As Kolkata doctors’ protest rolls on, is Mamata Banerjee stooping to conquer?

“They are here for the chair, not justice. For the sake of the people, I am ready to resign. I don’t want the chief ministership. I apologise to the people of Bengal who expected that the issue would be resolved today,” she said at a press conference.

However, last month, as the protests initially ballooned and a little-known outfit called Chhatra Samaj — which the TMC alleged was backed by the RSS — tried to march to the state secretariat, Nabanna, Banerjee had appeared to harden her stance while scrambling to contain the fallout of the doctor’s rape and murder. This culminated in the remarks on August 28 in which she said, “I never wanted revenge. But now I say, you understand well what needs to be done … The ugly, slanderous one that bites you every day, you don’t bite him, but you can hiss.” Following a backlash, she was forced to clarify that she had not threatened the protesters.

The comments and her nephew and second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee’s appeal to everyone, including those in his party, to be humble and not speak ill of the protesters revealed a certain divide in the party about how to respond to the protests that have now stretched for almost a month. The CM’s comments on Thursday show her acceptance that a hard stance has not worked and a better approach is to appeal to the emotions and conscience of the protesters and the public at large.

On  Thursday, claiming that 29 people have died due to the disruption in health services, Banerjee also subtly attempted to shift the focus to the human cost of the protests. “It is sad and unfortunate that we have lost 29 precious lives due to disruption in health services because of long-drawn cease work by junior doctors. In order to extend a helping hand to the bereaved families, State Government announces a token financial relief of Rs. 2 lakh to family members of each deceased person,” the CM wrote on X.

“Mamata Banerjee has shown tremendous restraint in the face of protests by the junior doctors and the civil society,” a senior TMC leader said, but added a word of caution. “In the beginning, the administration made some blunders for which she is now paying the price. On Thursday, there was a golden chance to resolve the dispute when the doctors came to Nabanna. The administration should have agreed to the demand for live-streaming the proceedings. That would have put the government on the front foot.”

A senior government officer said, “The CM made a mistake when she did not remove the Kolkata Police Commissioner. Now the administration has to find a way to pacify the protesters before Durga Puja. Failure to do so may create a serious problem for the government.”