32 OUTLOOK 1 July 2019
elected TMC officials, but credit always
devolved on her alone. In 2016, to defl-
ect criticism of corrupt candidates (the
chit fund scam had broken), she told
voters: “In all these 294 assembly seats,
I am the candidate. You vote for me.”
Internally, there was her mercurial
temper that kept even close associates
and bureaucrats on their toes. A senior
minister used to say jokingly, “It’s a
game of snakes and ladders. You don’t
know when you would be in front of the
snake and slip down to the bottom.”
Mamata’s continuing popularity, as
evidenced by her voteshare, stems from
targeted welfarism and genuine admin-
istrative talent. Under the Kanyashree
scheme, girl students get Rs 750 annu-
ally till age 18, and a one-time payment
of Rs 25,000 then—there are 52 lakh
exis ting beneficiaries, another 1.5 crore
have been sanctioned. Under the Sabuj
Sathi scheme, some 40 lakh students of
classes IX and X got cycles. Last year,
she announced a new university in the
name of Harichand and Guruchand
Thakur, founding fathers of the Matua
sect, a sizeable (30 lakh) refugee com-
munity of Namashudras, a most back-
ward rung in Hindu society. Anotherwas announced for the Hindi-speaking
community—for Biharis in Bengal, she
declared a state holiday for Chhath.
Serious money went out as dole to clubs
and youth organisations—in 2018,
Mamata admitted to have spent over
Rs 600 crore on 15,000 clubs.
Also, new roads came up in remote
districts, and city amenities improved.
In the hitherto godforsaken Jangal-
mahal radical changes were a revamped
ration distribution system, where rice
and wheat flowed at cheap rates. In gov-
ernment hospitals she tried to offer
treatment, medicines and clinical tests
free, but faltered because of fund con-
straints. Since 2011, she has established
over 20 universities and a number of
superspeciality hospitals in the dis-tricts—not always sticking to fiscal
logic, according to Ranabir Samaddar, a
political scientist. For all that, the once
Maoist-inflected Jangalmahal, which
massively voted against TMC, looms as
a site of agitation that the BJP can app-
ropriate. Not to speak of Darjeeling, a
time-bomb in itself.
But the economic fundamentals, alw-
ays gloomy, put paid to Mamata’s visi-
ons of munificence. There are no jobs.
Rural youth are migrating to other
states—Kerala, Mumbai, Surat are pre-
ferred destinations. For those left beh-
ind, the only succour was the parallel
economy. Panchayat funds, through
which most rural development
work gets done, are one big source—
think 3,300 gram panchayats, 341
panchayat samitis and 21 zilla parishads
to get a grip on the scale at which cen-
tral funds flow. The Left used to pilfer
on that with impunity. The TMC, as
with most of its politics, expanded on
that. Panchayats bring money and local
predominance—no wonder panchayat
elections were violent. Last year, the
TMC took it to absurd levels, blocking
opposition candidates from filing nom-
ination papers. On poll day, TMC mus-Despite administrative
successes, Mamata’s
welfare projects are hit
by fund constraints.
Jobs are rare, industry
stagnating, disaffection
rages across sectors.Actor-filmmaker Aparna Sen has been an
active and vocal member of Bengal’s civil
society. In an interview with Pranay
Sharma, the acclaimed director shared her
views on some of the fast-paced develop-
ments unfolding in the state’s polity.
Excerpts:Recent developments show the state has
been polarised on communal lines? Are you
worried?
Very. West Bengal, like Kerala, was one of
the few states where we had practically no
communal problems. The Left Front gov-
ernment, for all its faults, contained
communal flare-ups quickly. But after
2011, the appeasement of the minorities
by the TMC has divided the state along
communal lines (though many Muslims
don’t feel so), and the Opposition has been
adding fuel to that fire successfully to dest-
abilise the state.
To outsiders Bengal always had the image
of a liberal-secular state. Does the polarisa-
tion indicate such credentials lacked deeproots in society?
Perhaps. Actually, ever since Partition, there
was probably some hidden resentment
among many Hindus that Muslims got a
state of their own while Hindus had not.
However, the effects of the Bengal
Renaissance and the Gandhian-Nehruvianideology were still strong among the edu-
cated middle class who, to a large extent,
were responsible for forming public opinion.
Tagore’s influence too was a great unifier.
But with globalisation and the rise of con-
sumerism in India, those ideals came to be
gradually discredited. An unholy alliance of
Hindu fundamentalism and consumerism
had started, which washed away remnants
of the Tagore-Gandhi-Nehru ideals, and dis-
carded them as outdated.
What is the situation now?
With many Hindus of Bengal, if you
scratch the surface, there is a deep-
rooted mistrust and hatred for Muslims.
Every Muslim has become a potential ter-
rorist. The distrust for Muslims all over
India reminds one of the way Blacks were
once treated in the US.
Did civil society fail to rise to the challenge
posed by communal forces?
To start with, the so-called civil society is
confined to a small number of people, es-
sentially urban. They are perceived as elit-
ists with no connection to the grassroots. A‘Trinamool failed to bring chan ges that Bengal’s electorate expected’
COVER STORY INTERVIEW