Mamata Begins A Purge

The West Bengal chief minister is going after ‘traitors’, both in her party and the state administration

- Romita Datta

When the Lok Sabha election results came out, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s first reaction was disbelief. She apparently locked herself up in her room, crying, lambasting party leaders over the phone. Hadn’t they chanted “beyallishe beyallish” (42 out of 42 seats) with her? How did the BJP then get a 40 per cent vote share and 18 seats in West Bengal? Two days later, when she emerged out of her self-imposed confinement, all Mamata could say was, “I don’t accept the verdict.”

What left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief shocked was that no one in her team had foreseen this outcome. As reality dawned, Mamata was quick to pass the buck to her party leaders, accusing them of misinforming her. She has already expressed displeasure with some of her ministers, among them Gautam Deb, Rabindranath Ghosh, Tapan Dasgupta, Sukumar Mahato, Asima Patra, Binay Krishna Barman and Soumen Mahapatra. Mahato and Barman have been stripped of their portfolios after the defeat of TMC candidates in their areas of influence, the Purulia and Cooch Behar LS seats.