Click to play videoNew Delhi: Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has been fasting for 19 days with no mood to call it off. She has been protesting against West Bengal government's decision to hand over farmland in Singur to TATA's for building the Rs one lakh car.
The Chief Minister has written to her, the state industries minister has assured her to keep the farmers interests on mind, but to no avail.
“There is not even one party flag where I am holding my hunger strike from. There are 20 organisations involved. Even leftists are with us. This is not politics. I am a human being first and then a politician,” Mamata Banerjee told CNN-IBN.
That brings us to the question we're asking on India 360 tonight: Is Mamata Banerjee really standing up for the poor or is it just a political battle for the Trinamool Congress leader?
We began by putting the question to people from all sides of the political divide, CPI(M) MP from Kolkata, Mohammad Salim, Trinamool Congress leader, Dinesh Trivedi and CNN-IBN National Editor, Diptosh Majumdar.
Mamata Banerjee seems to be suggesting that it’s not as if it’s a Trinamool Congress agitation. She claimed that she has support from the Left Parties as well. But at the end of the day is this not a battle that is being fought for the very survival of Mamata Banerjee?
“Try to keep a fast for nine hours, leave alone 19 days. Sitting in an air-conditioned studio, we may be passing stupid remarks which are far away from reality. The electronic media has all the clips of people being beaten up. In spite of that it’s sad that we could even think such things,” said Dinesh Trivedi.
So is it a wrong question that we are posing?
“We have been using the phrase ‘out of the box’ these days for people thinking in a novel way. But what Mr Trivedi is saying is a classic example of thinking ‘within the box.’ He’s probably just saying it without thinking of what can really be done for the down-trodden. He should tell us how many MPs are actually with her. There are reports that say that there are more Naxalite think tanks that are with her at this point of time. Even the Prime Minister is saying that it’s something that West Bengal needs very badly,” said Diptosh Majumdar.
But is CPI(M) worried that the ongoing Singur debate could well become a Mamata-centric debate?
"This has nothing to do with the Singur debate. Of course, we are worried about her health. We want her to withdraw it. She can fight against the government but the way she is conducting herself now is childish. Since the start of her career she has been involved in street kind of politics including lots of dharnas and blockades and now she’s back to the same thing,” said Mohammad Salim.
While that maybe a genuine worry, she has managed to hold on to the conscience of a lot of people, particularly in West Bengal.
For how long can Trinamool Congress carry on with this agitation?
There have been a lot of recommendations given by the state government but the Trinamool Congress is in no mood to accept any of those. How long will the party carry on this agitation?
"The government has declared their intention that the car project will be carried out come what may. So what is the proposal?” asked Dinesh Trivedi.
"The problem is that from the very beginning when the question of the project came up the government invited the Trinamool Congress for proceedings at all levels. So it’s not the government that is not spelling it out. It’s the Trinamool Congress that has a negative mindset saying no to industrialisation, no to the car project and any positive actions of the government," said Mohammad Salim.
So where is the debate now headed?
"I think the primary mistake of the Left is committed to a particularly kind of program. They are paying a heavy price for it. Now the Left is trying to shift towards the Centre and maybe even to the Right. So now Mamata Banerjee is trying to fill in the Left space. This is one area in Hugli where she has been winning for the last few elections but she lost in the last elections. She is now just trying to make up for losing ground," concluded Diptosh Majumdar.
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