Many Bengal leaders feel the heat of Mamata’s ire

CM asks parliamentarians to skip prime minister’s swearing-in ceremony

New Delhi: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee miffed over her party’s defeat in key parliamentary constituencies such as Asansol, Darjeeling and Malda has asked key ministers and party workers to resign from various government and party positions.

Though her party Trinamool Congress (TMC) has secured a phenomenal performance, by winning 34 of the 42 parliamentary seats, Banerjee is unhappy that TMC could not emerge as the third largest party in the house of 543 which she had wanted very dearly.

She has already asked Moloy Ghatak, agriculture minister, to resign from the cabinet following complaints of infighting by Dola Sen, TMC candidate from Asansol where BJP’s Babul Supriyo has won by a substantial margin.

TMC’s defeat in the Malda and Darjeeling districts has further aggravated her disappointment and possibilities of Banerjee demanding resignations from Malda legislator Savitri Mitra and Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury. Sources claim that many more leaders may feel the heat of Didi’s ire including North Bengal Minister Gautam Deb, where BJP won the second time, proving that the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha has political hegemony over TMC.

The comparatively higher vote percentage and the rise of the BJP at her own Bhawanipore constituency at Kolkata have left her furious.

Sources further claim that Banerjee has asked her newly elected parliamentarians to skip Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on Monday and join her for celebrations for the party’s success in the state.

She has already asked her parliamentarians to be alert and take to protest on anything that is seen as a “majoratarian” excess by the BJP, which has been perceived by many as a right wing party.

Though officially TMC leaders deny of such a diktat, many are worried that such a move may further isolate the TMC, which is already cornered due to the majority that the BJP has won in the country.

“Such moves are not only politically incorrect, but also tend to give a wrong impression of the party as one who is not willing to accept the verdict of the people. Also we would certainly need the help of the central government in running the state. This would be detrimental to Bengal’s interest,” said a TMC leader unwilling to be named.

Analyst though believes that Banerjee is trying to secure TMC position as the natural opposition to BJP especially to Modi when the Congress party has shrunk to such lows and political irrelevance all over the country.

“Mamata is trying to secure the opposition space nationally and move forward the way she did it in Bengal. Also she is trying to consolidate the Muslim vote all over the country. The results show that at a time, when Muslims of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are undecided whom to vote for, they have voted for her enbloc as against BJP. She wants to use this to fulfil her national ambitions,” said Sudipto Sen, a political analyst.

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