A litmus test for the ‘politician’ in Mamata Banerjee

The date of the next general election can be announced anytime now. The entire election process will be over within the next few months or to be more precise, by May. At the moment, there is no sign of unraveling the tangle over the proposed alliance of the opposition parties; on the contrary, it is getting more and more entangled. As the BJP grows stronger after the restoration of the Ram temple, the INDIA alliance seems to be weakening. One of its main pillars Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has dumped INDIA for BJP, while Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the crackdown on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejaswi Yadav has intensified.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also under investigation. All these are undoubtedly weakening the alliance. What has hit the alliance hardest is West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's almost unilateral exit from the alliance and announcement of the 'Ekala Chalo' policy, thereby leaving the Congress in the state alone. She, in fact, went to the extent of ‘predicting’ that the Congress will not get more than forty seats in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. So, what is left of the alliance?

Ironically, it was Mamata Banerjee, who made the strongest plea in favour of the alliance. Mallikarjuna Kharge, whom she backed as the head of the alliance, has been reiterating that the success of the coalition would not be possible without her in the forefront. Rahul Gandhi has openly condemned West Bengal Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's continuous attacks on Mamata. There is no doubt that the rumour of a Mamata-BJP clandestine pact will now intensify in political circles. Questions will surface on whether the central investigative agencies are as active in West Bengal as they are against ruling party leaders in other non-BJP-ruled states? The moment she handed over the baton of the opposition alliance to Kharge, there perhaps was a hint that she was not that sincere or serious about the alliance.

On coming to know of Nitish Kumar's defection, she was convinced about the futility of INDIA. She also must have realized that after the opening of Ram Mandir, removing the Narendra Modi government is almost illusory. She understands that in this situation, joining hands with the currently weak Congress will not be a win-win proposition. And with the coalition's chances of a triumph slimming across the country, it would be politically expedient and wise for her to focus on the state.

Many opine, and rightly so too, that she is now politically mature and very few politicians have the ability to understand the pulse of the people, like her. Moreover, her political decisions are mostly feedback-dependent from the common people. If she can stick to her political decisions and establish herself as the single largest party in the opposition by taking more MPs from her home state and if the anti-BJP alliances can do well for some reason, then her chances of emerging as the face of the opposition will be bright. In cricketing parlance, it is a game of glorious uncertainties. Mamata Banerjee wants to stay in the middle till that last ball is bowled.