In between the theatrical Assembly elections, however, the political debate in West Bengal has recently shifted to another question: Is Mamata Banerjee scheduled to attend the swearing-in ceremony for BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari?
“As per protocol, Mamata Banerjee was invited to the oath-taking ceremony,” stated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The declaration generated waves of political speculation throughout the state. The invitation comes after the BJP came out ahead of poll results, with Suvendu Adhikari at the head of the new administration entering power in West Bengal.
Senior BJP leaders told reporters it is both a democratic tradition and constitutional protocol to invite the sitting Chief Minister, with or without political rivalry. The party said the invitation was a respectful welcome, fitting for people entering government transitions. But Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress (TMC) have not officially confirmed that they were attending the event.
The political feud between Mamata Banerjee and her political opponent Suvendu Adhikari has long been one of the roughest and most closely scrutinised feuds among several West Bengal politicians in recent years. Suvendu, a former TMC confidant of Mamata’s and one of its most dependable lieutenants, now belongs to the BJP, which transformed the state as a result.
The two leaders have been waging savage political wars since then, during election campaigns, Assembly sessions and public meetings. Their rivalry grew fiercer after a previous high-profile Nandigram contest in elections, and their political contest became a national issue. Mamata Banerjee’s choice about the swearing-in ceremony is seen by political analysts as symbolic.
Her presence could, if it ever happens, be considered an act of democratic maturity even as their political fates sharply diverge. But if she were to skip it, the continued political enmity would remain, for the BJP v. TMC fight in Bengal, for the fight not to lose either the current or future governance of the state.
At the same time, just days before the official oath-taking in the state, BJP workers across the state have been readying themselves for big, elaborate events. For now, security is also supposed or needed due to the state’s political instability. And with that one election result, it has finally been a highly charged discussion and reaction to it in Bengal: BJP and the TMC in a heated debate over whether or not the next steps on whether or not the political direction in the state could change (and the way things were done) in the immediate post-election period.
The formation and political alliances in the government are sure, but never in the political relations; everybody is looking forward to seeing whether Mamata Banerjee will manage to see whether and how Suvendu Adhikari’s swearing-in ends. The results for the next few days are not just elections, but one of many determining what’s going to happen next week: whether both state political landscapes are about to give over to Mamata or not.
