TheBengal Conundrum

This will be the first book to look at Mamata Banerjee's term as a whole, from its varied successes and failures to its organizational challenges.The author is a very well-respected journalist in Bengal and the book is deeply reported, with several sources coming on record for the first time about the TMC government.The Bengal state elections are in 2021 and the book will act as the definitive primer before the contest.Sambit Pal has worked as a broadcast journalist for various regional (Zee, Star Ananda, Kolkata TV as a reporter) and national news channels (Times Now as its Kolkata bureau head) in Kolkata covering West Bengal politics from ground zero for over a decade. After an academic sabbatical in UK's Cardiff University, he joined Ebela.in-ABP Digital, the news website from Anandabazar group as its assistant editor. He has documented Bengal politics, its underlying meaning, leading to the emergence of the Hindutva brigade through his regular weekly columns in Ebela.in and now in EiSamay Digital, the Bengali news portal from the Times of India group. He also writes on Bengal-related issues for various English websites.The definitive book on the changing political winds in West Bengal, and what it means for local governments fighting the might of the BJP nationwide. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP pulled off an unbelievable feat in Bengal-taking their tally of seats from 2 to 18 and vote share of 17 to 40 per cent in just four years. What were the reasons behind such a surge in support for the saffron party in the eastern Indian state? In The Bengal Conundrum, senior journalist Sambit Pal attempts to explain why a state that was the citadel of Left politics for decades has turned Right in less than 10 years. Documenting the contemporary political history of Bengal, both through written and exclusive first-hand accounts, the author answers how Mamata Banerjee's politics and governance over the past few years set a fertile ground for the combined force of the BJP and the RSS to construct a compelling political narrative in Bengal. As West Bengal grapples with tumultuous times-from the controversy surrounding the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic-on the cusp of a crucial election, the BJP and the TMC­ are rolling their dices to win the strategic battle. Whether Mamata Banerjee wins or loses the 2020 state elections, it remains clear that politics in eastern India has changed irrevocably, and will be experiencing the aftereffects for years to come.A detailed examination of Mamata Banerjee's term as CM, the book will document and analyse the TMC's political clout and the threat posed by the BJP in the state elections of 2021.