West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s name has always been counted among the country’s most dynamic leaders. On the basis of this quality of hers, she destroyed the Left Front which was ruling West Bengal for nearly 3 decades. Currently, for the last 13 years, she is ruling Bengal alone without the help of any alliance party. She is the only leader who is facing the Modi-Shah era of the Bharatiya Janata Party and is continuously defeating the BJP in the assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections. But now it seems that her confidence is wavering.
What happened to a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College is going to be the last nail in the coffin for her government. Mamata Banerjee’s language on Wednesday reflected a scared leader. Addressing the foundation day programme of TMC’s Chhatra Parishad (student wing) in Kolkata, Mamata said, “Some people are thinking that this is Bangladesh. I like Bangladesh very much, their culture and food is similar to ours. But Bangladesh is a different country and India is a different country. Modi Babu, you want that fire to spread in Bengal, then you should understand that if the fire starts in Bengal, Assam will not survive, Bihar will not survive, it will not stop in Manipur or Odisha. This fire will reach Delhi as well.”
Mamata Banerjee had just said this much that the neighbouring states of Bengal started expressing their deep displeasure. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi and Manipur Chief Minister M Birendra Singh etc. opened a front against Mamata. Actually Mamata Banerjee holds a constitutional post, she is the Chief Minister of a state. But the inflammatory statement she gave cannot be considered above the level of a student leader. This speech of hers shows how CM Mamata Banerjee has gone on the back foot after the RG Kar Medical College incident. Although she used to say a lot of things in anger, but she had never said such an undemocratic thing. Obviously, questions will arise as to why Mamata has become furious. Are these 4 reasons working behind this?
1- She is under pressure and nervous
Mamata Banerjee had never seen the opposition being so hooligan in her 13 years of tenure. For the first time she feels that things are not under her control. She seems to be regretting not being able to handle the Kolkata rape case properly. The kind of treatment she gave to RG Kar Medical College Principal Sandeep Ghosh at the time of the incident must be bothering her deeply. The West Bengal Police also made her look bad but she remained helpless. Even the regret of not following the advice of her nephew Abhishek Banerjee must be frustrating her.
Abhishek Banerjee wanted immediate dismissal of Sandeep Ghosh. Abhishek also raised questions on the police but Mamata Banerjee was surrounded by her sycophants in such a way that she felt that she will settle the doctor rape and murder case in the same way as she had settled the Sandeshkhali or the attack on BJP workers after the elections. This is the reason why Mamata is now vowing to bring a law in the assembly to ensure death penalty in rape cases. Not only this, she also urges the protesting doctors to resume work in a threatening tone that an FIR will ruin their careers. Such things show that Mamata is very nervous. Whatever she understands, she wants to do it immediately and wants to end this matter as soon as possible.
2- Indication of imposition of President’s rule
The opposition in the state is continuously advocating for the imposition of President’s rule. They are not getting any support from the Congress either. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan is badly after TMC and Mamata Banerjee. Adhir is giving stinging statements every day. President Draupadi Murmu has also given such a statement on the Kolkata rape and molestation case, which is not considered good for the West Bengal government. An article written by the President can be understood in just one line. She has written in her article that now it is enough. She is disappointed and scared by this entire incident. President Murmu had written an article titled ‘Women’s Safety: Enough is Enough’, on which she discussed with the editors of PTI on Tuesday (27 August). She said that no civilized society can allow such atrocities on its daughters and sisters. Obviously, the echo of this discussion must have reached Mamata Banerjee as well.
3- The grip on the party is getting weaker
After the Kolkata rape and murder case, this is the first time that her close people have got the courage to speak against her. The way Mamata Banerjee has tried to silence the TMC people has increased the distrust against her in the party. The way Mamata tried to stop the harsh comments of TMC Rajya Sabha member Sukhendu Shekhar Roy and former MP Shantanu Sen cannot be a democratic way at all. Sukhendu Shekhar Roy went against the party line on this issue and questioned the functioning of Kolkata Police and the Principal of RG Kar Medical College, then he was summoned to the Police Headquarters. Roy had to seek refuge in the court to avoid his arrest. The same happened with the party spokesperson and Shantanu Sen. Former MP Shantanu Sen also showed rebellious attitude in this matter and was immediately stripped of the post of party spokesperson. The most surprising thing is that the attitude of the editor of the party mouthpiece and the political party is mutually contradictory. On August 15, while the midnight protest and demonstration by women was condemned in the issue of the mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’, its editor himself sat on a dharna for three hours in his personal capacity.
The way Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek, who is Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and number two in the party, has made statements against the Mamata government on the Kolkata rape case, it is clear that Mamata is being challenged at home. In his first reaction to the RG Kar Hospital case, Abhishek had demanded an encounter against the accused. Not only this, his absence in Mamata’s protest march in this case was also surprising people.
4- This time BJP did not give Mamata a chance to do Bengali vs outsider
The strategy adopted by the BJP to get justice for the victim’s family in the Kolkata rape case and to corner the Mamata government seems to have been a lesson learned from previous movements. The central leadership of the BJP has also been involved in protests against the violence that took place in Sandeshkhali and after the assembly elections. This time Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi are missing from the entire scene. All the emphasis is being handled by Shubhendu Adhikari, Sukanta Majumdar, Locket Chatterjee and Governor Bose. The BJP has understood that for the Bengali elite, the Bengali leadership needs to be put forward. Due to this, Mamata Banerjee is no longer getting a chance to call the BJP a party of outsiders by talking about Maa-Mati-Manush.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)