AVIJIT PATHAK
Sociologist
Is there nothing left in our politics except the recurrence of cinematic performances? In fact, the drama has already begun as the dominant political parties are thinking of their strategies to win the elections in West Bengal in 2021. To begin with, think of Amit Shah supposedly a master strategist who understands the psychology as well as the mathematics of the electoral politics. Possibly, in this media-saturated world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish the real from the hyper real. Hence, because of the endless procession of media simulations depicting and disseminating his symbolic gestures as he visits Bengal, we are led to believe that Amit Shah is a great admirer of Rabindranath Tagore; nothing fascinates him more than the company of a baul mystic; and he can’t imagine his existence without the ideals Swami Vivekananda preached. Or, for that matter, these days, Narendra Modi seems to be quite fond of quoting Sri Aurobindo, an