Jump to content

Mamata Banerjee

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 210.212.29.163 (talk) at 05:03, 27 October 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mamata Banerjee
Member of Parliament
for Calcutta South
Personal details
Born (1955-01-05) 5 January 1955 (age 69)
Kolkata, West Bengal
NationalityIndian
Political partyAITC
SpouseNA(Unma)
Residence(s)26, Harish Chatterjee Street, Kalighat, Kolkata
Alma materBasanti Devi College, Bhowanipore, Kolkata.; Calcutta University
OccupationFull Time Politician
ProfessionFull Time Politician

Mamata Banerjee (Bengali: মমতা ব্যানার্জী)(born January 5, 1955) is a Indian politician from the State of West Bengal and currently under fire for her opposition to industrialisation. She is the founder and chief executive of the All India Trinamool Congress Party, now known as the Trinamool Congress Party (Grassroots Congress Party).

Political Career with Congress(I)

Born in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee completed degrees in work education and an LLB (Indian standard of law degree) from Calcutta University. She started her political career with Congress(I), and as a young woman in the 1970s, she quickly rose in the ranks of the local Congress group. In 1984, she became one of India's youngest parliamentarians ever, beating veteran Communist statesman Somnath Chatterjee, for the Jadavpur seat in West Bengal. She also became the General-Secretary of the All India Youth Congress. Losing her seat in 1989 in an anti-Congress wave, she was back in 1991, having settled into the Calcutta South (Lok Sabha constituency). She retained the Kolkata South seat in the 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004 elections.

In the Rao government formed in 1991, Mamata Banerjee was made the Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, and Women and Child Development. As the sports minister, she announced that she would resign, and protested in a rally at the Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata, against Government's indifference towards her proposal to improve sports in the country.[1] She was discharged of her portfolios in 1993. In April 1996, she alleged that Congress was behaving as a stooge of the CPI-M in West Bengal. She claimed that she was the lone voice of protest and wanted a "clean Congress". At a public rally at Alipore in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee wrapped a black shawl around her neck and threatened to make a noose with it.[2] In July 1996, she squatted at the well of Lok Sabha to protest against the hike in petroleum price, though she was a part of the Government. In that very time she clasped the coller of Amar singh, MP of Samajwadi Party, in the wall of the parliament. In February 1997, on the day of railway budget presentation in Lok Sabha, Mamata Banerjee threw her shawl at the railway minister Ram Vilas Paswan for ignoring West Bengal and announced her resignation. The speaker, P. A. Sangma, did not accept her resignation and asked her to apologize. She stayed away from Lok Sabha for six months, but accepted all the benefits doled out to the Members of Parliament(Car, Security ...). Later she came back as Santosh Mohan Deb mediated.

Trinamool Congress

In 1997, Mamata Banerjee split the Congress Party in West Bengal and established the All India Trinamool Congress. It quickly became the primary opposition to the long-standing Communist government in the state. On December 11, 1998, she controversially held a Samajwadi Party MP, Daroga Prasad Saroj, by the collar and dragged him out of the well of the Lok Sabha to prevent him from protesting against the Women's Reservation bill[3].

In 1999, she joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and was allocated the Railways Ministry.

As Railway Minister

In 2000, Mamata Banerjee presented her first Railway Budget. In it she fulfilled many of her promises to her home state West Bengal.[4] She introduced a new biweekly New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express train and four express trains connecting various parts of West Bengal, namely the Howrah-Purulia Express, Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Express, Shalimar-Bankura Express and the Sealdah-Amritsar Superfast Express (weekly).[4] She also increased the frequency of the Pune-Howrah Azad Hind Express and extension of at least three express train services. Work on the Digha-Howrah Express service also hastened during her brief tenure.[5].

She also focussed on developing tourism, enabling the Darjeeling-Himalayan section with two additional locomotives and proposing the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited. She also commented that India should play a pivotal role in the Trans-Asian Railway and that rail links between Bangladesh and Nepal would be reintroduced. In all, she introduced 19 new trains for the 2000–2001 fiscal year.[5]

After differences with NDA

In early 2001, after making allegations against the BJP, she walked out of the NDA cabinet and allied with the Congress Party for West Bengal's 2001 elections, amidst speculation that the move could unseat the Communist government. She returned to the cabinet in January 2004, holding the Coal and Mines ministry until the 2004 Elections. She was the only Trinamool Congress member to win a Parliament seat from West Bengal, and now remains the only Trinamool Parliamentarian, following her colleague P. A. Sangma's departure from the party.

On August 4, 2005, she hurled her resignation paper at the deputy speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal in Lok Sabha. The provocation was the speaker's (Somnath Catterjee) rejection of her adjournment motion on illegal infiltration by Bangladeshi's in West Bengal. The letter she had scribbled was turned down by the speaker on the ground that it was not in proper format[6][7]. On October 20, 2005, she protested against the industrialization policy of the Buddhadev Bhattacharya government in West Bengal. Benny Santoso, CEO of the Indonesia-based Salim Group had pledged a large investment to West Bengal, and the West Bengal government had given him farmland in Howrah, sparking protest. Despite soaking rain, Mamata and other Trinamool Congress members stood in front of the Taj Hotel where Santoso had arrived, shut out by the police. Later, she and supporters followed Santoso's convoy. A planned "black flag" protest was avoided, when the government had Santoso arrive 3 hours ahead of schedule[8][9].

Mamata Banerjee suffered further setbacks in 2005, when her party lost control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the sitting Mayor defected from her party. In 2006, the Trinamool Congress was defeated in West Bengal's Assembly Elections, losing more than half of its sitting members.

In November 2006, Mamata Banerjee was forcibly stopped on her way to Singur for a rally against a proposed Tata Motors car project. Mamata reached the West Bengal assembly and protested at the venue. She addressed a press conference at the assembly and announced a 12-hour shutdown by her party on Friday[10]. The Trinamul Congress MLAs protested by damaging furniture and microphones in the West Bengal Assembly. The damage was estimated at Rs 15 lakh[11]. They also took to the streets and blocked roads and torched vehicles in many places[10]. A major strike was called on December 14, 2006 that threw life out of gear in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

On Nandigram

The West Bengal government wanted to start a chemical hub in the Nandigram area. The rumor of land appropriation inflamed anger among the residents and the government assured the common people that no land appropriation will be held. But TMC and Mamata Banerjee, with the help of Maoist terrorists, started alienation of Nandigram from other parts of India and tortured the supporters of the Communist party. For 11 long months around 3,500 people were homeless refugees, only because they supported the government. Later in 2007 the refugees, with the help of the Communist party, forcefully went back to their home. TMC and Mamata Banerjee cried foul and alleged the spread of violence by CPI-M. Mamata Banerjee wrote letters to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to stop the violence allegedly promoted by CPI-M in Nandigram.

On Tata Nano

The company Tata agreed to start a plant to produce world's chapest car 'Nano' in West Bengal. When 90% work of the plant was finished, Mamata Banerjee started violent agiation and did the state of Bengal and Bengalis a great disservice by harassing one of India's most well known firm, Tata Motors. Ultimately she forced [12] the world's most unique car project Tata Nano to be relocated from West Bengal to Gujarat. The intellectuals and common people compared her with the infamous Mirzafar for her deed. This has forced Tata to come out publicly against her in a public letter to the people of West Bengal [13].

On Sweet and Sour Relation with other Politicians

Mamata Banerjee, being impulsive and reactionary always lacked philosophy in her life and politics. This led her change alliance radically without any agenda or goal. Subrata Mukherjee of Congress, who named her as "Beder Meye Jotsna" or "Kalighater PAgli" etc was a Mayor of KMC from Trinamool Congress. Sudip Bandopadhyay, once close ally, left TMC to join Congress. Ajit Panja, co founder of TMC, was made politically disabled by Mamata Banerjee. Finally Somen Mitra, the real reason why Mamata left Congress and created TMC, was a intra party foe of Mamata. But In 2008 Somen left Congress and became an ally of TMC. Same story holds for other politicians like Amar Singh, Lalkrishna Advani etc.

References

  1. ^ "Mamata mum on relations with BJP". 2003-01-06. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  2. ^ Ashis Chakrabarti (November 8, 1998). "Theatrics of a Bengal tigress". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2007-11-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "National Events in December 1998". The Hindu. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  4. ^ a b "New trains for West Bengal". The Tribune. February 26, 2000. Retrieved 2007-11-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Railways to focus on tourism, trans-Asian role, hardselling freight services". Rediff.com. February 25, 2000. Retrieved 2007-11-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ "Mamata Banerjee's unending tantrums". 2005-08-08. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  7. ^ "Mamata casts shame at House Paper throw at Speaker". 2005-08-04. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  8. ^ "Weather plays spoilsport for TMC". 2005-10-21. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  9. ^ "Missing on bandh day: its champions -- Mamata stays indoors, Cong scarce". 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  10. ^ a b "Trinamool unleashes violence in W Bengal". 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  11. ^ "Heritage vandalised in Bengal House". 2006-12-02. Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  12. ^ "Bullet into Bengal's soul - Mamata Banerjee pulled the trigger, says Tata". 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  13. ^ "Decision taken with sadness -- Not the best day to make such an announcement on eve of your Puja". 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mamata_Banerjee&oldid=247924612"