The stage is set and the city gears up for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections on Saturday.
Surveys indicate a resounding victory for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s party is expected to win close to 110 seats out of 144, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) no more than six.
According to the state election commission, in the last few days at least 80 cases of pre-poll violence have been reported in Kolkata and almost twice the number across West Bengal, where elections will be held next week in over 90 municipalities. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has expressed his concern and requested the poll panel to ensure a peaceful exercise.
It is a crucial day for political parties in the state. The result of the KMC election will set the tone for the assembly elections in 2016.
Will Mamata Manage to Stand Her Ground?
While Banerjee’s opponents hold forth on ponzi scams such as Sarada and Rose Valley that have tainted her party, the controversial sale of her paintings, the politicisation of educational institutions and various acts of misgovernance, the TMC seems to be firmly in the saddle.
As TMC Vice President and MP Dinesh Trivedi points out, “There is no one in the field who can dislodge her. Our chief minister’s success is primarily due to sheer hard work. She has a complete connect with the people 24 x 7 and she does not surface just during elections.Her sharp focus on Bengal, her accessibility and the trust and faith of the masses will ensure that no other party can come close to the TMC.”
The TMC’s huge triumph in the Chowringhee assembly by-elections 7 months ago showed that, contrary to popular belief, Banerjee’s grip was firm even in a completely urban area.
A senior bureaucrat in the state goes as far as to say that even if the CPI-M, BJP and the Congress join hands, the TMC will still surge ahead and unless her complicity in a scam is proven, she can, like the Communists before her, rule the state for at least three decades.
Does Mamata’s Strength Lie in a Weak Opposition?
A rudderless CPI-M and an inherently weak, strife-torn BJP in the state have made the TMC’s task easier.
Some attribute Banerjee’s success to the fact that there is an improvement in both rural and urban areas. Her government may not have succeeded in attracting big business but it has done more than its predecessor in terms of sprucing up the state.
While her critics call her a control freak who does not trust her colleagues, her supporters say she is in total control with her ear to the ground. Her repeated unsavoury outbursts notwithstanding, Banerjee’s supremacy in Bengal remains unrivaled.
If the predictions turn out correct, BJP’s dreams of establishing a foothold in West Bengal in the 2016 assembly polls will recede even further into the distance.
(Payal Mohanka is a Kolkata-based senior journalist.)
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