Khela hobe na: Mamata tore into her own govt because she knows voters can throw any party out

It’s unusual for a CM to upbraid the party organisation, top to bottom, sparing no one. That three-time Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee held forth for a record 70 minutes, critiquing municipalities on upkeep and maintenance, ministers, MLAs, partymen and senior bureaucrats on graft and extortion, was a rare event, even for her. Her lecture failed to mention some TMC bigwigs close to her, alleged to be among Bengal’s most corrupt, but her sweeping indictment perhaps was also a case of kahin pe nigaahein, kahin pe nishana ? Whichever way it’s sliced or diced, it’s instructive to ask why mercurial Didi lit into her own govt. And why now?

In top form | The answer to both is Mamata yet again demonstrating political acumen. The Trinamool chief is at the top of her game. In both LS and assembly polls since 2017, TMC has proved wrong every poll punditry, all of which routinely predict a “close contest”. Even ahead of this year’s high stakes LS election, Didi – despite being an ally – played cat and mouse with INDIA bloc, refusing to even consider not fielding her own candidates on any of the state’s 42 seats. She won the gamble to return 29 MPs to Parliament, up from 22 in 2019. BJP crashed to 12, down 6 seats, overturning all poll predictions. BJP replaced CPM as main opposition in 2021 assembly election, with 77 MLAs. But TMC was far ahead with 215 seats in the 294-seat assembly – notably, in its third term.

What tomorrow holds | Yet Mamata knows electoral victories are no slam dunk, when popular discontent is as deep, wide and serious as in Bengal today. The 69-year-old knows it’s a self-goal to ignore the overhang on governance of entrenched political violence, extortion rackets, everyday crush of corrupt contractors. Political excesses of consecutive Left govts are what Mamata battled effectively – so much so that CPM’s vote, the anti-TMC vote, has almost totally shifted to BJP. Her decision to overhaul the state’s bidding process can mean upheaval for institutionalised corruption – risking your own party’s ire is a game you play only when you dominate the field, as Mamata does now.

To Mamata’s credit, she displayed publicly that she is not disconnected from the discontent. Thatis the politics that drove the authoritative dressing-down her govt received. She knows voters love just one management style – shape up or ship out.