What is the Reason Behind Mamata’s ‘Royal Stubbornness’?

Neerja Chaudhary Senior Political Commentator

Mamta Banerjee has once again taken an unexpected step. The defeated Chief Minister of Bengal has announced that she will not resign. He alleges that there was looting of votes in the elections and the names of his supporters were removed from the voter lists. But the most important aspect in the current circumstances is her statement that she will work for the India alliance.

Whereas in the past his relationship with this alliance has been wavering. The moment of defeat of a popular and powerful leader is always a very emotional one. In 1977, when the results of the general elections were coming, a disappointed Indira Gandhi had told her friend Pupul Jayakar – “Pupul, I have lost.” Both the women sat together silently. Within minutes, one of the most powerful women in the world at that time suddenly became vulnerable.

The drums playing outside were no longer praising him, but were celebrating his departure. Whereas these elections of 1977 were organized by Indira herself when Emergency was still in force in the country. Her party was wiped out in North India, and she even lost her seat.

As per established tradition, Indira announced her resignation and then went to present the resignation letter to the then Acting President Basappa Danappa Jatti. However, he requested him to continue in the post until alternative arrangements are made.

Former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral had once said that one of the reasons for the extraordinary strength of India’s democracy is that after elections it is able to have a smooth transition from one government to another, peacefully and without violence or resistance. Gujral was referring to 1996. Then Congress led by Narasimha Rao had lost the general elections and BJP government was formed under the leadership of Vajpayee.

But that too fell in just 13 days, as he failed to muster the majority. After this, the United Front government was formed under the leadership of Deve Gowda. Dramatic developments were witnessed in Parliament and behind-the-scenes activities continued in the corridors of power. But despite all this, the transfer of power took place peacefully and smoothly.

But this is the first time that a Chief Minister has refused to step down after losing the election. This has created a complicated situation. The tenure of the Bengal Assembly is ending today. The tenure of the Chief Minister will also end on this day and legal and constitutional experts are of the opinion that he will have to step down from the post.

If she does not do so, the Governor can dismiss her and invite the leader of the winning party to form the government. Unlike Indira Gandhi – who had announced her immediate resignation and then started fighting a comeback against the public government – ​​Mamata has opted for an immediate aggressive stance.

This is not to say that their objections to the way the SIR process is being conducted are completely baseless. This was done in a hurry and resulted in about 27 lakh voters not being able to vote as their cases had not been resolved. The Supreme Court told them that they can vote next time.

Obviously this entire process could have been handled better. But only time will tell whether Mamata has shown foresight by not resigning or not. This is a step which can have far reaching consequences. This sets an unnecessary precedent, as future Chief Ministers (and possibly even Prime Ministers) may then easily refuse to make way for their successors.

In a huge country like India, questions are constantly raised on the purity of the electoral process and in almost every election, allegations of vote theft in some form or the other have come to the fore. But other measures are also available to protest against it – like filing an election petition or preparing a public opinion.

However, election petitions – due to the long time taken by the courts – have not proven to be a very effective solution so far. In 1971, Raj Narayan challenged Indira Gandhi’s victory when she was at her peak. The Allahabad High Court verdict held him guilty of electoral irregularities and Indira imposed emergency in response to this.

What is important is that it took four years from 1971 to 1975 to get the decision. Today the balance between various institutions is already under great pressure. The growing and intensifying polarization trend in the country – which once again came to the fore during the West Bengal elections – is going to add further stress to this. Mamta knows very well that she cannot remain the Chief Minister.

But he has clearly taken this step for political reasons. She is trying to maintain the morale of the party cadre, which can naturally fall after such a defeat. Cadre-raj is the backbone of TMC. Since she came to power in 2011, it has been working like a parallel system. But this time BJP has broken this structure.

In such a situation, Mamata is giving a message to her supporters that she is not going to give up so easily and will make a comeback. By not accepting the mandate of Bengal, she is trying to reposition herself for future political battles. If Mamata had won for the fourth time, she would have been a natural contender for the leadership of the India Alliance.

But even in defeat, she wants to be seen in a prominent role – not as a defeated leader, but as a victim of injustice. Although Congress has won in Kerala, it knows that it faces big challenges in the elections to be held in 2027-28. The way Rahul Gandhi appealed to support Mamata Banerjee in the last moments should also be seen in this context.

The step was clearly taken for political reasons… Mamta knows that she cannot remain the Chief Minister. But he has clearly taken this step for political reasons. She is trying to maintain the morale of the party cadre, which can naturally fall after such a defeat. Cadre is the backbone of TMC.

(These are the author’s own views)

Make Dainik Bhaskar your favorite source on Google ➔