West Bengal’s political pecking order remains unchanged after a successful mass agitation for justice

The Kolkata rape and murder case unleashed a statewide revolt against CM Mamata Banerjee.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s frustration over its abject failure to cash in on the 41-day long agitation by junior doctors which shook West Bengal, including its feisty Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is evident from state BJP leaders like Dilip Ghosh and Ashok Dinda dismissing the unbelievably successful movement as a “drama” enacted by “instigating people’s emotions” which yielded “nothing”.

The fact of the matter is that the BJP left no stones unturned to harness the civil society-led medicos’ long running protests against the heinous rape-murder of a young woman doctor in Kolkata’s R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital for political and electoral benefits. It used every strategy in its playbook but made no headway whatsoever, making the BJP’s central leadership realise yet again that West Bengal is a very difficult nut to crack – and that the BJP somehow lacks the knowhow to bowl Bengalis over.

Ghosh, Dinda and other BJP leaders, in fact, got a mouthful from the junior doctors after the “drama” jibe. The doctors’ front slammed the BJP unequivocally, saying: “We made it clear from the beginning that we will not allow those who have garlanded rapists in Hathras-Kathua-Unnao to use our movement to grab power. The people of this state will not allow it. Our movement has rejected divisive politics from day one, and we won’t tolerate it in the future as well.” The BJP has simply gone off the air after the backlash.

Did Mamata lose to win?

On the one hand, the BJP did not gain anything from the junior doctors’ agitation; and on the other, it didn’t cost the ruling Trinamool Congress anything. Mamata appeared weak, shaky and vulnerable at times in the war of nerves with a bunch of protestors who refused to budge and ultimately compelled the CM to give in to virtually all their demands, including the removal of the Police Commissioner. The young men and women forced Mamata to wait for them for hours holding an umbrella in the rain. Her entreaties to the protestors assembled outside the CM’s residence to come inside and have a cup of tea -- which was turned down -- was telecast live casting a shadow on her authority and state power.

The protestors – the 25-30 junior doctors who ultimately held talks with Mamata and her high-ranking aides and the tens of thousands who formed human chains on successive days or sat on a dharna and raised slogans, not to speak of an army of sympathisers who sent food, toilet rolls and hand sanitisers to ground zero – were essentially Trinamool Congress voters who wanted Mamata to take drastic action. And in the end, she did. Her countless supporters were visibly angry and she placated their fury by capitulating instead of being haughty and coercive.

The Trinamool Congress may not have exactly come out of the impasse smelling of roses, but what’s certain is that the movement won’t cost it politically or electorally. So that’s undoubtedly a huge plus in the high-stakes state where the BJP keeps snapping at the Trinamool Congress’ heels, making it imperative for the latter to maintain a lead over its rival.

Bengal’s civil society finally asserts itself

It seems that the woman doctor’s rape-murder inside a flagship government hospital jolted Bengalis into rediscovering and regaining their spine after being mute spectators for far too long during Trinamool Congress rule.

There was no explosion of outrage when the Central Bureau of Investigation seized tens of crores of rupees from Education Minister Partha Chatterjee’s home and had no option but to press trucks into service to ferry the ill-begotten wealth to a government treasury for safe-keeping. Chatterjee is currently in jail over the teacher recruitment scam. So is another cabinet minister, Jyotipriya Mullick, imprisoned in the multi-crore ration distribution racket. Moreover, many of Mamata’s men have been caught on camera accepting wads of cash from middlemen in a sting operation.

But the woman doctor’s brutal rape-murder, which blew the lid off corruption and law of the jungle in the health sector, clearly tipped the scales, unleashing a statewide revolt which Mamata managed pretty well after fumbling initially.

All over the state, ordinary Bengalis are patting themselves on the back for being so assertive, successfully holding Mamata to account and the ultimate victory of their mass movement. The outpouring in Bengali newspapers, including the Anand Bazar Patrika, magazines and portals reflect the euphoria.

There is a genuine feeling that Bengalis have grown a spine at long last by standing up to power and looking it in the eye. The human vertebral column is therefore being lauded and celebrated. There are even reports of Durga Puja organisers placing orders for replicas of a human spine with the artisans of Kumartuli famed for sculpting images of Ma Durga. These models will be prominently displayed inside Durga Puja pandals to underline the importance of growing a spine and demanding justice in these trying times.