Lasting Rose

Like a school girl pulled up by the Head for throwing wild tantrums, Mamta Banerjee is sulking and has taken her woes to Facebook, of all places. If you miss watching the hysterics of Gaddafi or if you are bored with the damp dander politics of Romney, last week's TV drama of Mamta Banerjee, over the Indian Presidential election, might have been a good diversion. Besides, it could be important for the interests of the U.S.A!



If you wonder who can put up an act more interesting than Gaddafi, it Mamta Banerjee, the Chief Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal, who Hilary Clinton took extra trouble to say Hi to, during her recent visit to the Far East. Hilary and the U.S administration had plenty of reasons to call upon the mercurial leader of 90 million Indians, best described as a bundle of trouble by anyone who has tried to court her, politically.

Mamta Banerjee, affectionately called "Didi", is in fact a true populist leader who has nothing but the misery of the poor and weak at the bottom of her heart, which is reflected in her most Spartan life style and attire not many Indian politicians can honestly claim their own. Some say Mamta Banerjee even fills in for the Late Mother Theresa in her actions and attitude towards the poor, which can bring a drop of tear to her ardent followers.
The root cause of her woes is the inordinately huge financial burden her predecessors, the Communists of India who mismanaged the State affairs for over 34 years had left her to handle and which she has no clue how to solve.
Unfortunately, Mamta Banerjee, as the head of the State Government, wanted and expected the Central Government in Delhi, which is crucially supported by her party's 19 members of parliament, to solve it for her.
Her hope was and now her bitterness is pinned on her fellow Bengalee, Pranab Mukherjee, the finance minister of India, who has consistently refused her demand for obvious financial and political reasons.
For over a year Mamta has tried her best to pressurise the government at the centre, blocking almost every reform, legislation and efforts for dispensing with price control, all of which caused great damage to the Indian economy, bringing down the growth rate.
Manta's last straw was her attempt to block the nomination of Pranab Mukherjee to the post of the President, which she has unwisely opposed, taking a political blow of alienating millions of Bengalees who would be honoured by the ascend of a fellow citizen to the top post of the country.
Mamta has gambled and lost, at least for the time being, and is politically alienated. Now Mamta has turnedto Facebook. However, unlike millions of others who find it as a place to hide and cry over the shoulders of unknown friends, Mamta wants to use it to take her fight rooting for her nominee, Kalam, a past president of India, considered suitable for the post by many people.
The truth is Mamta has only to blame the inept crowd of sycophantic men who surround her, without any knowledge or wisdom to offer practical advice or help in solving real life issues like the financial mess her government has inherited.
The result is the state, like the Ministry of Railways she was heading before, has seen no governance while the Chief Minister was enacting the drama and tantrums elsewhere, to the excitement of everyone.
In fact, by limiting the scope of her visit to niceties and photo shoots rather than addressing real issues where the U.S. could be of real help, Hilary Clinton and Mamta Banerjee have missed a real opportunity.
Hilary Clinton has showered a lot of praise on Mamta for getting rid of a 34 year old communist regime, but some concrete financial measures, behind the scene, could have meant more to Mamta in reality.
For now, "Didi" is plotting her next move and possibly another interesting episode of continuing saga of political shenanigans.

India is the biggest working democracy and just one person’s sanity keeps it going. And that is Mamata Banerjee, the predictably mercurial Chief Minister of the state of West Bengal and the leader of  the Thrinamool Congress Party, whose 19 members of parliament keep the stability of the Indian Government.

If Mamta goes mad, India can go mad and it looks like Mamta has gone mad. It is not clear if she has gone really bonkers, but it seems she is really mad at her party colleague and the central minister for the Railways, Trivedi.
Mamta Banerjee decided to sack him on the very day he has presented to the parliament the crucial budget for Indian Railways. Thrivedi's crime is making small and nominal increase in the ridiculously low Indian rail fares  which no one is seriously complaining about, after 8 long years during which there was no hike.

That is really what makes every Indian really mad! Mamta is the leader of the Thrinamool congress, the biggest alliance partner in the ruling coalition who runs the Indian Railways and who has presented the Railway budget in the parliament today, announcing the over due hike to cover huge budget deficits. By evening, Mamta has already declared she won’t let the price rise proposed by her own party to be implemented. What does she take the 1,3 billion Indian’s for?

If ordinary Indians are just baffled by this incredulous behaviour of Mamta Banerjee, she had been driving her cabinet colleagues and the Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh nuts in recent months by objecting and obstructing almost every reform measures the government wants to and has tried to introduce to ensure the growth rate of India.

Like the flip flops she famously walks around in, her declared position towards the government had been one of vacillation on every issue, leaving everyone guessing what she will or won’t do in practice.

Coalition democracy everywhere is maddening. But no where has it such debilitating and disastrous effects as in the Indian politics, sabotaging any chances millions of poor people have to get basic amenities like food, water, housing education and health care ever in their lifetime.

The main factor, a lack of real internal democracy within political parties, which breeds arrogance and whimsical behaviour of leaders, especially female leaders, is to blame for the sad plight of millions of Indians.

Mamta Banerjee has a populist agenda. However like many a housewife in India she doesn’t bother where the money will come from. Mamta Banerjee may not be intelligent enough to grasp the intricacies of economics, but as a leader of millions of people who trust her to deliver on her promise to improve the quality of their lives; she has a responsibility to listen to those who know. For now her behavior in public give serious concern about her state of mind.

For the west and the US especially, who consider India as the place to be in for growth and business from multi billion dollar deals to create jobs back home, this mad embrace of populism by ultra sensitive female leaders of India must be a serious concern and a factor not to be missed in whatever projections they make.

Article first published as Why Should The US Worry If India’s Mamta Has Gone Mad? on Technorati