Make way for Didi

Jaya, Maya, Mamata, Sonia, Shiela, not done...Where is MUNNI??? asks this SMS joke that's been doing the rounds along with several others related to Mamata Banerjee aka Didi and Jayalalitha or Amma's landslide victories in their respective electorates last week. Or should we ask 'Where is Rajinikanth?' Because probably in the history of Rajini jokes, for the first time this week, digs at the Tamil superstar's superpowers have taken a backseat thanks to the Didis and the Ammas of the world having taken over the humour world.

It is clear that women are here to rule for sometime now. The entire social media is abuzz with people screaming Change or poriborton as we Bengalis call it. But are we truly headed for a change is a question that we will find the answer to in the next five years. As the next and the first woman chief minister of West Bengal, Didi has several challenges ahead of her. While a woman, and that too a young one becoming a Chief Minister of a state that has been under the rule of a party with the average age of members being 60 plus, is a refreshing change but it also poses a challenge.

The first being really whether her victory is really a victory. Do the people of West Bengal really have a choice? It is a case of either or because, well, there were just two parties they could have voted for anyways. Both parties are equally tainted with charges of corruption and lack of vision. While Mamata Banerjee has been
a vocal (more like motor mouth) leader of the opposition, does she cut enough ice to become an able chief minister. Time will tell.

And what about her favourite weapon Abarodh or the act of taking to the streets in protest for every little reason. While Didi has used this originally communist party weapon to great effect in the past to her own advantage and much to the chagrin of citizens of Kolkata who've had to wait for hours, change routes and cursed her, how will she respond when similar bandhs are called against her?

While one hopes that the stagnancy that has been miring the future of West Bengal, with the state having been frozen in time from somewhere back in the 70's, some of the recent initiatives taken by the CPI(M) have been trashed by Didi herself who packed off the Tata's and their ambitious Nano in 2008 from the state and created a near crisis in the state. The hopes of those who dreamt of finding IT and other big jobs in the state itself without having to migrate to other cities, were dashed. Will Didi and her party be able to recreate and fast forward Kolkata and the state into a brighter future? Only time will tell.