The Trinamool Congress Chief addressed a rally of the Trinamool Chhatra Parishad, and threatened Prime Minister Narendra Modi with consequences if “Bengal burned” due to BJP protests and machinations. The tirade against Modi came even as junior doctors across the state continued with their boycott of non-emergency patients. Doctors aren't happy with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee because of the attempts to “cover-up”.

The day before the TMCP rally, the 'Paschim Banga Chhatra Samaj', and the 'Sangrami Joutha Mancha', led by BJP leaders and workers, had held protests and a march to the Nabanna Abhijan, the seat of power, asking for Mamata’s resignation. Kolkata Police had to use tear-gas, and lathi-charge the protestors. The BJP compounded its "crime" by calling for a 12-hour Bengal Bandh.

Has power gone to Mamata’s head? Maybe Mamata is angry because power is slipping out of her hand! Head or hand, the West Bengal Chief Minister threatened to "topple Prime Minister Modi" after President Droupadi Murmu said “enough was enough”. Even Modi knows that Mamata’s threats cannot be taken lightly. If Mamata wants, she can cause a lot of misery for the Centre.

In fact, the West Bengal Chief Minister would have been out of character if she had kept her cool! The fact that she is boiling mad could keep the Modi government at bay. “Delhi too shall burn and your chair will be toppled” has set the table for the rest of the remaining fight left in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

That being said, who topples whom will be keenly awaited. Nothing definite can be said because the Prime Minister is not his old self anymore. The results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections robbed Modi of the mojo he had in good supply till on the eve of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not the tough old man of before June 4, 2024. At 73, age is showing and Mamata’s warning could age Modi further if he doesn’t reply with an equally tough riposte.

Mamata Banerjee is the sort of person who grows on a diet of open threats and warnings. In fact, Mamata Banerjee is the toughest cookie on the INDI-Block. The only problem is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also health minister and home minister. Too many portfolios could cook her broth.

The rape-cum-murder in a government hospital has put both the home minister, the health minister, and the Chief Minister, in the glare of the searchlight. Mamata Banerjee has become part of the problem impeding honest investigation. There are too many coincidences. Allegations are that the crime scene has been altered, evidence has been destroyed, there's the suspicious police behaviour, etcetera, etcetera.

People were allowed to clog the seminar hall where the 31-year-old trainee doctor was -raped and horribly murdered. It reminded journalists of the deliberate contamination of the Aarushi murder-scene, which took the case into blind alleys, and compromised corners.

The disturbances at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital did not end with the murder of the trainee doctor whose name cannot be spoken aloud, or written. The investigation is now with the CBI and the Kolkata Police is taking out Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's frustration on the protestors.

Part of the reason why Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is angry is that the Home Minister is no longer in control of the investigation. The CBI is beyond the Home Minister's pale. The street protests continue to taunt. One picture was of an old man holding up the tricolour against the rush of water from a water cannon.

The next day, Mamata Banerjee sat in a chair at the rally site, her angry mien simmering. No wonder Modi and his chair became targets though if anybody’s chair is in danger of getting toppled, it could be that of the West Bengal Chief Minister. Mamata’s threat that the rest of India wasn’t fireproof could singe Mamata. Fact of the matter is, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has had enough of the BJP’s protests and public rallies.

“If you burn Bengal, other states including Assam, North-East, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Delhi too shall burn and your chair will be toppled,” she told the rally and nobody could have been more blunt. Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi take action against the Mamata government? Possibly, PM can not. Mamata is too entrenched in Bengal and she is a street fighter. Modi and the state BJP leaders will talk of drastic action but in effect can do nothing. Mamata knows that well. (IPA Service)