The Hindu : Opinion / Editorials : Mamata's moment of reckoning

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Friday, May 06, 2005

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Mamata's moment of reckoning

The split in the All India Trinamool Congress marks the inevitable decline of a party that for the most part masked its lack of performance in melodrama and sound effects. Mamata Banerjee's party seemed headed for a division ever since it was routed in the 14th general election. The upcoming civic election in Kolkata provided just the excuse Mayor Subrata Mukherjee was looking for to branch out and set up the parallel Paschimbanga Unnayan Congress Mancha. Mr. Mukherjee has since announced that his forum would act as a bridge between the non-Left parties — during the civic polls and later when the Assembly election falls due in 2006. The pro-Congress leanings of the Kolkata Mayor and his followers suggest that their eventual destination is the Grand Old Party. The irony is difficult to miss. In 1997, Ms. Banerjee broke away from the Congress, accusing it of behaving like the `B' team of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Indeed, so livid was `Mamatadi' with this pathetic condition that she sought immediate solace in the arms of the Bharatiya Janata Party. With other `secular' leaders also making a beeline for the BJP, there was an across the country movement towards the Hindutva party that legitimised its divisive ideology and propelled it towards the seat of power at the Centre.

Today Trinamool is in a shambles. In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, Ms. Banerjee's party won only one of the 42 seats from West Bengal while the BJP came a cropper. For this abysmal showing, the Trinamool chief has mainly herself to blame. Over the years, Ms. Banerjee's whimsical changes of mood, her fondness for hype, and the image of irresponsibility have robbed the AITC of credibility and political seriousness. It is clear the party peaked early in its career, shaking the CPI (M) and the Left Front out of any complacency. Making its debut in the 1998 Lok Sabha election, the party captured seven seats on the strength of an impressive 24.43 per cent of the popular vote. The Left Front retained the 33 seats it held in 1996 while its vote share dipped marginally — from 48.69 per cent to 46.83 per cent.

Ms. Banerjee ought to have learnt a lesson from this: victory and defeat are not just about arithmetic. With her politics degenerating into crass opportunism, her party's dream of breaching Fortress Left has turned to ashes. The Left parties represent a constituency that stands out for its ideological cohesion and has greatly benefited from the Government's programme of land reform and other progressive measures. In the run-up to the 2001 Assembly election, the Trinamool chief dumped the BJP and joined hands with the Congress. The combine secured fewer votes than the united Congress did in 1996. A shamefaced Trinamool chief returned to the National Democratic Alliance, only to suffer further humiliation and defeat. The split in Trinamool is proof, if proof were needed, that Ms. Banerjee never had a chance against the Left Front — her bete noire for all of her political career.

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