Once in opposition at the central or state level, most parties change their tune. In West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) is a good example of how parties can change beyond recognition as they transit from opposition to ruling status.

Earlier this week, an unusual delegation of West Bengal villagers from Kamduni, North 24 Parganas, called on the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee. Another delegation also met him, journeying from Kharjuna and Ranitala villages in Murshidabad to India’s national capital. The latter also planned to meet Congress(I) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Rahul Gandhi, among others.

A common grievance drove both visiting teams. At Kamduni, a young college girl had been brutally raped and killed by a gang of local, TMC-backed thugs. Most of the criminals involved were arrested and produced in court. The Kharjuna incident was a near replica of the Kamduni murder. Here a schoolgirl was kidnapped, raped and then killed. The question is, if some arrests have been made, why should those victimised by brutal acts of violence should come to the national capital to seek justice?

The answer, much as it may hurt the sensibilities of TMC leaders, is simple. The TMC’s partisan handling the police and its palpable reluctance to crack down on crimes involving its supporters, is gradually eroding the faith of the people in the impartiality of the state administration. For this, TMC leaders have their leader and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to thank. As Home Minister, she is in charge of the police.

A brief recapitulation of how the state administration mishandled two sensitive double crimes like rape and murder — West Bengal tops India in rapes committed under TMC rule — is in order. At Kamduni, the police reluctantly made arrests facing local pressure and civil society protests. Banerjee, under pressure for the rising crime curve and increasingly losing ground, poured more fuel into a raging fire, by her ill-advised five minutes long visit to the affected family, ten days after the incident. Where an abject apology and remorse were called for, she berated them for their audacity in asking questions of her, no matter how mildly!

In the time-tested style of most petty tyrants, Banerjee cannot brook questions from the people. She equates all questions with criticism. These days, the norm is for her to ask questions at public meetings and then supply the answer herself. Readers will recall the fate of one Shiladitya Choudhury of East Midnapore, who prayed for relief from price rise at a meeting. He was first heckled as a Maoist, then arrested, kept in jail for 14 days, then released without evidence. But the case against him has not been officially withdrawn. His harassment continues.

Perhaps Banerjee was furious that lessons of East Midnapore had not been suitably grasped by Kamduni villagers. They also had the temerity to declare that they wanted justice, not financial or other help from the Government.

The chief minister’s response was almost the same as in Midnapore. She first accused the villagers, mainly two young women of the victim’s family of being CPI(M) activists. Later, she alleged that they were ‘Maoists.’ The switchover was significant in that it indicated certain deviousness on part of the chief minister. Being members of a banned organisation, suspected Maoists when arrested do not enjoy many legal benefits. She pulled up the local police for their ‘failure to detect increasing influence and activities of Maoists’ in the village. Right on cue, local police now found ‘the disturbing presence and signs of Maoists at Kamduni’ in a confidential report that could have been written in the CM’s office. The arrest of the two young women seemed imminent. Only the relentless pressure of the civil society, and a systematic media follow-up prevented them from being dragged into jail summarily.

It is common knowledge that in India most police officials take their cue from the ruling dispensation. At Kharjuna, even before any political party jumped into the fray over the rape and murder, the local SP claimed that the victim knew his killer and had relations with him. This stirred up a hornet’s nest and the concerned official was trying to retract his position ever since.

Such incidents in Bengal are shocking enough in their barbarity and frequency. Even more damnable is the official mishandling of sensitive issues by Banerjee and her loyals. The entire country condemned her insensitive remarks on the celebrated Park Street rape case, claiming that the incident was concocted to malign ‘the shining image’ of her government.

The question arises, how much of erosion has occurred in the overall credibility of the Chief Minister and her Government. Banerjee, ever economical with truth, has been effective at playing the political bluff game. But the present trends are alarming. Initially, most people while condemning the inactive pro-TMC role of the police in connection with most incidents and controversies, called for a CBI investigation. In this, they echoed what Banerjee herself used to do, while in opposition.

But these days as a ruler, she has developed an allergy towards her once favourite organisation, which is now used to blackmail political parties she now claims!

While the state administration has succeeded in blocking demands for CBI probe in some cases, the Kolkata High Court and the Supreme Court has ordered CBI probes in others, much to the chagrin of the TMC. So far so bad, but the two delegations meeting the President clearly represent a major step forward for aggrieved public opinion in West Bengal. It is a manifestation of people openly crying out to the centre for action, as they no longer have faith in the state administration — both delegations said as much to the President, Sonia Gandhi and others, in almost these very words. This cannot but hurt the TMC image in a major way and help the Congress(I) enormously in the medium term, not to mention the CPI(M) or the BJP.

The development effectively stymies efforts made by the TMC to forge its so-called Federal front with non-Congress(I), non-BJP, non-Left parties — a condition that hardly leaves any other party with align with — because every party monitors political developments closely.

The usual TMC reaction to these incidents is that the Congress(I), the CPI(M) and the BJP are all involved ‘in a conspiracy to topple the TMC Government which has brought in a wave of development in Bengal.’ (The claim about ‘development’ is always good for a snigger among most people!) However, it is not just a matter of these parties, even the judiciary, the Election Commission, the Human Rights Commission and the media are also involved in the conspiracy, according to Banerjee, who is waging a heroic Joan of Arc-like battle against all. Those finding such claims risible have to be reminded that there are thousands of her ‘admirers’, paid or otherwise, who clap every time she raises her voice at public rallies.

More worryingly, her unidirectional extremism puts her at odds with the basic tenets of the Constitution and the federal polity. It introduces new undesirable strains in the political system, threatening the very principles of democracy. ‘Her recent remarks against the judiciary, the Election Commission and other Constitutional entities would have been adequate to ensure an instant dismissal for her government if someone like Indira Gandhi had been the Prime Minister,’ says a Professor of Political Science.

The only problem is that her defence is apparently no longer enough to convince most urban and semi-urban people. In rural south Bengal areas, her domination remains the only lifeline for her and the TMC. But for how long? (IPA Service)