The Myth and Aura Will Pass Away

Nidhu Bhusan Das The Mamata myth appears to be waning rapidly after Ms Banerjee has become the Chief Minister of West Bengal. The Chief Minister tends more to play to the gallery than to be serious about steering the state clear of the mess she inherited from the left rule of about 35 years. She deserves credit for the ouster of the Left Front from power. It was she who pulled down the left edifice which once was thought to be impregnable. Her sustained movement against what was seen as left misrule earned her the credibility which ultimately catapulted her to power in the state. Once in power, she is in a hurry to project herself as the Santa Claus to the people, and heaps promise upon promise to keep the people in good humour.Even she squanders money in the form of donations to the clubs of the state and her government organizes gala festivals while roads and highways remain degraded. Siliguri has begun to be illuminated on the occasion of the North Bengal Festival which she will inaugurate at Kanchenjunga Krirangan (stadium) on 10 February next when many roads of the municipal corporation are in terrible condition. The corporation is under their coalition rule. This is like building Tajmahal ignoring the fact that many impoverished subjects were unfed. Mamata is seen to be honest personally. But many of her party men during their eight months in power could have proven that given the scope they could be corrupt and corruptible. They have already had the arrogance which goes with power for those who enjoy power and tend to abuse it. Quite a number of them have become paper tigers and seek to use the media for projecting themselves. This, perhaps, cannot augur well for the party and its supremo. Mamata and her party call their coalition partner Congress the B team of CPI(M) but in case of North Bengal University it is found that they are so far apparently on the same wavelength with CPI(M) in respect of alleged corruptions galore. During their eight months in power, permission could not be granted for filing charge sheet against a registrar against whom the university lodged an FIR during the left rule alleging corruptions involving crores of rupees. This irony of situation may not be without reason, politically significant. If the charge sheet is not filed in time, the case against the person will become infructuous. People, in the know of the affairs of the university, may read the meaning in it in their own way. If Mamata allows scope for such reading and go on with her populism, the myth about and the aura around her will pass away. She may continue in power but will lose authority and goodwill she earned after a long and ceaseless struggle for the cause of the people.