If Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament (MP)-turned-rebel Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar is the mastermind behind the splitting of the party, Satabdi Roy is the second-in-command. Unlike Ghosh, Roy is not the “chief disrupter” so to speak, but she is certainly one who has played a major role in weaning away MPs from a party that former chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee is credited to have created with her sweat and blood and built brick by brick. Literally.
Even while turning rebel, Roy’s affection for Mamata is intact: “I will love Didi till my last breath. Everyone loves Didi and feel she is one of her own,” she said in an interview to a national daily recently.
This coming from a loyalist-turned-rebel speaks volumes of Banerjee’s emotional quotient and connect.
However, Roy rues the change that Banerjee has undergone in past years: “Didi has changed. In the past, she was lovable and available…maybe power has changed her” read gone to her head.
On her part, Roy was disappointed to see that far from a course correction, Banerjee is not even addressing the issue of the how and why the TMC lost the recent election: “It was then that I decided to leave,” she said.
Despite the drubbing that Banerjee and her party got, Roy still counts Banerjee among the “most popular and intelligent politicians in India”. The problem: Banerjee’s failure to assess the reasons of the TMC rout; her failure to read the writing on the wall and turn a blind eye to the goings-on.
It is for this reason that Roy has renamed Banerjee as Dhritrashtra: the central figure in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
When asked Roy said: “For someone who does not see or listen what can one say except Dhritrashtra?”
It is in this context that Banerjee needs to look within and “change her mentality and be more flexible and accessible,” said Roy.
Citing an instance, Roy said prior to the elections when she sought an appointment from Banerjee, her OSD wanted to know “the subject” of the meeting: “What is my subject? Really? I am a four time MP and have known Didi for 17 years and now I have to tell an OSD why I want to meet Didi”, she said.
Roy is also not among those who are crying foul over the Special Intensive Revision exercise. “What about corruption? That is the main thing and people have voted against us on that issue. Add to this the overconfidence of the leadership to get away with murders and sidelining seniors within the party and making them powerless,” she said.
On corruption not being a recent phenomenon and on why it did not play out in the last two elections that TMC won, Roy said that people give several chances to the incumbent before axing them. “People felt that things will improve and they gave more than one chance to Didi and her party. Also people prefer to wait and watch before jumping to a conclusion. It takes time,” she said, giving an interesting analogy: “Even in a family if there is a divorce one gives time to one’s husband to make amends. You don’t revolt in a day”.
Unlike many of her colleagues, Roy is not gunning for Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and political heir. “I believe Abhishek is young, smart and intelligent. He has potential. We won earlier elections because of Abhishek. I support Abhishek, but what I don’t support is his lifestyle,” she said. Decode this and it translates to his flamboyance and flaunt which is in direct contrast to his aunt’s hawai chappal image. “Mamata Banerjee’s USP is her simplicity”, said Roy.
Didi’s biggest mistake: “Mamata Banerjee left every decision to Abhishek Banerjee which was wrong. Her fully depending on him was her undoing,” Roy said.
The party’s rout was a reality that struck and struck hard. “It was tough to accept that we had lost and the fact that Didi was no longer the chief minister. I cringe to think that our party is not in power. Even now I find it hard to believe,” Roy said.
Yet, Roy is not among those who are hurling the “Us or Abhishek” choice at Mamata Banerjee. “Didi is emotionally attached to Abhishek, but she needs to rethink about the others also…what they want: the leaders and cadres. She needs to introspect on why so many have rebelled and gone against her. That is the key,” she said.
Given that she and other rebels suffered in silence for several years, so why the revolt now and pat comes the reply: “Kab tak…till when should we continue to suffer. It has to end sometimes”.
Equally, Roy rules out a “rethink” on the part of the rebel group. In other words, a “patch-up” with Banerjee. “It is too late for that,” she said.
As for the BJP’s spectacular win and a complete wash out of the TMC, Roy puts it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s charisma, BJP’s governance model and TMC’s own follies. “Everything put together. The people wanted a change and wanted a double-engine government,” she said. In other words, Mamata out and BJP in.
As for the fate of the breakaway group, Roy said: “We are a separate group and want a separate block in Parliament”. On the possibility of the rebel group joining the BJP, she was evasive. “We can’t say anything. Time will tell.” In other words, wait and watch for things and events to unfold.
—The writer is an author, journalist and political commentator
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