Bengal has shown how dispensable ideology is May 1, 2021, 10:18 PM IST
The writer is a political analyst associated with Peoples Pulse
Politics has always been a muddy terrain of smoke and mirrors. The closely contested Battle of Bengal 2021 is a classic example of this. Led by two strong personalities, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, it turned into a kind of guerrilla war where everything seemed free and fair. For both sides, BJP and Trinamool, mudslinging, ridicule and ad-hominem attacks emerged as indispensable elements of the political campaign. Along with top party leaders, even political managers, analysts and journalists came under nasty attacks and name-calling for predicting victory one way or the other. Such has been the emotional investment of all the stakeholders, from political parties to civil society, from personnel in academia to the media, that anyone who made a case for dispassionate and n
The real poriborton Bengal needs is freeing grassroots politics from party grip April 3, 2021, 11:03 PM IST
The writer is a political analyst associated with Peoples Pulse
While pollsters and political pundits are busy speculating about various electoral outcomes in Bengal, there seems to be one thing they all seem to agree on the colossal weakening of the incumbent Trinamool Congress in recent years.
The argument that pro-Trinamool analysts are employing is that the residual charisma of Mamata Banerjee may spring a surprise on May 2, the overall decline of the TMC and an intense level of anti-incumbency notwithstanding. On the other hand, there are concerns that even if the BJP wins, it may end up endorsing the same politics of fear and revenge that has put the Trinamool on the back foot.