7/30/2019 Political Transition in West Bengal

1/2

POLITICAL TRANSITION IN WEST BENGAL

The year 2011 has been unforgettable and eventful one for the people of West Bengal in many aspects.

While in the beginning of the year, the state witnessed a sea-change in the political atmosphere by voting

Trinamool Congress to power, there by ending a 34-year old CPM rule. However the honeymoon period

of the TMC ended very soon when the formers request of financial aid for the debt ridden state wasrejected by the centre.

Although, the first half of 2012 went through many changes as well starting from Kolkata got transformed

into the uniform colour of blue and white which the opposition found unnecessary.

Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee rejected the probe into farmers suicides and blamed the media and the

opposition for distorting facts. While in stark contrast to the CMs comments Governo r M.K. Narayan

had admitted on the same day that the farmer suicide was taking place and some of the farmers were debt

ridden. Journalism also got into the trap of this political affair. A journalist of a leading Bengali news

channel was allegedly beaten up by the supporters of ruling TMC, when he tried to capture on video the

ransacking of a CPI-M local party office. Banerjee attracted severe criticism from all sections of society

following the Governments order to state sponsored and aided libraries to stock only specific newspapers

for promoting Free Thinking among readers. She further fuelled the controversy by asserting that she

may in future even ask people to stop buying certain newspapers Because a conspiracy is going against

her.

On education front a Jadavpur University professor,Ambikesh Mahapatra was arrested for eligibly

circulating defamatory cartoons of some TMC leaders including West Bengal chief Minister Mamta

Banerjee, attracting wide spread criticism from all quarters. On this incident educationist Sunanda

Sanyal said This is not the change one had desired. This is unfortunate. It shows her impatience. Even

schools were not spared. A high school student ofWest Bengals Murshidabad district was caught with a

gun and bullets which he had brought purportedly to kill the principle who had earlier scolded him.

While talking about employment and jobs the state experienced a backdrop when Mamata Banerjee stated

that Special Economic Zone (SEZ) cannot be provided to Infosys Pvt. Ltd for reducing the minimum area

requirement and dishing out Tax Concession.

When talking about the slogan of Maa Mati Manush questions are being raised on the safety of the

women of the state. It becomes more dangerous when police officials are itself involved in it. A woman inW.B attempted to commit suicide after she was molested and her family members were beaten up by a

group of people for her refusal to join the TMC. No actions were taken even after 24 hours of policecomplaint.The CPI-M has released a document here to highlight "Trinamool-sponsored atrocities on theiractivists and members of the public.""This is not something, the people of West Bengal had bargained for

when they brought the slogan of Paribartan advanced by the Trinamool-Congress combine and decided toend 34 years of uninterrupted reign of the Left Front. Killings, arson, rape, molestation, physical assault

on women, forcible collec-tion of money, and eviction from land---have all become a daily occurrence.Slowly but surely, people have started comparing the current dispensation with the dreaded period ofseventies, when the state witnessed semi-fascist terror.

According to people, the main focus of this government was to change all the pro-people policies of the

previous Left front Government.

7/30/2019 Political Transition in West Bengal

2/2