By S. N. M. Abdi
Just in case you want to illustrate George Bernard Shaw’s famous remark “politics is the last refuge of scoundrels,” look no further than the Trinamool Congress’ 20 MPs and 65 MLAs who have stabbed Mamata Banerjee in the back after her historic but controversial defeat in the West Bengal legislative assembly elections, and are now shamelessly dancing to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s tune in Delhi and Kolkata.
Their betrayal is strikingly similar to the recent defection of seven Aam Aadmi Party MPs to the BJP, but importantly, it is on a much larger scale with bigger and wider implications for elections, democracy, ethical governance and constitutional morality in the country.
All 20 TMC Lok Sabha MPs and 65 MLAs who have virtually crossed over to the BJP were elected on TMC tickets in the 2024 parliamentary polls and the 2026 WB assembly elections, respectively. On the one hand, the 20 MPs who quit the TMC and joined the hitherto unknown Nationalist Citizens Part of India are openly saying they support the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and would vote for it as a bloc in the future. The Lok Sabha Speaker is most likely to legitimise their blatantly pro-BJP strategy of swelling the NDA numbers needed for pathbreaking constitutional amendments and redrawing India as per the wishes of Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-RSS.
On the other hand, the 65 TMC MLAs who walked out at the BJP’s behest, are calling themselves the real TMC! Their ringleader has been officially recognised as the Leader of the Opposition by the Assembly Speaker as well as the Calcutta High Court. Regardless of these farcical goings-on, I can’t help but ask in sheer bewilderment whether we will ever witness the so-called LoP and his flock hit the streets against the BJP state government on any issue? Haha!
The ultimate goal of all these machinations and horse-trading is to somehow finish off the TMC and Mamata as they constitute a major hurdle in the path of Modi-Shah-RSS. This is as clear as daylight to one and all. But what’s most saddening and disappointing is that there has been no intervention by supposedly upright and neutral figures like the two Speakers in question, or the higher judiciary which could have easily applied the brakes on the shady and unscrupulous goings-on. Speakers are, after all, party animals at the end of the day. But judges? We address them as “My Lord” out of utmost respect and submission. Who should the disenchanted and dispirited citizenry turn to in these trying circumstances?
The media – English, Bengali, print, portals and electronic – is mistakenly calling TMC MPs and MLAs who have crossed over to the BJP “rebels.” This is neither accurate nor fair, and therefore unforgivable. Rebels are an honourable lot, propelled by idealism and principles who defy the system and challenge the establishment risking their lives. But the people’s representatives in question are downright turncoats who have switched loyalties to either evade arrest or command a hefty price in the buzzing marketplace that politics has degenerated into. They are perfect examples of Bernard Shaw’s cynicism and utter disdain for unprincipled politicians.
If an elected people’s representative is dissatisfied or unhappy with the political party which gave him a ticket to contest the polls in the first place, the honourable solution is to resign from the House—whether it is Parliament or Assembly—and fight the by-election, triggered by his resignation, afresh as the candidate of another political party or as an independent. That’s why TMC turncoats clinging to membership of the House in order to serve the BJP’s interests is morally and ethically repugnant. The Speaker doesn’t lack the powers to promptly show turncoats the door — especially when the party they desert lodges a formal complaint – but he is invariably quick to safeguard the interests of his own political masters, throwing Constitutional propriety to the winds.
It is pertinent to note that the shenanigans of TMC turncoats have also flagged these elected representatives’ utter disregard for voters. It seems that most of West Bengal’s MPs and MLAs, whether they belong to the TMC or BJP, don’t give a damn for those who elect them; they don’t hesitate to insult the very people who propel them to victory. They simply don’t respect the people’s mandate, which is the cornerstone of democracy, and flout it with impunity.
Consider this: in the recent WB Assembly elections, the people voted decisively for the BJP resulting in its thumping victory. The people’s verdict was against the TMC. They wanted the BJP to come to power and punish TMC for all its misdeeds. Hence, they voted in as many as 208 BJP MLAs out of 294. But the TMC also harvested a sizeable chunk of votes enabling the TMC to win 80 seats. Those who voted for the TMC obviously didn’t want the BJP to come to power.
During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in WB, those who voted for BJP candidates clearly wanted to see a BJP government at the Centre. And those who didn’t want a BJP government at the Centre voted for TMC. Thanks to voters opposed to the BJP, TMC won as many as 29 Lok Sabha seats out of 42.
But no sooner had the BJP won the Assembly polls when as many as 65 out of 80 TMC MLAs did a somersault in the blink of an eye. Reversing their voter mandate, which was obviously in favour of the TMC and against the BJP, they parted ways with Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee and stood openly with the BJP by branding themselves as the real TMC, which is laughable. Similarly, after the regime change in WB, 20 out of 28 TMC Lok Sabha MPs (one seat is vacant at present) sided publicly with the BJP, defying the voters who elected them to keep the BJP out of power at the Centre two years ago.
While MPs and MLAs still loyal to Mamata are being hounded by enforcement agencies and BJP cadres, the so-called TMC “rebels” are safe and sound as the “good” TMC. Nobody is even throwing rotten eggs at them! And all this is blatantly against the wishes of the sizeable electorate which voted the BJP to power so that TMC leaders are brought to justice. But they are going scot-free simply by crossing over to the BJP, underlining both TMC and BJP leaders’ characteristic utter disregard for those who vote for them.
As things stand today, MPs and MLAs can brazenly defy for five long years the very voters who catapult them to power. This is the privilege that TMC turncoats are wallowing in at present. Indian voters don’t have the power to recall their wayward representatives in Parliament or the Assembly. After casting its vote, the electorate is powerless before elected MPs and MLAs. I know a disgruntled BJP voter who is saying: “Look I voted for a BJP candidate so that the corrupt TMC candidate loses the election. The BJP candidate won and has even become a minister. But now I am appalled to see him and other BJP leaders hobnobbing with the TMC, ostensibly to weaken Mamata. But all this is very disheartening.” Another voter said: “I voted for a TMC candidate in the Lok Sabha election so that the BJP doesn’t come to power at the Centre. He won with my vote and the votes of many others like me. But now he stands with the BJP. My blood boils but what can we do?”
The answer lies in the Right to Recall provision in some democracies which empowers voters to remove or replace their representatives, but there are no signs of such a law being enacted in West Bengal or anywhere else in India. (END)
(S. N. M. Abdi is a distinguished journalist who writes on domestic politics and foreign policy.)
