ON the face of it, Mamata Banerjee has earned an impressive victory in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha polls, winning 34 of the 42 seats in the State. On deeper introspection, however, the victory appears hollow. For, her plan of being in the driver’s seat in the process of government formation in Delhi has fallen flat. With BJP on its own strength gaining an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha and NDA within a striking distance of the magic figure of a two-thirds majority, the government may not need Trinamool’s support on the floor of the House. Except for being a shouting brigade in the Lok Sabha, there may not be any other way in which Trinamool M.P.s can put pressure on the Narendra Modi government. NDA does not have a matching strength in the Rajya Sabha, but there may be other parties like the AIADMK to help the government when needed.
In fact, what Mamata Banerjee may have to worry about now is how to run her citadel in Kolkata smoothly if Delhi turns vengeful. Electioneering in West Bengal has witnessed acrimonious exchanges between Mamata Banerjee and Narendra Modi. This may have contributed to her victory through consolidation of minority votes in favour of Trinamool, but in the end the victory thus earned may turn out to be a pyrrhic one. Admittedly, there are no permanent friends or foes in politics. But, if the soured relations between the two persist, Mamata Banerjee may be on the receiving end as her fund-starved government is badly dependent on the Centre for financial assistance. The Saradha scam is also there, which the CBI is now probing. That Modi himself during the poll campaigning had launched a frontal attack on the West Bengal chief minister and her party on the Saradha issue could be a cause of concern for her.
