TMC won the election, but Bengal lost

Opinion

Image Source: telegraphindia.com

India stands at a political standstill- every other day we hear new ways in which our government and our political parties are failing us.

As the news of TMC winning the Bengal elections came out, so did the report of violence and harassment by the TMC workers upon properties, homes, and party offices. While the official death figure stands at 14, the real numbers are bound to be much worse.

TMC and BJP have both alleged that their workers have been murdered. Photos and videos of violence have been doing the rounds- with some of them even being touted as fake or fabricated. Some of the BJP workers were certainly attacked by the TMC workers during their victory parade. The claims of gang rape by the BJP, though, have been discredited by the local police. The Centre is exerting pressure on the Bengal government to control the situation, while pleas have been filed in the SC seeking President’s Rule.

While these parties continue playing their blame game, it is the state that burns and suffers.

Mamta Banerjee has been the CM of West Bengal for the past ten years and has been the first woman to hold the office. While TMC may have won this year, Mamta lost her assembly seat to a BJP candidate.

Here how the GDP growth chart for the past ten years looks like:

Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Limited growth and high-level debts

During the majority of the period, growth in Bengal has been limited and remains below the national growth numbers. When TMC took charge in 2011, defeating the long rule of the Communist government, the state had high levels of debt and still does. The high debt levels limit the state government’s ability to spend and borrow.

High level of unemployment

While the state’s unemployment numbers remain below the national average, the proportion of casual wage workers in the state’s workforce remains high, showing the state's inability to create stable jobs with social security.

Scams and communal disputes

Over the past decade, Mamta herself has been involved in multiple scams cases, had made controversial decisions, including her challenging the federal system of India, when she ordered the arrest of CBI officials, who arrived in Kolkata to investigate the Saradha Group financial scandal.

TMC has also failed to control the communal disputes in the state, the two most recent horrifying ones being the 2016 Dhulagarh riots and the 2017 Baduria riots.

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With current sentiments against BJP and everyone happy with BJP losing, TMC winning the elections isn’t good news exactly. Sure, BJP did not deserve to win the election, but TMC definitely deserved to lose it. Has it done well for the state or are we forgetting to ask the right question amidst our disappointment with the country’s current political and medical situation?

Who is the lesser of the two evils?

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