Amazingly graceless

On behalf of my party and my own behalf,I deeply mourn the demise of Comrade Basu8230; He will be missed by us always, said Sonia Gandhi,much to the possessive irritation of her ally Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee made her displeasure clear,by pointedly avoiding Jyoti Basus funeral,saying she didnt want to add to the crowd by going to the assembly where Basus body lay in state. Earlier,she avoided meeting the prime minister during his visit to Basus hospital. Parsing her actions is not too complicated she is clearly uncomfortable with the display of civility between the Congress and CPM,and petulant that her whinging about the law and order situation in West Bengal has not been adequately heeded.

Banerjee claims that she skipped the event because a privilege motion was pending against 25 Trinamool MLAs for violence on the premises,and the fact that she did not want to be seen with the chief minister and other CPM members. However,this was one occasion where other parties,regardless of their immediate equations,came together to acknowledge the loss and publicly grieve a political colossus. It has always been one of the norms of Indian politics,that intense public rivalries are suspended in times of loss.

What makes Mamata Banerjee stand apart? After all,her party is the second largest component of the ruling coalition the normal thing to do would be to assume the role,and stand by her allies as they pay their respects to a departed rival. This is not compromise,but the standard noblesse oblige of Indian politics or indeed,politics anywhere in the world. West Bengals politics neednt be a blood feud either. In every competitive arena,there are moments of truce. But of course,this behaviour is of a piece with Mamata Banerjees absolutist approach,her inability to appreciate context. Her politics is punctuated with sulks and fits,freighted with expectation and unmet demands. This time though,she outdid herself.