Mamata Banerjee’s new term: Poriborton has to start from within

To make her place permanent in the hearts of Bengalis—the Didi for all times to come—‘poriborton’, like charity must begin from within

Mamata Banerjee’s biggest challenge is the lack of intellectual bandwidth in her team. There is no point in denying that the Bengal cadre of bureaucracy is shallow on talent. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

Article first published in +Mint  Click here to read

At his first rally in Kolkata—in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi called for Dada (Pranab Mukherjee) in Rashtrapati Bhavan, Didi (Mamata Banerjee) in West Bengal and (Narendra) Bhai in Delhi. Two years down the line, on the second anniversary of the Modi government, that formulation has indeed fallen into place. And significantly, in a Congress-mukt (Congress-free) form—since Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress opted for an Ekla Chalo Re (Go-it-alone) act in the recent state assembly election.

Whether one subscribes to the theories of tacit deals in Delhi or not, the equations on the ground have subtly changed. With the odd coupling of the Left and the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 10% vote share has become a critical variable that Banerjee can no longer ignore. Whether it was media hype or wishful thinking that created an illusion of a late surge for the Left-Congress ‘Jot’, (alliance) it has left even the old faithful dejected about the future of any anti-TMC configuration in the state. It is entirely conceivable, a chunk of this section may well switch to BJP in 2019. Therefore, no matter how much of shadow boxing and verbal fencing Trinamool and BJP might indulge in public—one can safely expect to see more of “issue-based” support in Parliament—starting with the passing of the GST Bill among other pending legislation that had grounded NDA’s reforms agenda. All this should augur well for the state too —as Modi-Shah cannot afford to ignore the MP count of West Bengal in doing their arithmetic for 2019.

Mamata Banerjee is too sharp a politician to miss her tryst with history. Like Narendra Modi’s claims of a Vibrant Gujarat, she knows a ‘Resurgent Biswa Bangla’ can be her ticket to a Congress-mukt anti-BJP national league. Hence, she has little option but to make Unnayan (development) her equivalent of the bullet train. Bengal has decidedly changed from Red to Green—but, she knows, without visible economic progress, it could easily turn to saffron in the next three to five years.

A week is too short a time to make any prediction. But, some developments of the last seven days have left people jittery with premonitions of an encore of the last five years. Though her first interaction with the media after the results was measured and moderate, the signals thereafter, do not reflect the same maturity. To start with, she upturned the changes made by the Election Commission in the police commissariat, bringing back her favourite officer—perhaps, as a message to the bureaucracy that the boss is back. There was not even a hint of apology either for the pre-poll violence or the scams that were caught on camera. In fact, she went a step further to declare West Bengal as a “corruption free state”. As if to cock a snook at her opponents and detractors—she has many of the accused caught in sting operation—like Firad Hakim of Kolkata’s “mini-Pakistan” fame—back in the cabinet. One has also not seen any discernible attempt to check post-poll attacks on perceived ‘traitors’—with the customary trading of charges between opposing camps.

Banerjee’s biggest challenge is the lack of intellectual bandwidth in her team. There is no point in denying that the Bengal cadre of bureaucracy is shallow on talent. The brighter officers of Bengali origin—who have either moved to the Centre or belong to other state cadres are loathe to come back to Kolkata—just as many private sector professionals thriving in the greener pastures in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. Therefore, Mamata is handicapped by not having at her disposal a bunch of savvy officers like Narendra Modi had in Gujarat or a Nitish Kumar has been able to hand-pick from the formidable Bihar bench in the IAS. Among her ministerial colleagues—other than Amit Mitra, who has maintained a low profile compared to his Ficci days—Banerjee does not have the equivalent of Modi’s ‘Navaratna’—to implement her vision. There are a few with proven track record in administration—like Subrata Mukherjee—but their role has been restricted so far.

In her second term—Mamata Banerjee cannot rely just on her earthy, commonsense wisdom. She needs experts to advise her, for which she has to give up micro-management and give them space and freedom to operate. What Bengal needs are some quick wins. Land acquisition—though one can say with reasonable certainty Banerjee will crack it in this term—and industry will not happen overnight. Besides, investors do not put money on the ground till they develop confidence in the long-term outlook (think Bihar, where industrialization has still not taken off despite this being Nitish Kumar’s third term).

The solution, therefore, is the service industry. But even that will require breakthrough thinking and a radical change in work culture. Bengal has already missed the bus of the generic IT outsourcing boom, where Bengaluru, Gurgaon and Chennai have secured huge leads. Trying to enter late into the party will make it at best a distant also-ran. The way to go would be to build specialized competencies around select industries like food processing and floriculture in which the state has a natural advantage and provide a good complementary fit for service ancillaries.

But, salvation may lie in returning to the traditional Bengali knowledge-based competencies in education, medicine (healthcare), scientific research, cinema and aesthetics (design). Bengal is the only state that spans the Himalayas to the sea—with stretches of river, forests and archaeological treasures like Bishnupur and Murshidabad in between. With proper infrastructure, it can easily repeat Kerala’s tourism act. Smartly marketed, the Sunderbans can any day give the backwaters a run for its money.

For a start, Banerjee may be able to woo back talent from the diaspora with her sisterly (didi) charm, which could be much more productive than forays to Singapore, London and the US for the elusive and illusory foreign direct investment.

In September, Banerjee will be travelling to Rome to attend the canonization of Mother Teresa. There is one lesson, perhaps, she can take from the late Albanian nun soon to be anointed saint. To make her place permanent in the hearts of Bengalis—the Didi for all times to come—poriborton, like charity must begin from within.

The 'Poriborton' of Mamata Banerjee

The reinvention of Mamata Banerjee - from Street-fighter to CM 

Article first published in +Mint Click on this to read

A very well connected top Bengali political journalist had narrated this to me. He went to see Pranab Mukherjee – then a full-time politician – before the 2011 West Bengal elections. As he is close to both Pranab-babu and Mamata Banerjee – the journalist took the liberty of asking Pranab Mukherjee if he thought Mamata will be able to make the transition from a mercurial fire-brand opposition leader to Chief Minister easily. It seems – Pranab-da had told him then, “why not – people grow and mature on the job and Mamata is a quick learner”.

This short conversation reveals as much about Pranab Mukherjee’s astute political instincts as Mamata Banerjee’s native political intelligence. It is this street-smartness that has brought her to a position – when she is looking almost invincible as she is seeking mandate for a second term.

Come to think of it – it is the Left which never got out of its agitation mode and refused to govern – at least for the better part of its 32 year rule. By the time they realized the mistake – Nandigram and Singur had already happened and it was far too late for any course correction. Mamata on the other hand was baptized by fire – as it were - in Jangal Mahal followed by the Hills. She tackled both with a combination of political stratagem and shrewd administrative intervention.

From day one, Mamata Banerjee has tried to provide governance while continuously learning on the job. She recalled one of the brightest – among the few remaining Bengalis in the IAS  from the centre to be her Chief Secretary and gathered around her a bunch of competent officers – a good balance of experience and (relatively young) age. Perhaps, the biggest mistake of CPIM had been to make the police and District Administration subservient to the local party bosses. In the case of Trinamool – while insisting on alignment Mamata ensured the strings of administration were tied firmly to the CM’s office.

Non-politician professionals who were drafted in to the party before the elections – were advised to focus on their respective portfolio and keep their own counsel without becoming (TV) Camera hungry – as some of them were wont to do.

This apparent tendency to concentrate power with one individual may sound familiar. But, without getting into value judgment, that’s the way Indian Democracy seems to work these days. Therefore, it would be unfair to pick on Mamata and label her as a Dictator. Sure she has an autocratic -“I know best” - streak, one can call her impetuous but not imperious like some of her female counterparts in other states.

After BJP came to power – there were apprehensions about another extended period of confrontation between the centre and the state at the cost of West Bengal’s development. But, Mamata turned it into a game of dynamic tension generally loaded in her favour. She played a carefully calibrated strategy – keeping up a façade of hostility with BJP - while flirting intermittently with the third front but maintaining a distance from Congress all along. Her class act was obviously deftly steering the TMC ship out of troubled waters in Saradha – without even a spot on her starched white cotton saree. Madan Mitra was simply a collateral casualty.

If by turning the heat off on Saradha, BJP hoped to reach a compromise with Mamata  – it was disappointed.  But, even though BJP didn’t manage to get her consent on the Land Bill, on other legislations – that had no negative political implication for her - she didn’t side with the Congress just for the sake of opposing the BJP.

How she tackled the fall-out with Mukul Roy through this interregnum can be a case–study even for more seasoned politicians. That Mukul is back burying all speculations about his joining BJP or forming his own party and now campaigning jointly with – wait, hold your breath – her nephew Abhisekh is testimony of her entering the league of Jayalalitha, Nitish and Mulayam.

For all the talk of her failing to deliver the promised “Poriborton” - a counter-factual question would put the matter to rest: . Where would West Bengal be today – if the Left was had not been thrown out? I believe this is also the primary reason why people will vote her back to power. That is not to mean she would be re-elected only on a negative vote for the lack of any alternative. Truly she is the best bet for Bengal at this juncture.

In balance, Trinamool’s five year score-card though not spectacular is not below par either. If Modi government can complain of the burden of legacy – Mamata Banerjee inherited a much bigger mess systematically created over 3 decades of non-rule and misrule.  Not only was she handed over an empty treasury but - with dying industry and trade – also no ready solution to replenish the finances of the state.

Where Mamata tied chains around her own feet is Land Policy. She has to bite this bullet sometime if West Bengal has to be brought out of the ICU. Otherwise, a hundred Resurgent Bengal jamborees and road-shows will not bring investment to the state. However, if Mamata had tried doing it in her first term – it would have been political hara-kiri like Modi realized in good time on the Land Acquisition Bill.

On “Poriborton” Mamata has tried to “change” a lot since she came to power. Equally, it is also true that there are many things she has either not been able to change or chosen not to. In trying to beat the Left in their own game – she may have had to play by their rules. It can also be argued that some of it has been only relabeling – “lumpen-rule” by another name – with only the “price-tag” of corruption going up from ‘Politburo’ administered pricing to a ‘free-market’ model decided by local ‘Dadas’. But, by and large – statistics apart, which anyway tell a good story – even anecdotally Trinamool’s achievements are better than the average of other states in the last few years. One may question the valuation of her paintings – but at least she is not weighed in gold or garlanded with wreathe made of thousand rupee notes on her birthday.

On the communal harmony front – despite accusations of appeasement (unavoidable with a 30% minority population) - arguably West Bengal remains more peaceful than many other states. Of course, there have been sporadic incidents like Malda – where too it was quickly contained and not allowed to flare-up and spread.

Mamata Banerjee is undoubtedly the first Chief Minister of West Bengal after B C Roy who has displayed some concern for aesthetics. One can chuckle at her desire to turn Kolkata into London or scoff at the Trident Lamp posts now further embellished with white and blue LED creepers – but she is the only one, not even the urbane Communist Jyoti Basu, who has made genuine efforts at giving the city and state a visible make-over and face-lift. Her decision to shift the State Secretariat to Howrah for restoration of the historical Writers Building is a bold decision few others would have taken.

Never before has a Bengali Chief Minister tried to showcase and market the state. So be it the chic “Biswa Bangla” Boutiques selling  haute-couture Murshidabad Jamdani and Baluchari Sarees or packaging Nalen Gur in squeezable tubes, she has made a beginning. Similarly, Mango Festival in Malda or Gobinda Bhog (Rice) Utsav in Burdwan – does something to restore Bengali pride.

People can have a dig at her poetry and artistic talent or mock her   “culture” fixation and penchant for hanging out with actors, singers, painters. But, what she has done for older artists living in penury should shame her predecessors.

Ignoring controversy – felicitating the victory of a private cricket team (KKR) in IPL and in return getting its owner to be the Brand Ambassador for Bengal is typically Mamata. Bringing Lionel Messi for a friendly match in football crazy Kolkata or hosting India-Pakistan T20 cricket match after other states turned it down and getting Amitabh Bachchan to sing the National Anthem before the game may have many critics – but undeniably it does bring in a “feel good” factor among Bengalis – who had long forgotten to be happy.

Mamata may have her idiosyncrasies. But, the important point is that, she is comfortable in her skin. Therefore, she hasn’t (at least yet) felt the need to trade her trademark cotton saree for a designer Tangail and doesn’t bat an eye-lid while marching ahead in her Chappals on the banks of the Thames in London, leaving her sneaker clad minions huffing and panting behind in trying to keep pace with her.

Bad poetry or singing off-scale is a small price to pay for a leader who is sincere and displays a semblance of vision that has been missing for so long in the state.

Sandip Ghose is a roving media and marketing professional who looks at life from a right angle. Views expressed are personal and does not represent those of his employers. Twitter @SandipGhose

The importance of being Arun Jaitley

Or How Arun Jaitley could be Modi's Pranab Mukherjee

Only those could have doubted Arun Jaitley's emergence as the foremost ally of Modi in the government - despite his own defeat in Amritsar - who thought after leading the party to such a stupendous victory Modi would hand-over the Prime Minister-ship on a platter to Advani or some other leader of RSS' choice. Jaitley is one national BJP leader who stood by Modi unwaveringly even when others had their moments of doubt or difference. He was the only one who had publicly predicted that the groundswell of grass-root workers will force the hand of the RSS leadership to accept Modi as the PM candidate. He was never seen to hedge his bets for a 'what if' (BJP fell short of the magic number and needed support of former NDA allies like JDU) scenario -unlike some others as Rajnath Singh. Therefore, Jaitley's rise to the unofficial No 2 in Modi's cabinet shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone.

Modi being new to Lutyens' Delhi (and Parliament itself - being a first time MP) - by his own admission - needed someone to chaperone him through the labyrinths of power corridors and bureaucracy. None could have been better suited than Jaitley for that role. A true blue Delhiite - urbane and moderate face of the BJP with friends across parties and media. His credibility quotient was high nationally and integrity untainted to the public eye. Arun Jaitley could easily have been Narendra Modi's Pranab Mukherjee (whom, Arun Shourie had once called the fulcrum of the UPA government) - a man for all seasons, trouble shooter, negotiator and interface with the opposition.

But, the acute talent shortage in Modi's cabinet (some of it self-imposed one may argue) - got Jaitley too embroiled in the running of the government as Modi's principal strategist. This gave rise to the now famous "Trimurti", as they are sometimes called, of Modi, Jaitley and  Amit Shah. While Shah was, understandably, entrusted with all party affairs, Jaitley became Modi's principal sounding board and advisor on policy matters, especially economic issues. (There is, of course, the invisible 4th pillar - the PMO - where the other triumvirate of Doval, Nripen Mishra and Jaishankar rule - focusing on National Security and foreign affairs – though Arun Shourie calls it the ‘weakest ever PMO’).

Even without even going into a critical evaluation of Jaitley's performance as a Minister - essentially Finance, which has been his primary charge - it may be said that being involved too closely both with strategy and implementation has come in the way of his delivery. This is characterized by a number of avoidable confrontations and stand-offs (such as with the RBI Governor), climb-downs or roll backs (MNC Retrospective Taxation) and U-turns (new IT Returns form). The mother of all setbacks was, of course, the Land Acquisition Bill and the GST could be awaiting a similar fate. Being too close to these decisions - and in some cases the owner or author himself - didn't allow him the much required maneuvering space to find a political solution - which, ironically, is supposed to be his forte.

Though not exactly in the league of his bête-noire Kapil Sibal's "zero loss" theories - much of his explanation and defense on the Black Money issue (arguably, the biggest credibility sucker of the Modi government – that earned it the tag of a “Jumla Sarkar’’) was seen to be bordering on sophistry and glib talk.

Though Jaitley is not officially handling the Law Ministry – he is generally known to be the Government’s principal legal advisor. The choice of Mukul Rohatgi – his close friend of many years – as the Attorney General is credited to him.  Between the 2 of them – they have to share the burden of the Governments loss of face in the NJAC issue – which even a lay observer of the court proceeding had seen coming from the hostile stance of the bench right from the beginning of the hearing compounded by the very aggressive stand of the government. Further, Jaitley’s reactions to the order made it appear like a personal defeat – which may not have helped to soothe the raw nerves of the judiciary and given fodder his detractors.  Further, as suggested by one respected commentator, it indicates the judiciary will not fight shy of taking head-on a government elected by a huge popular mandate.

Though they would all be loathe to admit it in public – friends of Jaitley (and, he has many) from the industry have been disappointed with him more than even the PM for the slow pace of reforms – because it was on him they had counted most to kick start the economy. Both, his budgets were underwhelming – but that would easily have been overlooked if reforms took off. Instead – the Prime Minister has had to lean on populist social welfare schemes like Jan Dhan Yojna,  Atal Pension Yojna and Insurance Schemes the results of which will take years to be palpably perceived. Whereas delays in release of MNREGA payments and agricultural subsidies – no doubt necessitated by prudent fiscal management – felt immediately and also exploited by the opposition. The Foreign Black Money amnesty scheme (netting only Rs 3700 crores) was a damp squib. Threats of dire action and reinvigorated ED raids may have lost him a few admirers in the business community.

Holding dual charge of Finance and Defence must have been taxing – taking away focus from both (and, that was also the time, Jaitley was not keeping good health requiring surgery). Delays in some crucial appointments (Chief Economic Advisor, Chairman Niti Aayog) would not have helped Jaitley to fast-forward the government’s economic agenda.  Induction of Jayant Sinha as MOS Finance could – perhaps – have happened earlier to relieve him of some load.

But, perhaps, Jaitley’s toughest challenge has been managing the communication strategy of the government. Though he took on the I&B portfolio and by default the role of the principal spokesperson of the government - presumably to prevent motor-mouth ministers and MPs – he has been less than successful in handling the media. Jaitley enjoys excellent personal rapport with the Lutyen’s media – particularly the English TV channel star anchors. But, this doesn’t extend to the vernacular and regional media. Besides, good media relationship does not always make for effective media management. His junior ministers in I&B are inexperienced. He for one should have insisted that the PM doesn’t keep the Media Advisor’s office vacant and, if necessary, brought in the international agency who had reportedly handled Modi’s election campaign as a consultant.

As someone – whom obviously the Prime Minister not only trusts but also, presumably, listens to _ Jaitley should counsel him to increase both the width and depth of talent by inducting more technocrats and competent but savvy politicians (like Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal) into his team. The latter are necessary not only to manage the external environment but also work with the bureaucratic red-tape – that can otherwise trip the best of Ministers as Suresh Prabhu and Manohar Parrikar are learning at their own cost. This would give Jaitley the time, space and – most importantly – distance to do what he likes best – strategize and back channel management – a la Pranab Babu – preparing himself for the coveted role of being the logical successor of Modi in good time.

Article first published in +ABP NEWS Click here to read

Trauma and Coma

As the nation recovers from the trauma of the Anna Hazare’s Ram Lila Saga - the government seems to have quietly slipped back to its pristine state of virtual coma.

Sometimes I suspect, the peoples’ grouse against this government is not as much because it is deemed to be corrupt as it is considered incompetent.

At least the crisis had stirred the ruling party to some kind of action – however, misguided or ham-handed they might have been. But, once the situation was brought under control by the wily manipulations of the Machiavellian Bong – Congress’ “man for all seasons” , Pranab Mukherjee - the party seems to be again at a loss for direction.

I for one always felt that - Anna was merely a 'symbol' of the issue that is agitating the national psyche (Please read my earlier blog: Jai Ho by clicking here). By his near ascetic persona built on a Gandhian mould he was able to capture the imagination of the nation as a crusader against corruption. To me his idiosyncrasies – such as not allowing the youth of his village to drink and flogging them in public if caught – are no more relevant than Gandhi’s kinks of sleeping naked with nubile women and making his wife clean toilets. Equally, accusation of being an unelected, ‘self-appointed’ peoples’ representative etc, doesn’t wash. Today – by definition - you cannot win elections unless you are corrupt. Equally, any alleged chinks in the credentials of Anna’s associates can’t detract from their cause.

I could myself write a thesis on how corruption is ingrained in our bones and – notwithstanding the morality preached in our scriptures – Indians are genetically coded to be corrupt. So, I have no illusions that, a Lokpal Bill would have been a panacea (or to use the new favourite catchphrase “magic wand” – wand pronounced as ‘waand”) of all ills. But, that’s not the reason why we should throw the baby out with the bath-water.

The Prime Minister has himself acknowledged his government is perceived to be the most corrupt government in the history of India. The Lokpal Bill presented to him an opportunity to seize the agenda turn the problem on its head. He could have cleverly appropriated (or, in the least, co-opted) the ownership of the idea (as they had done – by default or design – in the case of RTI) and initiated effective steps to give the country a powerful machinery for tackling corruption. That would have also been a good way to shift away the focus from the individual to the larger cause. But, alas they lack both in intent and statesmanship.

Instead what we are seeing is the relapse of arrogance - with spin masters like Salman Khurshid asserting - "we may have made errors in judgment, but didn't commit any mistakes". We see the government and the party behaving churlishly - as if they were forced to swallow a bitter pill - which, being unable to digest, they are trying to eject out of their system by a combination of emetics and purgatives. In a classic case of shooting the messenger – the media has become the favourite fall guy to cover up the bungling of the government – the likes of Kapil Sibal suddenly feeling jilted by their favourite TV news anchors.

So, a GoM (group of ministers) has been appointed to tackle the media (making it difficult not to draw parallels with the Emergency) and the dirty tricks department has been commissioned to split ranks within Anna’s supporters, rent opposing voices of dissent, order searches and investigations to rip open their past and try to trip them with notices and charges of tax non-compliances or violations. The political crisis managers surely realize, far from embarrassing or discrediting them by these motivated actions – they are only exposing the government’s dubious designs further.

The first thing to do at such uncomfortable times is to cast doubts about the funding of the agitation. The Congress did this during the JP movement accusing it of being funded by the CIA and, I was reading Ajoy Bose’ Political Biography of Mayawati last night – the same insinuation was made against Kanshiram in the early days of the BSP. That could well be the truth, as Congress politicians surely know how political campaigns are financed. One hears similar whispers about Indian intelligence agencies inspired actions in our neighbouring countries. In Nepal, where I have lived for some length of time, almost everything – from rising prices to riots - is blamed on machinations of RAW. So, those who are asking, who paid for Anna’s medical bills at Medanta, may also like to put the same question to the first family of the Congress Party. The declared combined wealth of Sonia and Rahul would not be enough to pay for their trips, holidays and SG’s treatment abroad. But then, why should someone ask the obvious. (See link by clicking here)

The exercise of asking Ministers to declare their assets was similarly farcical. It raised more questions than it answered. If the idea was to build credibility and show transparency – the effect was just the opposite. Surely, the government doesn’t think the people of India are such morons to believe the ridiculous disclosures of wealth. But, they probably think that the people simply don’t care – so politicians can get away with anything.

One would have thought – the Anna episode would have served as a wake up call. But, alas you can’t hear the alarm clock in a state of coma.

Post-script

Pranab Mukherjee calls India – the greatest functional democracy, whatever that means. The truth is today – the government has stopped “functioning” and Congressmen are busier discussing the state of Sonia Gandhi’s health than the state of the nation.

Speculations are rife about how unwell she is and whether she’d be able to resume her normal duties soon or she’ll return briefly to anoint the 41 year old “Prince Charming”, if not for the big job, at least as the “working president” of the party.

It’s ironical when the Prime Minister underwent a major coronary by-pass surgery – the government didn’t think it necessary to appoint an interim head – the unstated assumption being everyone knew where the real power strings were firmly held. But, now that the mighty lady herself is out of action we are kept equally in the dark – as it is considered to be a “private affair”.

The nation’s right to know – who’s going to be in charge should an unfortunate eventuality strike – is kept firmly in suspended animation. The allies and the opposition are deferentially silent. I see this as a rather ‘dysfunctional’ democracy – though some would even go to the extent of calling it a Banana Republic.