Didi’s old bag of tricks is becoming predictable

Throughout her political career, Mamata Banerjee has taken pride in being perceived as an honest, firebrand leader — a champion of the poor and the downtrodden.

Her earthy, subaltern politics has held her in good stead so far as she has managed to usurp the mighty Left from Bengal, using a combination of disruption tactics laced with rhetoric and dogged perseverance. So, it wasn’t a surprise that West Bengal CM was quick to hop onto the anti-demonetization bandwagon, perceived to be causing great pain to commoners.

From conspiracy theories to a victim syndrome, Mamata’s latest demonetization protest has all the hallmarks of her past sojourns. Eyes firmly set on the Delhi throne, Didi wants to use demonetization agitation as a big springboard to become the anti-Modi focal point before 2019.

Yet, her high-decibel rhetoric has failed to create the desired impact — even in Bengal — for several reasons. Rather than looking for a solution to ease people’s pain, Mamata has taken a maximalist position of demanding a rollback, which isn’t feasible. Also, people at large are greatly skeptical of TMC’s fund-raising procedures post the Saradha scam (chit fund scam in which names of top TMC leaders cropped up) and Narada sting (TMC leaders were caught on tape accepting money).

While the TMC supremo has escaped unscathed electorally, these serious charges of omissions and commissions have certainly eroded her credibility. Didi may not be personally culpable but Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.  The DNA expose of the illegal currency trade in Malda, West Bengal (known as fake currency capital) only adds to the perception that Didi has something to hide by launching a venomous political attack.

Politics is often about perception and PM Modi’s jibe that only the corrupt are opposing demonetization has taken the sting out of TMC’s protests.

Politically too, Mamata is losing the ground game. Her rallies in Patna and Lucknow got lukewarm responses, while bigwigs like Nitish and Akhilesh stayed away. Her enmity with the Left has meant that the larger socialist block is yet to accept her. The only politically ally in her corner is Arvind Kejriwal.

Unfortunately, the Delhi CM, like Didi, has often made a mockery of his high office by making ad hominem attacks and retweeting fanciful tales of conspiracy. There is no doubt that demonetization has hampered the common man and Didi could have leveraged it properly. But instead of reaching out to people, and creating a sustained campaign with facts and figures, TMC took the shortcut of hurling sensational allegations devoid of proof.

The party has spread itself out too thin without doing proper homework or getting its house in order. The latest allegation of ‘Army coup’ in Bengal and conspiracy theories to kill her could be the final straw. Indians, in general, don’t take kindly to aspersions being cast on the Army. While Mamata may still remain supreme in Bengal, her effort to create a pan-India presence is likely to get an untimely burial owing to delusional tactics and blatant hyperbole.