Jemon Dekhechi: Mamata Banerjee Ke Ami

The Chief Secretary looked confused. Mamata pulled out a tattered notebook from her bag. I swear to you, it was the same brand of 2-rupee notebook I used in school. She had written down the number of inundated villages from a caller who had reached her mobile phone at 5 AM.

There is no neutral way to observe Mamata Banerjee. You either see the storm or the survivor. Over the years, as I have watched her from rally podiums, corridor scrums, and late-night dharnas, the woman I have seen is not just the Chief Minister of West Bengal. She is a force of nature wrapped in a white cotton saree and rubber slippers. mamata banerjee ke ami jemon dekhechi

She is a tribal leader. And by that, I do not mean a tribal community leader (though she champions tribals). I mean she runs the state like a tribal chieftain: everything is personal. There is no impersonal bureaucracy in her mind. A broken road is not an administrative failure; it is a personal insult to the people of that para (locality). A defection of an MLA is not politics; it is a betrayal of the family. The Chief Secretary looked confused

In 2011, when she took oath as the Chief Minister, the image shifted. The rebel had become the ruler. This transition is perhaps the most fascinating She had written down the number of inundated