WILL COVID MISHANDLING COST MAMATA IN 2021 ELECTIONS?

WB CM Mamata Banerjee | File Photo

The Covid-19 crisis has brought into focus the leadership and administrative abilities of chief ministers across the country, with several rising to the occasion to manage the pandemic’s fallout in a measured manner. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, however, has been an exception — combative, displaying a poor grip over governance, and as fickle-minded as ever.

That is the Mamata Banerjee playbook. When in doubt, blame Modi’s central govt. So, when the Coronavirus pandemic struck, she did the same. But her political game is getting exposed now, when she can least afford it – with West Bengal assembly election less than a year away.

COMPARING WITH COLLEAGUES

The assembly election due next year seems to have overwhelmed everything else for Banerjee, and the result: shrill politics took precedence over mature governance. The Covid-19 crisis for Mamata Banerjee has been characterized by a constant tug-of-war with PM Modi-led Centre. The attempt to suppress data, unnecessary mavericks and rhetoric underscores her chief focus — 2021 state polls.

Thus, while CMs such as Yogi Adithyanath in UP, Naveen Patnaik in Odisha, Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala, the BJP dispensation in Assam led from the front by Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have displayed an impressive ability to tackle this unprecedented situation, and Mamata Banerjee has been left far behind. Compare her track record with other chief ministers having a similar street-style politics and combative equation with the Centre — Arvind Kejriwal — and you find a world of a difference, with the latter handling the crisis in a fairly measured, effective manner. Some other chief ministers like Uddhav Thackeray have handled the situation in a deeply disappointing manner. But even then, nobody has seemed quite as impulsive and aggressive as Mamata Banerjee.

THE CORONA POLITICS

For Mamata Banerjee, the Covid-19 pandemic has become yet another political tool. Banerjee is looking at an election next year, and any politician’s instinct would be to act in a manner that would strengthen his/her bid to come back to power, especially after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls showed a BJP upsurge in the state, and how Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have their eyes set on Mamata’s ground. But Mamata Banerjee’s entire conduct all this while has been about taking the Centre head on by blaming the Modi government for the health crisis. 

Early on in March, when the coronavirus spread was still in its initial stages, Mamata alleged that the BJP government was creating panic over the virus to divert attention from the Delhi riots. For the chief minister of a state to downplay a serious health emergency in order to score political points was very irresponsible and childish. However, that was just the start. Mamata, since then, has been engaged in a constant tussle with the Modi government, blaming supply of faulty kits from the Centre for the slow pace of testing in West Bengal. Mamata has also blamed the Centre for a delay in imposing the lockdown and not shutting down airports early enough.

AND MODI IS TACKLING MAMATA

Of course, the Modi government has been calling out her government for poor handling of the crisis with the home ministry declaring it would send two Inter Ministerial Central Teams to seven locations in the state to assess the situation.

But Mamata is not the only political adversary Modi has. Arvind Kejriwal has had a particularly unpleasant and troubled relationship with the Centre. Then, there are Congress CMs like Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel. But they seem to be working well towards battling the crisis, in tandem with the central government and with the spirit of ‘cooperative federalism‘. Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress, on the other hand, have constantly escalated the political rhetoric. Add to it, the frequent tussles with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar. There is, frankly, nothing new about Mamata Banerjee’s approach. This is how her politics has always been: confrontational, high-pitched and bold. 

Qualities that are indeed admirable in their impact, shown particularly in how she single-handedly managed to end an over three-decade-long Communist rule in West Bengal. Mamata can hold her own, even in front of Modi’s popularity. She has a distinct style. Someone who can even say she wants to give the PM a “slap of democracy” in the middle of a heated campaign. But these are the very qualities that can become a politician’s enemy when on full display as an administrator, and no less in the middle of a crisis of an epic proportion like the current pandemic.

THE HANDLING OF THE PANDEMIC

Mamata’s handling of the pandemic has been a big issue, besides her political approach to it. Her government has been accused of deliberately understating numbers, downplaying the crisis, making it seem like the TMC government is in full control of the health situation. The government stopped publishing its daily medical bulletin after 1 April, which used to include all relevant updates, leading to a backlash from the opposition. The bulletin was subsequently re-started but with an altered format and fewer details.

The numbers, meanwhile, had a big mismatch. For instance, a month ago on 3 April, Mamata said that the active cases in West Bengal for Covid-19 were 38, while the health ministry website showed the state had 63 confirmed cases. West Bengal’s coronavirus death figures went up nearly four times in just 24 hours after the Centre launched a probe. Mamata has also shown her ‘irresponsible’ side — taking to the streets to make a statement amid the pandemic, but without adhering to social distancing norms and violating the lockdown.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It is only recently that Mamata decided to mend her ways, perhaps getting some feedback about the discomfort of her voters with her handling of the crisis. Mamata’s Covid strategy may be seeing a turnaround now, but her behavior so far has failed to show the maturity that is expected of a leader of her stature, especially during a public health emergency.

No voter wants to see a heated up political drama amid a pandemic that everyone is afraid of. And besides, she has done a great disservice to her position as chief minister by letting the aggressive, impulsive and election-driven politician in her get the better of the leader she is. And this may cost her very dearly in the upcoming elections. 

JAI HIND!