Mamatas test

Of the 10 West Bengal assembly seats that were up for by-election,seven have returned the Trinamool Congress,underlining the swift diminishment of the Lefts vote share even since the Lok Sabha elections this summer. But for Mamata Banerjee the results have also strengthened her position with respect to her ally,the Congress. With the ouster from power of the Left Front government seen to be possible in the next assembly elections,Banerjee has of late betrayed an anxiety to rework the alliance to reflect their relative electoral strength. This tension was evident recently in the localised understanding between the Congress and the Left in the Siliguri mayoral race. The Congress has lost Goalpokhar,the seat vacated by Deepa Dasmunshi,considered the architect of the Siliguri manoeuvre. And Banerjee has been less than subtle in indicating that the ground situation demands that seat-sharing arrangements tilt more in the TCs favour.

That the Trinamool is on the move is evident. But the party has yet to win confidence as a credible alternative to the ruling Left Front. On the Lefts watch,the peculiar overlap of state and party in Bengal has hollowed out institutions of governance in the state and events in Nandigram and now Lalgarh have shown how witless the government has become in affirming the writ of the state. Regaining legitimacy to govern from here will be incredibly difficult for the Left regime.

If that increases the onus on the opposition in the state to draft a roadmap for administrative correction,the TC has been found massively lacking. Banerjee reaped immense electoral dividends by using her unique brand of mobilisation,by keeping up a shrill street-led critique,to whittle away at the Left. But to transition from a party of robust opposition to one that is a credible alternative,she needs to be much further ahead on the curve. Whether she can now mobilise politically on a constructive agenda will determine whether she gets over the tipping point.