THE violence unleashed by goon-gangs on workers and supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal is proving to be a more serious and weightier issue than the third-time oath of Ms. Mamata Banerjee as Chief Minister of the State. No matter the allegations and counter-allegations about who is indulging in violence, the State is now confronted with a massive question-mark on the integrity of Madam Banerjee’s leadership. And beyond all doubts, it is obvious that this is happening because of some of the brazen statements by the Trinamool Congress supremo during her election campaign, threatening the voters of dire consequences if they did not vote for her party. And that is the reason why a petition has already reached the honourable Supreme Court seeking President’s Rule in the State whose post-poll atmosphere stands terribly vitiated by violence.

 

This, thus, has become a very serious issue that cannot be brushed aside easily by forwarding lame arguments of political expediency. Of course, Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Derek Obrien has forwarded a seemingly unintractable point in his tweet, in essence: Why should a winning party unleash violence on a losing party? The hint in the tweet is obvious that it should be the BJP whose cadres are indulging in violence to express their anger and frustration. And to support this argument, there also is a case of the death of a TMC worker at the hands of a few BJP workers. So, the effort is on to create confusion in the people’s minds about the perpetrators of violence. It is only natural that all involved parties will have their own side to be asserted, and to that extent Mr. Derek Obrien’s statement is a part of that process. But the other side of the issue is far more serious to be ignored or brushed under the carpet. In its response, the Bharatiya Janata Party has organised state-wide sit-in programmes (Dharna) in West Bengal to protest the reign of terror unleashed by TMC goons. As part of that programme, even as Madam Banerjee took the oath of office and secrecy for the third time, the BJP’s legislators took an oath to stand by the people of West Bengal through thick and thin -- and to resist violence in a democratic manner.

 

These are the happenings on the surface. Beneath the outward calm in New Delhi’s corridors of power, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is reported to have made a few deft moves -- first by establishing contact with West Bengal Administration to know the details and also to seek an official report on the violent shenanigans in the State. The simple oath-taking ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Wednesday morning looked obviously clouded by these developments -- adding not just an element of sobriety (which Madam Banerjee cloaked in COVID-19 pandemic), but a strong under-current of deep political anxieties in the nooks and corners of the Raj Bhavan hall. By any standard, it was one morning whose texture Madam Banerjee hated even as she took oath of office for the third time. The happenings in West Bengal are seen demonstrating their side-effects on the larger national scene. It was a bolt from the blue to believers of free expression when the Twitter Account of actress Kangna Ranaut was permanently suspended, with the service-provider citing reason of her continued belligerence despite warnings. In actuality, however, the nation knows that the action came following Kangna Ranaut’s strong comment on the happenings in West Bengal.

 

Though there may be some so-called legitimate reasons for such an action, a very big question-mark on the integrity and honesty of that decision will keep lording over the nation for all the time to come. It is fully inappropriate to offer any comment on whether President’s Rule be imposed on West Bengal or not soon after a popular mandate re-installed Trinamool Congress in power for the third time, because the matter may be considered technically subjudice. The honourable judges will certainly take a considered view of the prayer in the said petition, and the nation will abide by that ruling most respectfully. Yet, well beyond those dimensions is the issue of the kind of political culture West Bengal has nursed over the past 44 years -- 34 years of Left Front rule and 10 years of the TMC’s first two terms. It is a culture steeped in violence, controlled by violence and based on violence as a tool of dominance. The communist cadres introduced that and the TMC cadres are continuing with it. It was this culture that saw elimination of as many as 130 BJP workers in the past few years as the party struggled to establish a foothold in the State. It was the same culture of violence that pushed the Tatas away from Singur where they wished to set up the world’s largest small-car plant for manufacture of Nano, their gift to the automobile industry. It is in the light of this background that BJP President Mr. Jagat Prasad Nadda likened the current violence in West Bengal to the gory happenings around Partition 73 years ago.

 

Though some may describe Mr. Nadda’s statement as politically-driven, we would tend to take it seriously and raise the issue of the vandalisation of administration and governance under the TMC rule right at the beginning of its third consecutive term. Is it for this reason that the people voted TMC back to power? These developments in West Bengal have to be seen also in comparison to what is happening in four other States that went to polls alongside. In Assam, Tamil,Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry, the shift to the next legislative term has been smooth and in full consonance with democratic principles and practices. If these States can achieve this, why not West Bengal? -- is the real issue. The nation’s attention will be glued to happenings in West Bengal over the next few days. But one thing is sure -- the TMC is not doing any good to the country’s political discourse by pushing a culture of brazenness and arrogance and violence. If she does not mend her ways immediately, Madam Mamata Banerjee will be remembered by the people for all wrong reasons. A fine democratic process has given Madam Banerjee a good chance to make a point in favour of a truly people-oriented politics -- which she only abused during her election campaign by making nonsensical statements. But from now on, she should ensure that she learns the right lessons and mends her ways -- failing which history will never forget what wrong she has perpetrated. History will also never forgive her for all the dirty acts of political commission.