Mamata plays a political master stroke

When Mamata Banerjee chased the Tata Nano project out of Singur she was being seen as a monster standing in the path of West Bengal's re-industrialization. A lot of water has flown down the Hoogly since then and the fearsome lady who single handedly caused one of the biggest political upsets for Left in the Lok Sabha. Now she is planning to deliver the final death blows to India's longest running state government.

Mamata played a political master stroke on Sunday when she approached the Centre with a proposal to set up a Railway project of national interest on the 600 acres of land that was acquired for the Tata Motors Nano project. The Union Railway Minister also announced that disputed 400 acres of land will be returned to the farmers who were not willing to part with. The agitation regarding this 400 acre plot had led to the closure of the Tata Nano project.

The West Bengal government had so far failed to attract any major investor to the vacant plot of land since the Tatas closed down shop in last October. Mamata has been on a roll scoring one after another political victory over the Left Front. She said that the railway project would guarantee jobs, development and prosperity like the Tata project so people of Singur will not be deprived of anything due to the closure of the Tata Nano plant.

Mamata's surprise move has put the West Bengal Government into a catch 22 situation. Left's opposition to the project would mean that the party which had cleansed its image under the leadership of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will again be tagged as being Anti-Industrialist. Giving a green signal to the project would mean offering the keys of the Writers to Mamata. This would literally mean committing a political suicide ahead of the 2011 polls.

Her 'Maa Mati Manush' campaign was strong enough to create a public wave against the Left Front and win her majority of the Lok Sabha seats from the state. Mamata has since then rewarded West Bengal under her capacity as the Railway Minister. Now Mamata wants to project herself as the future Chief Minister of the and not be seen a farmer leader standing up against industrialization. Seems like more headache for the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government.

Bengal likely to see violence till 2011

The recent spate of violence in West Bengal by the Congress workers protesting against the assault on eight Congress MLAs by alleged CPI(M) cadres may be just the trailer of a long movie. The political entropy in the state is so high these incidents of violence will continue to play till the 2011 Assembly elections are over. A huge political uncertainly looms over the state and this uncertainly is fuelling fights among political parties.

Six months back nobody could have predicted the lack lustre performance of the Left Front in the Lok Sabha polls. But with successive losses in the Gram Panchyat, Lok Sabha and Municipal elections have left the Left Fort seems shaken in West Bengal. Having drawn first blood in the Lok Sabha poll the Congress and TMC combine is in no mood to let them go. Left Front is at its weakest in decades and people of the state seem to have had enough of the Red Party.

Left Front is at its lowest since it assumed power in 1977 but it will not go down without giving a serious fight. A three decade old regime won't let the power go off that easily. The ground level cadres that the Left Front has patronised for years are resorting to hooliganism time and again. The opposition parties are no better and answering them in the same language. People who hoped for a wind of change to blow across the state are realising the harsh realities of the politics in their state.

The main problem lies with the kind of political culture that has evolved in the state over the years. All the parties are responsible for making politics an act of street violence rather than being played out at the assembly. The Left Front has to take major share of the blame having been in power for so long. Torching of a few buses and pelting of stones is no longer considered unusual in West Bengal. The administration sees this as a normal law and order problem which happens everyday in some or the other part of the state.

The victims as usual are the citizens of the state who have to face the heat of political battles as well live with underdevelopment due to absence of investment. The people of the state for long have faced the apathy of a political front which never accepted that world around them was changing. Now they have to face a new challenge in their everyday lives when the rival political factions resort to hooliganism in the order to gain supremacy.

Red is fading in Bengal

The elections is West Bengal continue to throw surprises. Six months back nobody other than a certain Mamata Banerjee believed that the Red bastion could be shattered in West Bengal. Proving that the Lok Sabha polls were no fluke TMC and Congress won 13 out of 16 municipalities in the state. This comes as a severe blow to the Left leader who have been engaged in a blame game within the party since the humiliating loss in the Lok Sabha Polls.

If some analysts thought the Lok Sabha results were an isolated case they better open their eyes. Bengal not only voted with the country in the parliamentary polls it also voted against its egoistic leaders. The people voted against leaders who could not bring in development form the centre and only raised the decibel levels in the Parliament. People voted out those leaders who always blamed the centre to hide their inefficiency.

Left Front may not have yet seen its worst days, the Assembly Elections in 2011 might see State Government without a 'Left Hand Drive'. In the last three decades of its rule or rather misrule in the state the only thing that the party did was strengthen its network and develop its own structure. The development of the state took a back seat as Left leaders did not foresee a day when they would have to pay the price of their misdeeds.

People around the country never understood why a government which never improved the living standard of the people was being voted in time and again. The truth is many people in Bengal could never imagine what a non-Left government would be. Left got an extended life span post the liberalisation era due to this confusion. What Bengal needed was a trigger and Nandigram exposed the ugly face of left where criminals were sent of rampage on innocent villagers.

It's not certain if a non-Left government would bring in change in the state which is starving for development but one thing is certain people have had enough of Left. The leaders who had taken people and their emotions for granted are finally facing the music. As former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson has rightly said “He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery”

Pranab da should bring goodies to Bengal

For the better part of the last three decades politicians from West Bengal have occupied the opposition benches in the Lok Sabha. The Left Front MPs time and again failed to grab developmental projects by the Centre. What that meant was Bengal remained aloof from the national race to become a global superpower from a third world nation. When the Karunanidhis, Modis, Naidus and the Krishnas were grabbing huge pies from the Centre politicians from Bengal lived up to tag of being OPPOSITION in every sense.

As the country went ahead post liberalisation era Bengal was living in the dark shadows of poverty and underdevelopment. This resulted in huge brain drain out of the state which cost dearly so much so that once the most flourishing province in the days of the British Raj is today counted among the most backward states in the country. Although most of the Bengali ‘bhadralok’ like us would not like to accept this in open but deep down in our heart we cannot even counter it.

The results of the 15th Lok Sabha polls brought in a lot of surprise to the state. The writing on the wall was clear and the people of the state decided Bengal’s car at the Centre won’t have a Left Hand Drive for the next five years. Manmohan’s new Cabinet team will have a record number of representations from the state with Congress’ all weather man Pranab Mukherjee will hold the key portfolio of Finance and Left’s thorn in the flesh Mamata sitting in the engine of the Indian Railways.

The people of the Bengal and surrounding areas in the East and North East will hope to get some special attention from Pranab da. Let us be honest Central Ministers have always showered goodies on their own states holding key portfolios be it the Lalus and Nitish Kumars making Bihar and unofficial hub of Indian Railways or the Naidus and Marans driving lion’s share of the Telecom and Information Technology revolution down south.

The entire Eastern part of the country including the North East has remained backward due to poor representation at the corridors of power. But with Pranab’s command over the Finance the people of Bengal finally have something to rejoice. They hope the UPA government to shower some goodies to the state keeping in mind the assembly elections of 2011. If West Bengal flourishes the tremors of development will reach other neighbouring states as well.

The only worry is the whether the Left will play the role of a responsible opposition at the Centre and speed up development being in the driver’s seat in West Bengal. They have to do a lot of rethinking more so with their ideology. They have to shed their Anti-Americanism and become pro-development in their approach. The problem with them is they oppose the increase in the price of American soft drinks but keep mum when Russia blackmails us to pay them $2 billion dollars after the agreement was signed for $500 million dollars for the Aircraft Carried Admiral Ghroshkov.

It is now over to Pranab Mukherjee and Mamata’s Trinamool to assure the people of Bengal that they really voted for a change. All of us can hope some winds of change will finally blows in West Bengal.

Has Bengal had enough of Left?

The results of the 15th Lok Sabha polls hasn't been too surprising but in the context of West Bengal 'shocking' is the word. The Left was expected to perform badly but nobody thought they would crumble in the manner they did. Not even the worst of the political critics of the Left Front could have predicted this just about two years ago. Mamata's 'Maa Maati Manush' appealed to the people and they did the unimaginable.

The Left parties are finding it tough to understand what went wrong for them. How could a fortified structure they had created in three decades fall like a pack of cards in three years since the violence in Nandigram? From the urban middle class to the Muslims everybody voted against them. They even lost credibility among the rural masses once their stronghold thanks to the mishandling of the Singur and Nandigram crisis.

What was surprising was to see the Trinamool Congress win in most of the urban constituencies and doing a clean sweep of Kolkata. Many would have believed this to be impossible after the dissent that the urban Kolkata had with Mamata Banerjee after she chased away the prestigious Tata Nano project from the state. Many people believed West Bengal did not even have a choice to throw the Left out after the Nano mess.

The thing that went against Left was the consolidation of votes. The urban voter especially the youth always felt let down by the Left rule voted against it. Combined with the Muslim and the rural electorates it formed a lethal combination against the Left. As for the Red Front it was left with votes from their supporters who believed in their ideology and its a known fact that this group is shrinking.

Although the Left leaders may be pointing fingers at Prakash Karat for this humiliation the actual reason for their defeat was within Bengal. The truth is a person in rural Bengal doesn't even know who Prakash Karat is and doesn't care what is his stand on the nuclear deal or about his ego issue with Manmohan Singh. The fact is this person only cares about his basics which was being threatened by the Left as was evident in Singur and Nandigram.

The violence in Nandigram exposed the ugly face of Left. People in the rural belt who always considered the Left Front as a saviour suddenly felt threatened with there sentinels. The cadre based strong local units that the Left had created over decades and which won them election after election lost the trust of the common man and led to its debacle.

Ironically with 35 seats in 2004 Left had delivered its best performance in the state. In a matter of just five years tide seems to have blown in the opposite direction in West Bengal. The 2011 Assembly elections will give a better picture whether a obituary for the Left can be written or this election was an one off incident. But one thing has surely changed, the myth that 'Left cannot be defeated in West Bengal'

Kolkata Knight Riders hit by racism row

Kolkata Knight Riders cannot win. This seems to be the statement which is the talk of the town in the cultural capital of India. If the multiple captain theory, more than needed media promotion and the fake IPL player blog wasn’t enough now we have the worst thing imaginable in sports RACIAL ABUSE. All this is taking a toll on the performance of the team and the loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore just about an hour ago has proved that this team has lost the self belief of that they can win a match.

As far as the racial abuse case is concerned it is nothing new to the sport. Any sub-continent player of the yesteryears will tell you what they faced it on the ground regularly. Let us not talk about the apartheid as it is a completely different issue. In the recent years racism has considerable reduced due to ICC’s strict code of conduct. Also because of the fact that the focus of the game shifted to sub-continent from its colonial master’s country. The players from the sub-continent started giving it back in the last two decades or so.

The revelations by former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja about Indian players being racially abused have shocked many. It is not that people weren’t aware of black-white divide in the team but racism was too much for the people of Indian let alone Kolkata to digest. When an Indian player of international repute (most likely Ajit Agarkar) is being racially abused by the coach and the supporting staff what will be the state of the uncapped Bengal players in the team.

The thing most hurting is that this is happening in what is called as the INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE. Just because the league has moved out of India have the white man got their chance to racially abuse us? How can some coach or support staff who is employed by an Indian racially abuse an Indian or a person from any other origin for the matter? May be the dropping of Kolkata as the prefix gave the coach and the support staff the feeling the Knight Riders is something out of a white man’s book.

It is surprising that there has been no strong reaction from the BCCI as well as the IPL governing body on the issue. Have they forgotten that this tournament’s main aim should be to improve the quality of Indian cricket. Are they so involved in money making and branding that they will let such issues slip under the carpet? Should Indian cricketers silently take the racial abuse just because it comes from a white man?

In this entire episode where is Mr. Shahrukh Khan? He was busy selling everything about KKR before the league but when his team started loosing he completely abandoned them. Is this what an owner should have done when his team needed him the most? The KKR camp is just waiting for the tournament (read nightmare) to get over so that they could get back home. It will need a huge overhaul and some tough calls to make sure that the team does not humiliate itself in next year’s tournament too. The Knights seem to have even forgotten how to play for pride at the moment.

Has the Left Fort been shaken in West Bengal?

West Bengal was one state in India which was always painted red. Many people would have learnt to live with the idea that Left Front couple not be defeated in the Bengali heartland. But for the first time since the polls post Indira Gandhi's death in 1984 Left seems to be on shaky ground in its own bastion. Analyst believe the Trinamool Congress and Congress alliance might cause a dent in the Left stronghold.

The politics in West Bengal has mostly been isolated from the rest of the country. The Babri Masjid demolition or the politics or 'Mandal and Kamandal' hardly made any impact of the poll results here. West Bengal seemed to have been insulated from liberalization, saffron wave of the 90s, the castist politics or recent India Shining campaign. It was all about a political ideology preached by the Left which worked in what was once India's most prosperous state.

The question in West Bengal was never who but it was by how much? People knew who was on road to Delhi, the unknown factor was number of votes. Most political parties over the years actually fought for the second place in West Bengal. But for the first time political pundits seem to be interested in the outcome of the polls here as it is unpredictable. For the first time a non-Left coalition seems to be sniffing victory in a substantial number of seats.

In the last assembly election out of the 294 seats the Left Front won 227 while the Congress and TMC managed 51 seats. In the last Lok Sabha elections LF bagged 35 out of the 42 seats. But a lot of water has flown down the Hoogly since then and a lot has changed. The urban rural divide became more evident during the Tata Nano crisis. The Left Front which had championed the cause of the poor farmers suddenly turned Land Grabbers from Land Reformers.

The high percentage of voter turn out and violence may signal a change wave going on around in West Bengal. The rural voters who were once the die hard supporters of the Left Front suddenly seems to have lost trust in the party which had done a lot for them in the grassroot level. The negligible suicide rate among farmers in West Bengal is a result of such reforms in the state. But the farmers now see the LF turning a back on them after Singur and Nandigram.

It will be amateurish for anybody to write off the Left Front in West Bengal but the Left leaders surely are having sleepless nights this time around. The May 16 results will show if truly the 'Didi Factor' worked in the Red State. For the Left Front it remains to be seen if Singur and Nandigram becomes their Waterloo.

Nano finally ignites its engines

After lots of hurdles and roadblocks both corporate and political the Tata Nano finally has pushed the fuel into the ignition cylinder. The world's cheapest car and one of modern India's engineering marvel will finally be seen on the roads. Had it not been for some insane politics the car popularly rechristened as the 'Lakhtakia' would have been five months old now. But as they say “better late than never”.

Tata Nano was the talk of the town during the 79th Geneva Motor Show. It attracted more people than the Bentleys, the Audis, the Rolls Royaces could. The giants had to bow in front of the cheapest car from a so called 'Third World Country.' Many automobile enthusiasts have compared it to Henry Ford's legendary Model T which had revolutionised America.

Tata Nano has to be hailed as the greatest engineering marvel to have come out of India since its independence. Coming from the most respected corporate house in India it is a perfect example of 'extreme engineering.' It may not surprise many that Tata Motors has filed in as many as 17 patents for the different components which had to be custom made for the Nano.

The concept was thought to be impossible by most automotive giants around the world. Many had raised doubts on the feasibility of the project. Corporates rivals even went on to ridicule the project saying the Tatas will add an extra wheel to an auto-rickshaw and call it a car. Tatas have silenced all of them and the same people who had ridiculed Ratan Tata and his men are working on their own version of the 'People's Car'. Bajaj Auto has even displayed its prototype in the Delhi Auto Expo.

If corporate rivalry was not enough there was some insane politics played out against the project under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Her prolonged agitation made sure Tata Nano had to exit Singur in West Bengal and find a new home in Sanand, Gujarat. The meant launch date had to be postponed by five months and Tata group incurred loses upto Rs. 1500 Crores.

In spite of the loses the Tatas stuck to their price of one lakh and once again proved why do Indians still swear by the name of Tata. In the end Ratan Tata and his men have stood against time and delivered what they had promised. March 23, 2009 will go down as a historic date not only in India's automotive history but in the automotive history of the world.

Also Read.....
The Sleeping Race

Barack Obama's Bengal Adventure

Should Dada do political Dadagiri?

Kolkata gets country's first elevated rail transit system

Now reading this headline many people might jump of this seat in disbelief. Kolkata is it? The capital of West Bengal? Isn't it the same state which chased away the Tatas? A Rs 60 billion project in Kolkata is the Government nuts? How is it that a dying city like Kolkata which already has the country's oldest metro can get an elevated rail transit system?

The reason is simple Kolkata needs a mass public transport system and secondly Kolkata can sustain a elevated light rail transit system. It may surprise many people across the country but Kolkata had got its Metro in the days of what we call as the 'Licence Raj' and the first trains began running in the year 1984 much before the today's IT, BT and MBA kids had learned to speak.

The hurdle for a such a project in any other state in India will lie outside it but in West Bengal it is within. There is a huge amount of insensitivity among a certain sect of politicians who want to make political gains at the cost of the State's development. Opportunistic politics is currently ruling over developmental politics the policies and program of such parties

The Singur fiasco was a shameful example how politics prevented a respected corporate like Tata rolling out its People's car from the state. What a day it would have been for the state which is starved of industrialisation. But for one party and its leadership the state lost a golden opportunity to re-establish its place among the developed states and regain its past glory.

As I type my blog an insane opposition in West Bengal may be already planning its next course of agitation to halt this project for the sake of fame and media coverage. The may already have the roadmap of the places where tyres will be burnt and buses will be torched. Hopefully this time around some sense prevails among such leaders. The state which has a visionary Chief Minister just needs people to stand behind him.

Should Dada do political Dadagiri?

Sourav Ganguly might have bidden adieu to international cricket but people outside the game still seem to admire his leadership skills. West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has always tried to create a poster boy out of Sourav Ganguly and now the Samajwadi Party leaders want him to contest elections form Uttar Pradesh.

Sourav for now has made it clear that he is still busy with his cricketing commitments and not joining any party. Known to be straight talker throughout his life, he said that he doesn't need to go to any other state to fight an election. If ever he steps into politics it will be in West Bengal itself. So the question arises should Dada join politics?


Well the answer has to be affirmative. If he has any interests in politics he should give it a go in the near future. He has a huge experience having travelled all over the world which could come in handy in bringing about a change in a state starving for development. He is the biggest brand ambassador that Bengal still has and this may be useful in bringing in investments to the state.


Now the big question arises which side should Sourav go to in case he wishes to join politics. Lets see where he cannot go first. On top of the list is Trinamool Congress, after the Singur drama a person like Sourav who has seen the world cannot be in company of such insane people. Congress and BJP do not exist in Bengal so joining them would serve no purpose. So what is Sourav's political option in the event he wishes to join politics.


The only existing political option for him is the Left Front often blamed for the underdevelopment of West Bengal. The reason I say this despite being an Non-Leftist is only because they have a visionary and forward looking Chief Minister in Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Or else Sourav can form his own party considering the appeal he has. But history has always shown us such parties hardly make an impact to the political scene as they slowly get crushed under the larger political force.


Critics might argue that being a leader on the cricket ground doesn't make sure one will be a good political leader. True, but it doesn't even guarantee that he cannot be a good political leader. Sourav has mass appeal over the people of West Bengal and can shape public opinion to bring in much needed development. After all no body can raise a finger on his leadership skills.

The Sleeping Race

Talking about race doesn't necessarily mean I am a racist and when I am self critical about of my own race I shouldn't sound racist at all. Well the title of the blog might have given you a hint on whom am I talking about. Yes, I am talking about the 'Bengalis' or the 'Bongs' as the Y generation would like to call it. Its a race which has been on a long and uncertain sleep.


An analogy can been drawn between Bengalis and the West Indian cricket team. Like the Windies team of the 80s when we were at our peak nobody in India could take us on, but when we started falling apart we did not know how to come up again. There have always been the genius of Brian Laras and Courtney Walshs but somehow they haven't been enough to push the brand Bengal to the glorious position it once held.


Famous freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhle had once said “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow.” As someone rightly put it in today's context reversing the order of the sentence would make more sense. To be honest the state and the city of Calcutta in particular has been let down but its self inflicted catastrophe, sense of denial and obsession with its glorious past.


Politics and a single party rule has been often been blamed for the state's misfortune. This thought has made sure that we kept on ignoring all other factors. Had the communists not taken over would Bengal been among the top five states in India? I say NO, the reason is Bengalis have been very good when it has come to art, literature, science and every possible profession other than BUSINESS. The gap between Bengal and other states actually widened in the post liberalisation era when the 'B' word became the way to move forward.


The complete ignorance of the Bengalis who have left the state has also hurt Bengal. From Huston to Manchester and from Bangalore to Delhi these people have always taken pride in having the hilsas and rosogollas but never cared to look back at Bengal. True, opportunities are less and obstacles many but ignoring the present state of affairs and blowing the trumpet of the glorious past no solution to Bengal's woes. We should be proud of Bose, Tagore and Satyajit Ray but we need more of this people right now.


Calcutta is often referred as the 'sinking ship' and which literally means the end of the story for many. This attitude of hopelessness has cost the city and the state. Let us rather refer to it as a ship in rough waters which can be steered back to a calmer dock. For that to happen a race has to wake up, it has to be self critical of its acts, it has to come out of the state of denial and most importantly separate emotions from politics. It may sound cliché but honestly change comes when there is hope and belief and we got to hope and we got to believe.

Barack Obama's Bengal adventure

Barack Obama's mission to reach the world and his 'Yes We Can' slogan brings him to Calcutta. He comes with the CEO of Public Motors to set up a automobile plant in the Communist heartland of India. He decides to take a walk around the streets of Calcutta with Moti Basu and opposition leader Janata Banerjee.

Obama – Mr Basu its a pleasure to take a walk with you early morning. I have always heard about you since my childhood.

Moti Basu – What...You knew about me. I never thought I was so popular in America

Obama – Well you are Mr Basu. Americans always keep an eye on extreme development or extreme deterioration. You and your party have overhauled the 'City of Joy' into something the old time Britishers and Bengali intellectuals will cry if they see.

Moti Basu – No Mr Obama. We have just made sure that wealth is distributed equally across all sections of people. Its impossible to make everyone rich, so we closed down the industries and made sure everyone is poor and there is equality in the society.

Opposition leader Janata Banerjee walks in and greets Obama but ignores the presence of Moti Basu. In her trademark agitated tone she says.

Janata Banerjee – No he and his party have turned Kolkata into City of Khoy (Loss) and the City of Bhoy (Fear)

Obama – Well I can see that Calcutta opps Kolkata has lost some of its beauty.

Moti Basu- You can't say that we have graffiti all over the place to beautify our beloved city. The Britishers just left us plain white buildings we have added colour to them.

Janata Banerjee – I strongly object to that, these people paint all the walls and the bus stops with 'red' a sign of danger. We are left with walls and railway stations in the outskirts of the city. DO YOU GET THAT BARACK DA?

Obama – Well Ms Banerjee my ears are hurting. Why do you always scream at the top of your voice. Why can't you talk softly?

Janata Banerjee – That's a trade secret. When you have to make pointless arguments its better to scream to ensure that others are forced to listen. People are emotionally attached to people who scream rather than act intellects.

Just then a group protesters are passing shouting slogans against the government and the police. One of them turns towards Janata and says

Protector – Didi, by what time will you join us? We have already jammed the main road and set three state government buses on fire.

Janata Banerjee – Let me finish my appointment with Barack da, I will meet you in the grounds of the high school till then keep screaming. In the mean time make arrangements to burn tyres on the road.

The protester along with others leaves the place

Obama – What is this protest for Ms Banerjee?

Janata Banerjee – Nothing serious, its a daily ritual here in Bengal. A shopkeeper was selling a packet of cigarette to an under age boy when some intellects protested, The police rounded the shopkeeper and beat him up. We are protesting against that.

Obama – But that's a crime right? Selling cigarettes to under age people.

Janata Banerjee – I don't care about that. The shopkeeper is a person who votes for me and nobody can touch him whatever the reason may be. I am like his mother and have to safeguard his business.

Obama – By even going against the law?

Janata Banerjee – See that's the only source for income for the shopkeeper so he also has the right tor earn a living. The boy who was buying the cigarettes was from a affluent family so his parents can take care of him.

Obama – Ms Banerjee its easy to understand Mr Basu's party but not yours. They believe in one thing to oppose America and people like me and they do it pretty well. You seem to have no ideologies or logic behind most of your action. I failed to understand why you chased out the auto giant from Bandur.

Janata Banerjee – Well you are not a smart enough politician and not eligible for politics here in India. You missed my achievement in the entire issue.

Obama- What achievement? People seem to be disappointed with you

Janata Banerjee – The auto giant going away was a loss for the educated youth who any ways don't vote for me. Secondly I have 10% seats in the assembly so we can't match up with the decibel level of Mr Basu's party in the assembly and this was a perfect platform for me to show my strength in the state politics.

Obama – Let me get it straight I have come here with a business plan to set up a automobile plant. We have seen some signs of development in the last five years under the leadership of Shuddhodeb and we consider this very encouraging.

Moti Basu – Shuddho is like my son and that is why I vacated the seat of Chief Minister for him. But to tell you the truth many party colleagues don't like him. He is turning into a capitalist comrade now.

Janata can't take this and returns to her trademark screaming again.

Janata Banerjee – No there has been absolutely no development. Barack da where do you see the signs of development?

Obama – An American President leading a team of business leaders looking for investment in communist West Bengal is development I guess.

Moti Basu – But we can't allow you to set up any industry here.

Obama – But Mr Basu why?

Moti Basu – You are Americans and that's reason enough. We have always protested anything American from your industries to your joint military exercise with our forces.

Obama - But see times have changed I am the first 'black man' in White House. Moreover we now talk about some bit of regulations and restrictions in our economy after the financial turmoil So you can also change your stand against the Americans.

Moti Basu – No we can't, we won't and we ill not let anybody else do it. Do not ask me for a reason I don't have one.

Obama turns towards Janata Banerjee with some hope in his eyes

Obama – And you Ms Banerjee?

Janata Banerjee – Barack da we can't give you any land unless you pay the price similar to that of Manhattan. And all my party workers given the contracts to supply goods to your industries and paid leaves when I sit for protest against your automobile plant.

Obama - Anything else Ms Banerjee

Janata Banerjee – Yes you will get the land 200 kms south of Kolkata

Obama finally says to himself 'No We Can't' and decides to return home. Suddenly his cell phone rings and he gets a call from Gujarat CM Virendra Body who promises him a huge plot of land and other freebies. He says goodbye to West Bengal and files off for Ahmedabad.

Trinamool Congress continues with its insanity

If insanity is a word in Indian politics Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress has to be its greatest example. As if chasing away the Tata Nano project from West Bengal was not enough TMC has jumped in to champion the cause of the Auto rickshaw drives in the state. TMC has mastered the art of instigating violence in the state. They have turned into a visionless party whose only reason for existence seems to be disruption of developmental activities in the state.

The Calcutta High Court had issued an order July last year to ban commercial vehicles registered before Jan 1, 1993, from Kolkata and its outskirts. The court directed that all auto-rickshaws, irrespective of their date of registration, will have to convert LPG or CNG. This was in order to check the pollution levels in the city which has reached an alarming level. Is the State Government's initiative to check the pollution levels in the state some form of a demonic act?

Logically any public vehicle which has plied on the road for 15 years has earned it worth and needs to be replaced or altered with. Similar steps have been taken in major cities of the country like Delhi and have substantially brought the pollution levels down. What is that Mamata Banerjee and her party men opposing? Is it the clean air that the children should have the right to breathe? Or is it the step forward to bring Kolkata and West Bengal at par with other developed states in the country.

The only terms in Mamata's dictionary seems to be strikes, protests and blockades. Has she ever thought how much her insane acts hurt the state as well as the entire region. How many level headed souls would have thought of chasing away the Tatas form a industry starved state. What is it that she wants West Bengal to be? Why is it that she does not take on the government in the State Assembly and rather prefers taking them on the streets. The answer is simple good arguments need understanding of issues and a little bit of grey matter.

Any developmental project will hurt some section of the people. You cannot breathe fresh air when you have old vehicles smoking the road. The people of West Bengal at large and Kolkata in particular have to decide do they want to support such insane acts. The choice is between development and insanity and choosing the right way should not be difficult way for a balanced individual.