Kolkata: “The entire train is red,” commented a superintendent on board one of India’s premier trains the Rajdhani (capital) Express. It was an intended pun, as newly elected members of parliament (MP) from West Bengal, mostly from the Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) boarded the historically ‘red’ train.
It was May 2004. The Left parties had won 34 of the 42 parliamentary seats in the state and their overall national tally reached an all-time high of 60 seats making them the key constituent of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).
Five years later, in 2009, the train still flaunted red, but it was ‘green’ that ruled the compartments from within. Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by Mamata Banerjee — who became the chief minister in 2011, ending 34 years of communist rule in the state — had won 19 parliament seats, making TMC the largest ally of the Congress party. Mamata was appointed as cabinet minister for the Railways.
Topping Bengal’s flavour, incumbent president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, was also an elected MP from the state and had served various cabinet positions in the two successive UPA governments, making Bengali the predominant language in the corridors of power.
“For the last 10 years, fish was a key ingredient in all lunches served at 7 Race Course Road (official residence of the Indian prime minister). It had to be either prawns or hilsa – the two predominant culinary delicacies of Bengal — without which, probably cabinets meeting would get cancelled,” said Ashit, a purveyor of government dinners.
Will this hegemony continue post elections this May or will Bengal be relegated due to its political choice. “The sign looks bleak for West Bengal to continue its political hegemony at the Centre,” said Vivek Deb Burman, a political analyst.
The once invincible CPM, plagued by defections, rebellion and organisational glitches is fighting the electoral battle of 2014 as a test of their relevance in the state. The once-famed cadre machinery of the party has moved towards the fulcrum of power, leaving its leaders high and dry.
On the other hand, CPM’s bete noir, Mamata, is fighting a battle of perception to hold on to TMC’s minority vote bank, which is critical for her continuation in power in the state.
Surreptitiously, both the parties – CPM and TMC – have called upon other “like-minded parties” for the formation of a coalition ‘Third Front’ and Federal Front’, respectively.
The Third Front, which was rejuvenated in February this year, by CPM general secretary, Prakash Karat, with 13 regional parties, inherent with their ideological contradictions, is contracting even before it could start!
Long-time ally Samajwadi Party, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, is aggrieved due to seat-sharing issues. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha has already called off the alliance, while Chandrababu Naidu of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is keen on an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Cohesion at risk
Another key constituent, Janata Dal (United) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has expressed his prime ministerial ambitions, thereby putting the cohesion of the coalition at risk. “This experiment with ‘Third Front’ comes into play every time before general elections and dies a natural death thereafter. Simply, there is no anchor party with a certain number of seats that can bind all parties together, making it fragile from the beginning,” said Deb Burman.
Not much hope is either brewing at Mamata’s clarion call of Federal Front. Both Nitish and Mulayam offered initial lip service. J. Jayalalitha, whom Mamata has proposed to support as prime minister, called her and thanked her for her gesture, but did not commit anything. Mamata had pinned her hopes on her new-found admirer, the anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare, who could have been the perfect plank to fulfil her national ambitions. But the flop-show in Delhi proved Hazare’s dwindling popularity.
Mamata’s decision to go it alone has forced Bengal into a four-cornered fight between TMC, CPM, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
It’s interesting times in Bengal this summer.
Profile:
- Name: Mamata Banerjee
- Born: Jan 5, 1955, Kolkata, India
- Parents: Gayetri Devi, Promileswar Banerjee
- Education: University of Calcutta, Shri Shikshayatan College, Kolkata.
