My meeting with Mamata Banerjee, the tigress of West Bengal

Elections for 294 seats of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held from March 27 in eight phases. The elections will conclude on April 29 and results will most likely be announced on May 5.

Having won the last two elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is fighting tooth and nail against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The latter has invested enormously to dislodge the tigress of West Bengal. Interestingly, the BJP could bag only three seats in the 2016 elections against 211 won by Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress Party (TMC). For the BJP, defeating Banerjee is seen as essential to make further inroads into the eastern Indian states. And for Didi (elder sister), as she is affectionately called, this election is almost a do or die moment.

As Pakistan high commissioner in New Delhi from March 2014 to August 2017, I visited Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, twice. My first visit was in March 2015 and the second time I visited in March 2016 to watch a cricket match between India and Pakistan.

It was during my first visit that I got an opportunity to call on Chief Minister Banerjee in her office on March 18. I would always cherish that meeting. Didi left lasting impressions on my mind not only for her modesty but also her political sharpness and acumen.

Our meeting lasted for almost an hour. I briefed her on the state of Pakistan-India relations, and how we were trying to break the impasse that had yet again struck the bilateral relationship following my meeting with the Kashmiri leadership in August 2014, that is, a few days before the Indian foreign secretary’s scheduled visit to Pakistan. I underlined that the hard position taken by New Delhi had come as a surprise to the Pakistan side.

I am keenly watching the election campaign in West Bengal, and how venomous it has become. Should Banerjee win, this would be her third consecutive victory. She is perhaps the only politician left in India who is putting up real opposition to the BJP. The Indian Congress party has lost most of the political ground it once ruled, and prospects for the party as whole look rather bleak as it appears to continue facing serious leadership crisis at all levels.

Abdul Basit

We never expected Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make our interaction with Kashmiri leaders such a big issue, especially when such meetings were even facilitated by New Delhi, including the BJP government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

There was no doubt Prime Minister Modi had taken the uncompromising position to make electoral gains in the Jammu and Kashmir elections that took place in November 2014. The BJP managed to get 25 out of 87 seats in the Hindu-majority Jammu region. That was unprecedented and for the first time the BJP became a partner in the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.

Banerjee listened to me patiently. My respect for her increased manifold as despite being a bitter political rival of Prime Minister Modi, she did not utter a single word against him. Nor did she engage with me in discussing the complexities of Pakistan-India relations. In short, she conducted herself like a true patriot and statesperson.

She explained to me her development plans and how she was trying to bring about a real difference in the lives of the poor. However, she was open to my suggestions for exploring possibilities for building relations between West Bengal and the Pakistan province of Sindh including twining of Karachi and Kolkata. She, however, asked me to formally route these proposals through India’s Ministry of External Affairs. The continuing stalemate in bilateral relations, however, did not allow my ideas to see the light of the day.

Towards the conclusion of our meeting, she asked me if I had tasted the best mutton biryani in Kolkata. When I said not yet, she asked her staff to send it to my hotel for dinner. I was deeply touched by this gesture. The biryani was no doubt an unforgettable treat.

Now sitting in Islamabad, I am keenly watching the election campaign in West Bengal, and how venomous it has become. Should Banerjee win, this would be her third consecutive victory. She is perhaps the only politician left in India who is putting up real opposition to the BJP. The Indian Congress party has lost most of the political ground it once ruled, and prospects for the party as whole look rather bleak as it appears to continue facing serious leadership crisis at all levels.

The stage is all set for a tough battle in West Bengal. Most Indian psephologists are expecting Banerjee’s TMC to return to power but with a reduced majority. That in any case would not be totally out of place as the long incumbency factor more often than not plays out unhelpfully. However, for the sake of healthy democracy, a strong and robust opposition is necessary. Let us hope the people of West Bengal make the right choice not only for their own vibrant state but for the country at large.

Doubtless, I have my bias and that is not difficult to pick out. I wish the people of West Bengal a very prosperous and peaceful future. 

*Abdul Basit is the president of Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. He was previously Pakistan's ambassador to Germany and Pakistan's High Commissioner to India.

Twitter: @abasitpak1