Mamata Banerjee’s power politics have taken a hit in the aftermath of the RG Kar rape and murder case in Kolkata and the unprecedented public outrage across West Bengal that followed. The spectacle that unfolded showed that aggression is not always the right recipe for effective and successful governance. The heinous incident has triggered has drawn new contours of public anger, cutting across religion, region, gender, caste and creed.
Additionally, it has exposed a deep churning within the Trinamool Congress with no less than half a dozen MPs, MLAs, and senior leaders openly coming out to point out the “inappropriate responses” of the party's leadership and the mishandling by the government.
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Who All Have Expressed Dissent?
The latest TMC MLA to join the critical chorus is Madan Mitra, a charismatic senior leader of the party, hinting at the state of affairs within. Mitra is a contemporary of Mamata Banerjee. Both of them worked with the Congress party's student politics in the 1970s, side by side.
“Ramayana had only one Vibhishana (traitor). What we are witnessing now, is multiple Vibhishanas in the Trinamool Congress post the RG Kar rape and murder turmoil,” he said, speaking to the media on Wednesday.
He did not stop at that and went on to tell the media, “When a ship sinks (referring to the Trinamool Congress), the rats are the ones to desert it first. The TMC leadership must not ignore the writings on the wall in the aftermath of the tragedy. The party will commit a great mistake if it undermines the message that the unprecedented public outrage has signalled.”
Mitra has undergone suspensions, censures, and other punitive actions by the party time and again but that has not deterred him from speaking his mind. The RG Kar tragedy has been no exception.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member and a respected retired bureaucrat, Jawhar Sircar, posted on his X (formerly Twitter) handle that “RG Kar is a Wake Up Call!.” The former Prasar Bharati chief did not approve of the frequent summons sent by the Kolkata Police. Sircar wrote in another tweet, "I am disturbed like all. I do not support ex Principal. But stick to facts. I DO NOT support Police Questions on Free Speech!"
In another instance, the 75-year-old three-term former Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, not only staged a dharna seeking justice for the victim but demanded “custodial interrogation” of the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the ex-principal of RG Kar for their alleged impropriety.
TMC insiders acknowledge that Ray’s criticism of the party and his “misinformed” posts on some issues annoyed the supremo and the Kolkata Police were determined to have him at Lalbazar for interrogation. Ray had moved the Calcutta High Court for anticipatory bail after two quick summons from the police.
Ray was also the editor of Jago Bangla – a Bengali daily and mouthpiece for the TMC monitored by the party's youth chief Abhishek Banerjee. Ray finally deleted his posts after days of dithering and defiance to avoid a confrontation with the top leadership.
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TMC Rajya Sabha member and spokesperson Santanu Sen, himself a doctor and an important office bearer of the Indian Medical Association for a long time, looked after the healthcare sector in the state on behalf of the party.
An alma mater of RG Kar, he narrated how the hospital had gone on a downward slide during the tenure of the now ousted principal and alleged that “accurate information” was being kept away from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. He further complained that corruption charges raised against the ex-principal have not been properly dealt with.
Almost immediately, Sen was removed as spokesperson. At the same time, his nameplate as an “advisor” to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation health department, where he had an office, was found to have been removed by “unknown” persons. “I am a devoted soldier of the party,” Sen said, most likely under pressure from the party. “I have not said anything against either the party or any individual,” he added.
What of 'Senapati' Abhishek Banerjee?
Those familiar with the inner politics of the TMC know for sure that all these leaders who showed open defiance regarding the way things were managed, belong to the Abhishek Banerjee camp, therefore stoking speculations about deep fissures with the party’s top echelons.
Abhishek Banerjee is the second in command and his absence in the public domain during the entire period starting 9 August was conspicuous. At one stage, Kunal Ghosh, a party spokesperson, issued an open appeal to the senapati, the epithet with which the TMC young brigade addresses Abhishek Banerjee, to come out and be seen in a more “active role.”
The only occasion when Abhishek took to his X handle before Thursday was the night of vandalism at RG Kar.
As the attack mounted and was being telecast live to millions of homes, he posted, “The hooliganism and vandalism at RG Kar tonight have exceeded all acceptable limits. As a public representative, I have just spoken to @CPKolkata, urging him to ensure that every individual responsible faces the law within the next 24 hours, regardless of their political affiliations. The demands of the agitating doctors are fair and justified. This is the minimum that they should expect from the government. Their safety and security must be prioritised.”
And on Thursday, he tweeted, “Over the past 10 days, while the nation has been protesting against the #RGKarMedicalcollege incident and demanding justice, 900 RAPES have occurred across different parts of India - DURING THE VERY TIME WHEN PEOPLE WERE ON THE STREETS PROTESTING AGAINST THIS HORRIBLE CRIME.”
What Next?
As the outcry We Want Justice became the new mantra for thousands of fervent Kolkatans marching on the streets, the chief minister tried to steal the thunder by bringing out her own cadres on the streets. She warned, “Do not try to make this another Bangladesh.”
But her administration’s response continued to disappoint the public. The sacking of the ex-principal and his reinstatement within a few hours, the cancellation of the Derby football match between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan at Salt Lake Stadium, the midnight attack on RG Kar and the police's failure to stop it, the police's high-handedness in dealing with protestors on social media platforms, all these instances snowballed the mass outrage.
The steadfastness with which Mamata Banerjee has run her administration for the past 13 years seems to be diminishing with each passing day and this comes two months after she won a massive mandate in the Lok Sabha elections.
Some sanity has prevailed after the suo motu intervention of the Supreme Court in the case. It would be an exaggeration to suggest that Mamata Banerjee's government is facing a crisis pertaining to the party's survival (even with respect to a split). The shrewd and mature politician that she is, Mamata in all likelihood will ride the crisis but the state will continue to be a political cauldron for more time to come.
(The writer is a Kolkata-based senior journalist. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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