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and others as compulsory text. It is good to read about world leaders, but it was observed the Left was selective in choosing. The biggest blunder it made was not making English compulsory among the students in primary education. Generations lost out as English is an international medium of communication and for scientific subjects it is a must. They realised their mistake, but it was already too late.
In the field of health, efforts were made, but facilities were not up to the standard. Although state hospitals came up, but with limited infrastructure and there was always a scarcity of good doctors.
What we see now with the functioning of the government is even more shocking to most admirers of the present TMC government. The great expectations and confidence the people of West Bengal had in the TMC and in particular the calibre of chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, were practically shattered in the course of little more than two years. The old saying - "winning an election has nothing to do with governance", actually is true.
A comparative analysis with the previous regime would not be appropriate at this juncture, but the trends can certainly be discussed. The development work in the districts and cities seem to be rather superficial and more promises are being made which even the leaders, making them would agree, is very difficult to keep. The rhetoric from the chief minister and her cabinet colleagues were ideal and convincing during the election campaign, but now when actual work is to be done, somehow the commitments have just remained on paper.
The chief minister has already announced that her government has completed 99 per cent of the work committed in all sectors during the elections! Are the people of West Bengal so gullible to accept this? What we find amusing is that the chief minister and her cabinet colleagues are always in a mode of imagination! As far as investments in the state are concerned, finance minister Amit Mitra is seen making statements that huge investments are being made. We would like to know from the minister in which sectors investments have been made and by whom? It is observed that the government is not able to distinguish between good governance and politicking. Till such time the government is not in a position to rise over petty politics, it would not able to contribute positively to the society.
We observed an incident near Dhakuria - a Kolkata neighbourhood - which does not speak highly of the protection of human rights and law and order in the state.
The home minister of the state, the Kolkata Police, Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC member of Parliament, had all violated human rights by taking unnecessary action against innocent morning walkers near the Rabindra Sarobar lake. How dare these people threaten morning walkers for discussing or criticising the government for its failure in practically all spheres. It is the constitutional right of individuals to discuss any topic that they so desire. The government has no right whatsoever to interfere! Citizens' fora should have filed cases against the administration for infringements of citizens' rights of free speech and threatening citizens with dire consequences. Has the TMC government become a terrorist organisation?
What is happening in West Bengal? The People shall not tolerate an autocratic rule and the persons involved for violating human rights must be punished under the law.
The Times of India had stated on 24/25 May, 2014, "Walkers wither away under police glare".
The police force has completely become an extended arm of the TMC. It is a fact that interference with the police has been a practice with the earlier governments as well, but institutionalising and making the police force an extended arm of the TMC is certainly seen to be happening for the first time in the state.
Crime against women has seen a steady rise under the TMC government. It is not that such crimes did not exist earlier, but what we find now is that the government is permanently in a denial mode. Instead of catching the culprits and punishing them - we have seen the chief minister stating that such incidents are "small matters"! Right from the Park Street to Kamduni incidents the main accused have not been caught or punished. The law and order in the state is at an all time low.
Educational institutions have seen hectic political activity encouraged by the TMC government. Less of education and more of hooliganism is the order of the day. Prior to winning the election the TMC had very specifically stated that the party, if voted to power would not encourage politics in educational institutions. But, what we find now is not only politics, but political violence in various universities and colleges. We have seen what had happened at the Jadavpur University campus where innocent students were lathi-charged by the police for no valid reasons! It was a barbaric act on the part of the government and the police which all citizens who support rights of students should condemn.
The Saradha scam - the mother of all scams in the state has petrified all in West Bengal. As long as our memory can recall, we have not seen a scam of this magnitude in the state. It affected almost over 70,00,000 people belonging to the financially not-so-fortunate strata of the society and amounted to over Rs 3,000-crores. The sad story is that in the 2011 Assembly election this particular strata of society had voted for the TMC, and the same party was indirectly involved in looting their wealth. More and more evidence is coming in and we hope the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is able to nab the culprits and take the case to its logical conclusion.
It seems the art of criminalisation of politics, a process which started earlier, has been mastered and perfected by the TMC government.
If the TMC government did not mend its ways it would not be long for them to go into political oblivion!