In Poll’s Decisive Phase, Questions Over Mamata’s Moral Authority

Like the CPI(M) in its dying years, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC is faced with a loss of legitimacy, writes Rajat Roy.

As West Bengal heads for the last two decisive – and much anticipated – phases of the assembly polls, which have so far seen high octane campaigning across the state reeling in the summer heat, the pressure applied by the CPI(M)-Congress alliance on the Trinamool Congress appears to be telling on Mamata Banerjee.

While the historic tie-up between the CPI(M), which is contesting the election without much support from its splintered Left Front constituents, and the Congress was stitched together barely a month before the Election Commission announced the dates for polling, its on-the-ground campaign really took off after the first two rounds (April 4 and 11) of the first phase marked by lax security and alleged electoral malpractices by the TMC.

There is no doubt that the Narada videos, which showed several top TMC leaders accepting bribes, came as a shot in the arm for the CPI(M)-Congress alliance, providing the combine sufficient ammunition to target Mamata and her beleaguered lieutenants stung by allegations of graft. Mamata’s popularity will be seriously tested when the Bhowanipur constituency that she represents goes to the polls tomorrow.

Alliance Springs Back

And, since the first two sub-phases, the alliance seems to have found its feet, backed in no uncertain terms by rallies led by the ageing former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya who also took the stage with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi a couple of days ago in Kolkata’s Park Circus grounds.

But more than CPI(M) and Congress leaders, erstwhile foes who have now turned compatriots in their bid to oust the TMC, Kolkata witnessed unprecedented voter resilience in the face of past instances of TMC-sponsored violence and intimidation, especially in Salt Lake (under Bidhannagar constituency) populated by the affluent, the middle-class as well as those on the margins.

From Halishahar in North 24 Parganas, Debashri Ghosh and her three-year-old daughter, who were beaten up, allegedly by TMC musclemen, became the faces of the resistance ordinary voters put up in defiance of the ruling party’s threats and cast their votes. Voter defiance and resistance through the second, third and fourth phases of this staggered election was partly the outcome of the strong presence of central paramilitary forces across polling booths.

Uneasy Trinamool

However, Mamata’s speeches in recent election rallies have betrayed the uneasiness in the TMC camp since the opposition smelled an opportunity in the Narada sting videos, the Kolkata flyover collapse incident and the consequent weakening of the ruling party’s guard. From a fierce attacker Mamata has now increasingly appeared to be on the defensive.

From outright denial she has moved to grudging acceptance that her party colleagues were less than honest in dealing with the so-called representative of a fictitious company seeking to do business in Bengal. A fiery Mamata, who took on challenges head-on in the past is now seen to be pleading with voters, begging forgiveness for the wrongs done by her party colleagues.

While Mamata’s defensive posture could be interpreted as an erosion of moral authority – after all, she took the chief minister’s chair at Writer’s Building riding on the crest of a call for ‘poriborton’ and a cleansing of the rotten system left behind the Left Front regime – she has taken it upon herself to fight back, this time with her back to the wall. In its dying days, the CPI(M)-led Left Front suffered a loss of legitimacy when it unleashed police and cadre repression across Bengal.

On The Backfoot

• With two very important phases of the Bengal polls remaining, pressure appears to have shifted to the TMC.
  
• The CPI(M)-Congress alliance, historic by all accounts, has found fresh vigour in its campaign following the Narada expose and flyover collapse.
  
• After poll-related disturbances in the first two sub-phases, the Election Commission and security forces have become proactive.
  
• Under unrelenting pressure from the CPI(M)-Congress alliance and the Narada sting videos, Mamata Banerjee has turned defensive.
  
• Just as the Left Front had experienced in its last years in office, Mamata’s government has suffered significant erosion of moral authority.
  
• The loss of legitimacy could be attributed to the failure of the TMC government to deliver in the five years it has been in power.
  

When Voters Respond

Much of the voter confidence in the last two phases of the election sprung from direct and effective supervision of the Election Commission after its initial reluctance to act against electoral malpractices. The effective deployment of security forces and of the Kolkata and state police, with their “change of heart”, as it were, also went a long way in instilling confidence among voters. In many instances, regardless of the absence of security, voters exercised their franchise voluntarily and without being cowed down by TMC threats.

The EC’s belated move to pave the way for free and fair polling and the security forces’ sudden, but welcome, proactive role alone cannot explain voter surge and high levels of interest to exercise their franchise.

Over the last two decades, with the introduction of reservation of one-third seats in panchayats and the spread of self-help group system, there has been sufficient empowerment of women in rural and semi-urban areas. It is now becoming increasingly difficult to dominate them by resorting to terror tactics. The central forces were just another factor.

Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chowdhury, Political Scientist

Leader’s Image Tarnished

Election-related violence and its impact on voters is not the only reason behind the TMC’s loss of moral authority. In the five years that it has been in office, the TMC has been mired in one controversy after another, each bigger than the previous one. Poor law and order, an empty coffer, no investment, corruption, the over-bearing presence of the “party” at all levels and a general erosion of social values have been repugnant for Bengalis for whom little had changed since the CPI(M) was crushed in 2011.

As her personal integrity came under serious scrutiny, Mamata did not appear to come clean on charges of nepotism and venality. With that she surrendered the biggest capital her party had – the honest image of the leader. Ordinary people defy the ruling dispensation when its moral authority lies shattered.

(The writer is former Executive Editor, Ananda Bazar Patrika)

Also read:

As Keepers of an Electoral Zoo, EC in Bengal Must Wield the Stick

Bengal’s Violent Electoral Politics – No Badalav but Lot of Badlaa