Mamata's agnipariksha: 34 years of CPM rule, Saradha crisis, poll jolt...

OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Calcutta High Court courtroom on Friday after the judgment was delivered. The Telegraph's Suman Choudhury drew this illustration from memory after he left the courtroom Burdwan, May 10: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today launched a verbal assault on all and sundry at a rally in Burdwan, the aggression drawing applause from a predominantly rural audience but failing to mask her worries. "There has been a conspiracy to delay the panchayat polls…. The CPM and the Congress were afraid of facing the polls and had moved court," Mamata said at the Utsav grounds in Burdwan town on a day her government got a jolt in Calcutta High Court. The court today ordered the government to "satisfy" the state election commission with adequate security arrangements, including deployment of central forces, to hold three-phase panchayat polls before the expiry of the five-year tenure of the rural bodies. The chief minister came to know about the verdict while she was in Writers' Buildings. She did not take questions while leaving the state secretariat for the Burdwan rally. Sources close to Mamata said she was "extremely upset" with the high court order as she herself had taken keen interest in the legal battle with the election commission. Before the matter reached the court, the chief minister had even attributed motives to the commission's decision to conduct the rural polls in three phases in the presence of central paramilitary forces. "With the high court giving its seal of approval on the commission's decision today, it is a defeat for the chief minister and she cannot swallow it," a Trinamul insider said. The defeat in court has come at a time the chief minister is facing one of the toughest challenges in her two years in office, with the unfolding default crisis. On Tuesday, a high court division bench is likely to give its verdict on whether the Saradha default crisis needs a CBI probe. The state government is opposed to a CBI probe. According to a source close to the chief minister, known for her fighting spirit, Mamata is averse to accepting defeats and when faced with odds, she makes it a point to put up a brave face. Mamata did exactly that during her one-hour speech in Burdwan today. "We will hold the panchayat polls on time. All development projects, including 100 days' work, will continue," the chief minister said. As she did not clarify what she meant by conducting "polls on time", her statement created confusion. Barely a couple of hours before Mamata took the dais in Burdwan, panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee said the state government would appeal against the order in a Calcutta High Court division bench. If the state government is planning a legal battle, conducting the polls "on time" will be easier said than done. A government official said the state could approach the Supreme Court if it failed to get a favourable verdict from the division bench. Trinamul leaders close to Mamata admitted that the chief minister was passing through one of the most critical phases in her political career as the party and its leaders had got dragged into the default crisis, which has mainly affected rural people across Bengal. This fact was probably weighing on her mind when she said at the rally: "Sita ekbaragnipariksha diechhilo. Ami chaotiris bochhor dhore diechhi, ar dewar dorkar nei (Sita went through trial by fire once. I went through it for 34 years, I don't need to go through it anymore.)" At public and indoor meetings in the past two weeks, Mamata has virtually given a clean chit to party colleagues who have had overt or covert relations with the Saradha Group. Mamata's perceived attempts to "shield" the leaders using her image of an honest politician has not gone down well with a section in the party that has even voiced in private circles the need for a CBI probe into the payment default crisis. Aware that the demand for a CBI probe into the default will grow louder in the coming days, Mamata raised questions on the neutrality and effectiveness of the central agency. The chief minister rolled out the status reports of cases of political violence in Bengal being probed by the CBI, including Chhota Angariya and Netai. "In none of these cases, people have received justice. In the Nandigram case, the culprits were shielded," Mamata said, without elaborating. The UPA government, too, came in the line of fire as the chief minister urged all regional parties to unite against the Centre's attempts to "interfere with the federal structure". "I will change the government in Delhi. I will travel the length and breadth of the country to spearhead a movement against the Centre. Delhi is nobody's personal property," Mamata said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130511/jsp/bengal/story_16885250.jsp