A month from the May 4 election debacle that ended her 15-year hegemony in West Bengal at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mamata Banerjee’s legislative fortress is crumbling. The 71-year-old three-time Chief Minister is facing a rebellion that threatens to push her out of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) calculus itself. Claiming to be the real TMC legislature party, at least 58 of the 80 party MLAs have elected Ritabrata Banerjee as their leader, securing recognition from the Assembly Speaker. The rebellion — akin to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena model that the BJP astutely managed in Maharashtra — poses an unusual situation for Mamata. Since she quit the Congress and floated the TMC 28 years ago, she has quelled dissension with an iron hand. Not this time. The Raghav Chadha model of weaning away Trinamool’s MPs may well be next.
Till the day of the result, the TMC and its undisputed supremo exhibited an image of invincibility. To that effect, the swift dismantling of the party and the no-going-back defiance by sections of the rank and file come as a surprise. True to her nature, the feisty Mamata is not expected to give up without a fight on who the real Trinamool is. Under these circumstances, any possibility of self-introspection over the electoral defeat is unlikely. When survival is at stake, there is little chance of an objective overview of criticism regarding her style of governance, or nephew Abhishek’s highhandedness and the importance given to him. That may not augur well for Mamata.
As is the wont of Indian politics, TMC’s shrinking fortunes is party-hopping time. Loyalty is a fickle commodity. Power is the presiding deity. A real concern is an Opposition that forgets its primary role and chooses to play along with the Suvendu Adhikari government.
