Of late, the Trinamool Congress, as a political party, has done a lot of homework, it has spent a considerable time in grooming itself.
Recently, viewers were taken aback by Mamata Banerjee's demeanour in a regional television show. For, here was a leader who was not getting ruffled by uncomfortable, daring and even offensive questions hurled at her by the viewers, rather she was accepting each one of them as a challenge, never losing either her cool or her smile. In fact, the host of the show got so carried away by her newfound 'charm' that he almost declared her the next chief minister of Bengal. The programme's TRPs soared.
Last weekend, the same channel had West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee speaking his mind about trying on his own (going out of the party mandate, of course) to bring back expelled members like veteran Somnath Chatterjee [Images] and the rebellious Saifuddin Chowdhury back into the party fold.
However, the two television shows send out one clear signal: While the Trinamool Congress chief has carefully altered her stance to win the people's verdict, veteran Buddhababu is shooting his mouth now only to say 'oops, I made a mistake again' then, much to the chagrin of his comrades.
Bengal has grown tired of the 32-year-old Left Front rule and a change is needed. No one is denying that. But the question is: Will this change be for the better?
If post-election violence in Nandigram is any yardstick to go by, will a Trinamool Congress regime put an end to bloodshed and misrule? One just can't be too sure, at least for the time being.
