On Wednesday, Trinamool Congress (TMC) released its manifesto for the upcoming general election. Speaking at a press conference after the release of the manifesto, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee stated that she is willing to stay in Kashmir to find a solution so that there can be peace in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
In the manifesto, Mamata urged that apart from Kashmir issue, she will work for the revival of the Planning Commission, set up a judicial inquiry of demonetization and a review of the GST. “Why was demonetization carried out? We want a judicial probe monitored by a former Supreme Court judge. We will bring back the Planning Commission and ensure that it strengthens the federal structure,” she stated.
In order to woo the voters of OBC, SC and ST community, Mamata Banerjee said the new government will lay special stress on employment generation and filling up the vacancies meant for the minorities. However, this is just a political gimmick of Bengal CM. Instead of maligning the BJP government and talking about Kashmir, Mamata needs to check her own track record as CM of West Bengal.
In the initial days of the month of February, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had made headlines amid a bitter political confrontation with the union government. The confrontation took place over the issue of CBI questioning of Kolkata Police Commissioner. The CBI intended to question Kolkata Police Commissioner, Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund cases in which several TMC leaders are said to have been involved. This was not for the first time that we witnessed vocal Mamata Banerjee training guns at the centre and PM Modi.
Mamata Banerjee has long been accused of using her political clout to settle personal scores. The accusations levied from the opposition usually are fended off by Mamata by calling them a hit job from the communists and the BJP, but she went silent when a 1986-batch retired IPS officer Gaurav Chandra Dutt, in his death note, had accused Mamata for his decision to end his life, reported My Nation. Prior to committing suicide, he claimed that Mamata government had been biased and unfair toward him for his close proximity with communist leaders under whom he served for 20 long years.
However, this is not the lone case of ill-treatment of IPS officers by the Mamata Government. A few months ago, ex-IPS officer Bharati Ghosh, in an exclusive interview given to India Today accused Mamata Banerjee of trapping her in a false case.
Last year’s Bengal Panchayat elections were marred with TMC-sponsored violence and intimidation. However, BJP emerged as the second largest party in the Panchayat polls despite attacks, threats, and violence against BJP candidates and all sorts of malpractices employed by the TMC from booth capturing to the looting of Ballot paper boxes to win the elections.
In the meantime, the liberal brigade and certain regional satraps propagated Mamata Banerjee as someone who could lead the grand coalition (Mahagathbandhan) and former PM HD Deve Gowda went on to say that the West Bengal Chief Minister has all the capabilities of leading the country. He clearly hinted at Mamata Banerjee being a probable PM candidate from the grand coalition.
Nevertheless, Mamata Banerjee is facing the rise of BJP in the state of West Bengal. TMC would hate to admit this, but BJP has consolidated its presence in a big way in the state and is set to make massive inroads in the state. Mamata Banerjee knows that things can go awry in the state of West Bengal and the TMC might suffer irreparable damage if the BJP is able to inflict humiliating damage on the Mamata-led party. As such, her fears are not without substance. There will be no consolidation of anti-BJP votes given that the state will witness a four-cornered contest and the fact that BJP has emerged as a strong alternative in West Bengal gives the BJP a clear advantage. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Mamata Banerjee has understood that there is a need for course correction which explains her shift from speaking on national issues to taking an absurd approach.