Kolkata, Dec 31 (IANS): Prominent intellectuals who once batted for the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress in West Bengal during the Nandigram-Singur anti-land acquisition movement are now maintaining a "socio-political distance" from the ruling formation ahead of the crucial 2021 state Assembly polls.
Veteran theatre personalities such as Bibhas Chakraborty, singer-composer Nachiketa Chakraborty, actor Kaushik Sen and many others, who used to be seen on the forefront of Trinamool rallies, have openly developed distance from the incumbent party and have now become its staunch critics. Those who were with Mamata, even after her party stormed to power in 2011, are veering towards the fence, following the snowballing political clashes taking place in various districts.
At the fag end of being into the seat of power, Trinamool Congress is facing a stiff challenge of an intellectual exodus from its stable. Today there is a sharp division among the intellectuals who were with her during the agitations in Singur and Nandigram and who had provided moral support to Mamata to oust the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led world's longest-serving Left regime.
"After a decade I feel deeply ashamed as we were part of the people's movement that took place in Bengal under the banner of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. The lumpenisation of politics has taken a different turn over here. The ruling party workers are now into all sorts of illegitimate activities across Bengal and the worst part is once we all had voiced protests against these things only. So, the change that we wanted has turned out to be an ultimate farce," Bibhas Chakraborty told IANS.
Known as a noted ideologue, Chakraborty said that he has decided to maintain a "socio-political distance" from the Trinamool Congress and its activities now. He also slammed the ruling party for displaying 'totalitarian and dictatorial traits' and called for electoral reforms.
"It is better not to talk about it. Only thing that I want to say is we never wanted this to happen in Bengal. So, I just want to stay away from it. But Bengal will have a disabled democracy if this goes on too long," the octogenarian thespian said.
The rift between a section of Bengali intellectuals and the Trinamool Congress developed in 2018 when the state's ruling party was desperate to ensure a walkover. They wanted to leave no trace of opposition by disabling and ruining democracy. Sharp reactions had come following widespread violence across Bengal over filing of nominations for the three-tier rural polls scheduled in May, 2018.
The ruling party's attempt to win elections without facing a contest had made the whole clan deeply worried. Disgruntled intellectuals like academician Sunando Sanyal and painter Samir Aich also resigned from government positions in the past that Mamata had offered them after coming to power. Sanyal had resigned three months after being appointed chairman of the higher education committee.
Singer-composer Nachiketa Chakraborty was one such name who had shadowed Mamata during her struggling time, singing songs to mobilise the village folks across Bengal. Asked if he feels that was a mistake on his part, he told IANS: "That was 10 years ago. I was comparatively young at that time and had limited understanding of politics. I never wanted to become a minister. I did what I felt right at that juncture. It will not be repeated again."
Nachiketa said that time also he was a singer and sang songs to motivate people protesting against the misrule of the Left Front government. "I don't want to talk about anything political. Now also, my identity is I am a singer and will continue to remain a singer in the years to come. This is my world and I don't want to switch to anything now," he pointed out. Some intellectuals feel that there seems to be no control on unruly elements in the party and criminals are calling the shots.
Mamata has always invoked the soft sentiments of Bengali icons like Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul Islam, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and many others playing songs and poems in the background of her political rallies. To counter the saffron surge, recently she was seen walking with a Tagore's portrait in Birbhum's Santiniketan. She took part in the road-show fondly hugging the poet's portrait and launched a fierce attack at her arch adversary Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the rally.
Recently, a section of intellectuals, backed by the Trinamool Congress, staged a protest in Kolkata against the controversy over Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's Santiniketan home in West Bengal. The protest programme, convened by theatre personality and West Bengal minister for science and technology Bratya Basu, was held in front of the premises of Kolkata's Academy of Fine Arts.
According to sources, the party had really struggled to get representatives from the city's civil society in order to vent protest under the banner of Trinamool Congress. Only a few had actually turned up at the venue.
The protest event was attended by noted Bengali poet Joy Goswami, Subodh Sarkar, painter Jogen Chowdhury, Suvaprasanna, filmmaker Arindam Sil, singer Soumitra Roy and many others - all known as Trinamool supporters. Activists armed with Trinamool party flags were also seen taking part at the event.
The protest programme was organised after the varsity had said that there was an unauthorised occupation of 13 decimals of land, in addition to 125 decimals legally leased to Amartya Sen's late father by Visva-Bharati authorities.