Deconstructing Didi’s histrionics at Modi’s meet

On the face of it, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s recent outburst against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not making provisions for CMs to speak at a virtual meeting of district magistrates (DMs) on Covid management may appear petulant. She called it a flop show, though she knew fully well that the meeting was designed for the DMs to speak and the CMs to listen. Her equally canny counterparts had no problem with the arrangement. Most of them know when to pick a fight and when to go along with the Centre smoothly. It makes no sense to be always in combat mode. As such, there was hardly any resonance to Mamata’s barbs, and the BJP and its troll army’s rebuttal, too, was low-key. Explaining away Mamata’s sharp language as that of a street fighter for whom offence is the best form of defence could be naive. She is too smart for that. So, what is she playing at?

A couple of weeks ago, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said talks to build a national opposition alliance would start soon and that the Congress would be the soul of the new front. But that goes against Mamata’s ambition to lead the national pushback against the BJP following her massive victory in the recent Bengal elections. The first step for the build-up is to hold a massive victory rally in Kolkata—with invites to heads of opposition parties—where she is idolised as Durga and projected as the only leader capable of stopping the BJP election machine. But the ongoing Covid wave is delaying the mega event. And Raut pulled a fast one by suggesting a central role for the Congress in the new arrangement, though his party treats it like a doormat in Maharashtra. As for Mamata, since she single-handedly achieved the BJP’s goal of making Bengal Congress-mukt, she wouldn’t want the grand old party having any significant say in the opposition grouping. So, the barbs she hurled at Modi were perhaps an oblique shout out to fellow opposition parties to take her leadership credentials as a giant slayer seriously. Mind games for the opposition leadership space have just begun.