Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was put on oxygen support on Tuesday after she developed breathing problems on the 23rd day of her fast. After having successfully persuaded Ratan Tata to locate Tata Motors’s small car project in Hooghly district’s Singur area, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Tuesday said that he could not possibly ask the industrialist to retrace his steps. BJP chief Rajnath Singh met Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee and held Bhattacharjee for Mamata’s health. Earlier last week anxious at the health of Trinamool Congress chief Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday requested her to end her hunger strike but she refused to budge. The prime minister sent his request in a communication through Information and Broadcasting Minister PR Dasmunsi as his emissary to the Trinamool supremo at her sit-in in Kolkata.
With fast deteriorating health, Mamata’s fast is clearly headed for the end game, Offstumped examines the likely fallout.
All eyes are on the man in the hot seat, the not so smiling Buddha, the man the mainstream media just a few months back hyped and marketed as a Brand Buddha. It is amazing how excited the boys and girls of Indian Mainstream Media get all excited when it comes to covering anything communist in a positive light. It was very instructive to see Brand Buddha being celebrated by the mainstream media just a few months back when the Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury lead CPI-M romped home in Bengal with absolute majority. Mamata Bannerjee was practically written off after that election, some in the media had written her off even before that election. The stormy petrel of Bengal politics like Uma Bharathi was known more for her histrionics than political acumen. But Offstumped has all along held the view that it was a tad unfair of the mainstream media to be so critical of Mamata.
Many of my fellow bloggers and seasoned right of center commentators in the media have taken issue with Mamata on Singur and have backed Brand Buddha. What with Arundhati Roy and Medha Patkar keeping her company. Offstumped is stepping on controversial waters here in backing Mamata against Brand Buddha. Let us get into the underlying debate first to better understand this contrarian position.
First why is the media being unfair on Mamata. The reasons are manifold, primary being her earthiness and defying every stereotype there is out there of the Bhadralok. Her brand of politics is too raw for them to digest. But Offstumped believes that in a state which has been ruled by the Communists for over two decades, the fact that there is not a single male politician worth his salt who could challenge the communists, that fact alone should be reason enough to give Mamata’s brand of politics a very wide latitude. Look at who the Congress had for West Bengal State President – Pranab Mukherjee. This guy who never won a Lok Sabha election until 2004. Uninspiring, non-threatening barely visible Pranab Mukherjee who is the anti-thesis of a popular leader, was the president of the state congress. It speaks volumes about the state of the opposition on Bengal. So extreme and dire is the vaccum of leadership in Bengal that desperate times call for desperate measures. Hence you have brand Mamata – shrill and raw. In a state controlled by Masculine Communist Mafioso for over two decades and with no hope of a credible opposition emerging in the next decade either, the lone woman ranger should be forgiven for her lumpeness. Hence Offstumped believes the mainstream is being unfair to Mamata.
Now coming to the issue at hand in Singur. Offstumped is once again taking a controversial position in a departure away from my fellow bloggers and right of center commentators. Offstumped is opposing the manner in which the West Bengal Government granted Singur to the Tatas. Here is the rationale. Offstumped is a strong believer in economic reforms and industry dont get me wrong here. But first and foremost Offstumped believes in the cardinal principle of economic freedom. Economic Freedom not of Brand Buddha and the West Bengal State Government but Economic Freedom of the people of Singur. Offstumped has always believed that Local Communities not centralized Bureaucracies must be in control of the destiny. Decisions of the kind in Singur should be best left to the judgement of the community of Singur and should not be concieved and executed from Kolkota. So Offstumped’s opposition to Singur is not because of the Small Car Project being located in the fertile land of Singur but because the decision was made in Kolkota and not by the people of Singur.
So with Mamata’s health headed south what is the end game in Singur. Clearly the media and the West Bengal Government underestimated Mamata’s resolve. They expected the political tamasha to end after the usual song and dance. That unfortunately was not to be. As Offstumped had earlier predicted, Mamata was going for the jugular here placing the political bet of her life with her life. Now that things are at the brink how will this play out. Offstumped Buddha has shown the way out with his remarks “I will not ask Ratan Tata to retrace his steps”. What Buddha is in effect telling Ratan Tata is “I will not ask you to leave but you get the message, leave of your own accord and I will not stop you”. Buddha i hoping to take the politically convenient route here, by not appearing to the backdown but hoping that the problem goes away of its own accord.
Barring anything unforeseen happening to Mamata in the next couple of days, this is the most likely scenario that will play out. There will be long term ramifications of this scenario and this could mark the beginning of the end of the Congreess CPI-M bonhomie. The Singur issue has been marked by stony silence from Sonia. Not too long ago Sonia had called for the Congress to take on the Left in the States, but her call met with resistance from the Government which needed the Left to not rock the boat on the Indo-US Nuke deal and others. Sonia’s silence on Singur will be untenable and sooner than later the Party will trump the Government and we will see the chasm between the Left and the Congress widen. The Tata’s leaving Singur will be a big bloody red nose for the Left in their bastion. They will be far less forgiving of the UPA’s right leaning decisions going forward.
As far as the Tata’s go Offstumped has few tears for them. In fact Offstumped does not believe in bearing the water of Free Market economics for the Indian Business Houses. They have done little to further the cause of Free Market Economics in India. They have cut deals on all sides of the political divide based on convenience. Having done little to further the cause of Economic Freedom by working to support and sustan a political movement dedicated to its cause the Indian Business Houses should expect little by way of support when the politics gets to be inconvenient to them. So Offstumped’s message to the Businesses is
“Far too long have you supped with the devil to expect us to come to your aid. Demonstrate your commitment to economic freedom by supporting Right of Center Politics and only then will we come to your aid”.
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Hi Offstumped
Excellent analysis
It perplexes me too- the support and respectability that Buddhadeb undeservedely enjoys .
Here is a man who was key member of the government that presided over the most regressive regime that destroyed great state of India.
Cuts a deal with Tatas and refuses to divulge the details of the deal .His Industry Minister refuses to divulge the details calling it “trade secret”
You wrought havoc on the state economy for 30 years,overnight transform as torch bearer of industralisation,cut a dubious deal with Tata and if legtimate questions are asked ,comes the retort”Bengal is backward.We need to usher industries at all cost.”
If not for anything,i would give it to Mamta for exposing the hypocrisy of the leftists in their own backyard
Its a yeoman service that she is doing to this nation-after the Singur issue communist can easily get away practising the regressive politics of opposing development elsewhere
why feel sorry for the tatas or express joy?
they are a business and a business looks for its own interests…if this project stays in bengal, it will be a victory for the reversal of decades old left thinking…but if not they can just go to the south or elsewhere….money and the market don’t have emotions….and why do you criticize businesses in India? after all how are they to be responsible for the ridiculous laws that Indian bureaucrats make? their job is to figure out ways to beat a harsh system and they come out splendidly…look at what the ambanis achieved…they managed to grow and how in such a straitjacketed system..created jobs..added to their balance sheet and marshalled some amazing resources to create wonders..don’t blame businesss…blame the system…the system that keeps human freedom shackled…
Please proof-read your posts.
Thanks Manu will do.
Here mamata is not correct . It is a very bad dessision for her to destroy Tata . The unemployed person rising tomorrow.
The people who are shedding crocodile tears for the Tatas wilfully ignore certain facts. These are:
1. One Tata Nano factory going away from Bengal will be just one more factory going away from Bengal. Even under the Great Leader Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, a large number of industrial investors have left the state. Over the past three-four years I have come across a large number of reports in the Bengal media about heavy industries, IT industries and service companies folding up operations in Calcutta after realising that Buddha’s magic is just, well, magic.
2. The Tata-Buddha patronised media are acting as if all the problems of Bengal will be washed away if one Tata Nano factory comes up here. Look at the number of jobs generated — 1,700 at the mother plant and about 2,000 in the ancilliaries. Total, about 3,700, OK let’s round it off at 4,000. Don’t tell me about the “indirect jobs” that would be generated. That’s pernicious wisdom. Where do you begin to count an indirect job and where do you end? Even a prostitute who makes a buck giving a Tata Motors coolie oral sex can be counted as getting indirect employment. But look at the number of farmers displaced. Some 20,000 people used to make a living off those 997 acres formerly.
3. These people are not distracted by the fact that while all this so-called “industrialization” is going on for the benefit of a few educated people who would anyway have found employment, Bengal has actually been slipping into deeper and deeper poverty. Various surveys conducted by federal and non-government agencies have revealed that Bengal is a)the hungriest state where the maximum number of people go hungry for the longest period of each year; b) Bengal has the highest school dropout rate; 3) per capita consumption of electric power is among the lowest in Bengal -Census 2000 says more than 80 per cent of people live without electricity; 4) the state has the worst implementation rate of central development projects like NREGA, SSA, JNURM, Bharat Nirman, etc.; 5)Bengali girls outnumber their sisters from all other states in the brothels of Delhi and Mumbai; 6) Bengal’s health record is one of the worst in the country. And so on. These facts are not privilege. Anybody can google “West Bengal education”, “West Bengal hunger”, etc. to find out. So, how much will change by Tata Nano opening its grand factory in Singur?
4) The Singur imbroglio is the creation of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He may impress the editor of Business World magazine with his claims to the contrary, but the people of Bengal know better. Even members of his own Cabinet, especially Land Minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah,know he is lying. Right from Day One, he has been putting out lies. First he said the land at Singur was not agricultural in nature. Then he misrepresented the Tatas as saying that every displaced family will get employment — which was subsequently denied by the Tatas. Then he lied that all the farmers were willing to give up their land. He presented one set of statistics at a press conference, and quite another in the State Assembly. Finally, the affidavit presented in Calcutta High Court admitted to 305 acres being the contentious area.
5) The Chief Minister has been assuring everybody since October 2006 that a “land map” of the state demcarcating the agricultural lands from the non-agricultural ones was under preparation. But it was another of their great unfulfilled promises. Finally, on the evening of September 2, the Industries Minister presented a “map” during an extended Star Ananda interview in which the lands of the unwilling farmers were represented in red and those willing in white. As was to be expected, the red lands were shown as scattered, lacking contiguity. Which mapping agency did it? We don’t know. How come, only the previous evening, Aparna Sen and two other intellectuals said quite the opposite?
Finally, we don’t need lessons in politicization from the CPM. We have seen how they have politicized everyday life in Bengal. So, now that the boot is on the other foot, it hurts, does it Comrade?
The biggest losers from the Singur episode, if the problem is not resolved, are :-
1. people of Bengal
2. Trinamool Congress
Tatas will be hit in the short term but will recover and the Nano project ROI will strech out by a year or so. BUT THEY WIIL BE ABLE TO ABSORB THE COST !
Brand Buddha will not dent in the minds of the people of Bengal – since the general perception is that he pushed hard (by legal, if not completely moral, means) to bring industry and emplyment to Bengal. Land acquisition is always a sticky issue across the country. Many villagers in Singur and other areas did not really want Tatas to go. Politically, I feel, TMC may have to pay a price, though I am no fan of CPM ! The best thing to happen to thepeople of Bengal would be if Congress can come to power. THOUGH NO CHANCES OF THAT IN THE NEXT ROUND OF ELECTIONS !
Things would have been far easier for West Bengal had CPM not withdrawn support from Congress-led Govt in the Centre. Then the Central Govt would have intervened to see the Nano project thru for the State.
BENGAL HAS PAID THE PRICE FOR THE INTRANSIGENT STAND BY KARAT ON THE N-DEAL ISSUE !
ROW
BB and Mamta, both bengali leaders have messed up big time.
Any land transaction should be between two and two party only. Either Tata and People of Singur OR Tata and Government (land should ofcourse be government).
Communist failed to recognize individual rights to land. If Tata wanted to setup plant in singur, Tata should have negotiated with people of singur to buy land at market rate. Rather than Government grabing land at whatever rate it can fancy of.
Mamata tried taking maximum advantage of political mess BB has created. She should settle for good monetary deal for farmers rather for 400 acres of land.
This exactly is difference between BB and Narendra modi. Namo had played it clean and clear,, if you want to setup plant on non-government land,, go and buy land for yourself.
Also read this…
http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?tp=on&autono=45949
[...] quote Offstumped from 26th December 2006 when the Singur issue first flared [...]
[...] takes their sentiments seriously to reiterate that Offstumped’s stands by its original stance from 2006 on eminent domain and the mode of land acquisition. It was wrong for the CPI-M to acquire land for [...]