The campaign trail

MAMATA BANNERJEE cannot sleep at night. She is sitting there in a district circuit house in her State at 3 a.m., fiddling with an electronic voting machine that she will hold up to show the crowds at her rally the next day.

Why cannot she sleep at night? "In 1990 when they attacked me in broad daylight--this is the result of CPI(M) atrocities. What to do, I cannot sleep at night because of that incident." There is an adoring bunch of young party workers sitting on the ground as she talks. If Didi has insomnia, they are happy to follow suit.

No planes and helicopters for Mamata Bannerjee, she travels by road. As Star News follows her on the campaign trail she addresses campaign meetings at night, lit only by ground level flares. It is difficult to imagine any other chief ministerial aspirant holding night public meetings without proper lighting arrangements. But that does not stop her from being a major crowd puller and trotting out Mamataspeak.

"My mother told me that when Bidhan Chandra Roy was chief minister of West Bengal he did not go to Delhi. Delhi used to come to West Bengal. That is how important West Bengal was and I shall restore that pride." As chief minister would her style be different from that of Jyoti Basu and Buddhadev Bhattacharya, she is asked later. "Yes of course, they are the big people, they come from the big family, they born with a golden spoon and I born in a cottage. And I born and brought up there. I am happy, I love my people." That does not quite answer the question, but you get the point.

Her rival and chief ministerial incumbent is of course a very different kettle of fish, just how different in some ways you realise as he rattles off a cliched prepared speech for the TV cameras, reading out from a piece of paper. He hates performing for television. Later the correspondent explains that she was not allow to film the CM in his flat as he stopped by for lunch. That certainly makes him a rarity these days. Remember, a few elections ago, Laloo Prasad Yadav being filmed as he brushed his teeth?

What makes Buddhadev Bhattacharya's face light up is a reference to the play he has written, "Poka (Insect"). He holds forth on its inspiration, Kafka's "Metamorphosis", and quotes at length. Unlike speeches for television, he has no trouble remembering by rote his favourite extracts from literature. He talks of how his favourite writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez was inspired by Kafka. "I have translated many of his works. He has given a long interview called 'Fragrance of Guava' in which he said he read 'Metamorphosis' and decided that studies are secondary."

Literature is his first love, he says later, in answer to a question, taking a break after a rally at Budge Budge in Kolkata where he lambasts the Centre for winding up public sector units and taking away jobs from West Bengal. And politics is in second love? "Well now it is my only love. Ha-ha."

His predecessor Jyoti Basu meanwhile is throwing his hat once more into the prime ministerial for the benefit of anybody who is interested. Otherwise, he tells Rajdeep Sardesai, people will say this is a party of only kingmakers and no kings.

The circus element in West Bengal politics comes from Ajit Panja, who sports the colours of the national flag on a chador draped over one shoulder. And does his best to be as much of a nuisance for his party, as he can manage, while providing much comic relief for TV viewers.

Yet another Chief Ministerial aspirant is smiling serenely and being charming to the reporter in front of her. "It is a pleasure meeting you," she says. Jayalalitha is all sweet reasonableness. Of course she is her party's chief ministerial candidate despite pesky spoilers like the Election Commission. "The people will not accept anyone else, and my party will not accept anyone else."

Karunanidhi and Stalin, father and son, would not of course agree that people will not accept anybody else. Nor are they shedding tears over her disqualification. "What can I do, I did not ask her to buy the TANSI Land," he tells an audience with mock regret, and they obligingly crack up at his sarcasm. A non chief- ministerial aspirant who has elected to stay out of the race is not particularly amused though, these days at the Karunanidhi- Stalin double act. He too resorts to sarcasm, of the kind unlikely to amuse Mr. Karunanidhi. "The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is a democratic organisation. So the general council of MPs and MLAs will decide who the leader is. It is not a royalty. So we cannot say so and so will be the leader. It has never happened in this party, and it will never happen in this party." Famous last words from Murasoli Maran?

Meanwhile Nalini Singh is trailing around West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, have elected to do an election report card for Zee News, wearing multicoloured dupattas, and generally occupying centre- stage. You do not get to see too much of the basis on which marks are being awarded (Stalin, in his Thousand Lights constituency scores far from brilliantly on most parameters, his father does better with Chepauk). Drinking water was a DMK election promise in 1996, they tell us, it still is.

Singh's major achievement is getting everyone to speak Hindi however comfortable the poor things might be in Bengali or Tamil. Ajit Pandey, the CPI(M) candidate from Bowbazar kept lapsing into Bengali, while telling us how people in his constituency now have water because he carried a pipe over his shoulder. In the end he was asked to sing a song and he burst obligingly into "Hum Honge Kamiyab". If Mr. Buddhadev Bhattacharya will not perform for the cameras, he has comrades who will.

On Hallmark this coming week: "Women's Week" from May 7-13. Starts with the movie "Women of Windsor" which is about Lady Diana (May 7) and climaxes with an interesting movie: Women of Camelot: Jackie, Joan and Ethel - the Kennedy women (May 13). At 9.30 p.m..

SEVANTI NINAN

E-mail the writer at sevantininan@vsnl.com

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Grand tourist
Next     : CounterMedia Prize for Jagdish Suna and Bijay
           Sahis