The Mamata Banerjee Leadership Theory of Aggressive Action with Commitment for Change

Is Mamata the best Indian Political leader ever? Also, the challenges ahead!

Writing today’s editorial gives me immense pleasure! My professional area of interest, where I take all my workshops and seminars, is leadership. But with so much rotten occurring around with our leaders, when it came to writing, I have mainly been writing about the pathetic deeds of our leaders instead of what makes a good leader! After a long time, I have got this wonderful opportunity to write on leadership! All thanks to one lady who has finally emerged as a symbol of magnificent leadership in this country! Yes, it’s too soon to be talked about perhaps! But what the heck! I have never been too late to criticize; then why be afraid of praising great work, even if it might be too soon!

So let me start with a brief background. Having personally interacted with a considerable number of senior leaders who were taking keen interest in Bengal, I know there was one key speculation that was happening around Mamata Banerjee before she threw the CPM out of power recently; that too after a 34 year CPM rule – out of which, barring a great first ten years, the rest can be easily termed as the greatest demonic and Stalinist rule in the history of independent India (in our TSI cover story dated June 19, 2011, we told you how skeletons are being dug out from the close vicinity of CPM leaders’ residences). The speculation was that in world history, whenever such Stalinist rule of repression has ended, it has ended with a massive revenge mission with thousands of lives being lost, since those who have been oppressed and exploited for so long almost logically seek their pound of flesh! In the case of Bengal, there is not one intellectual – including the strongest of supporters of Mamata – that I met who did not forecast a massive series of bloodshed post Mamata’s win. I was in a Statesman forum sometime back with Mamata Banerjee, where panelists were openly telling her about this fear of theirs! And they had a massive point. Apart from past global history to support their point, they had one more huge reason. Those grassroots workers who were working now for Trinamool comprised a huge number of ex CPM goons who had recently changed sides, yet not necessarily their murderous character traits. At the forum, when such speculation was being paraded, Mamata had a look of disdain; and quite rightly so. Here, she was almost on the verge of creating history with her life of struggle and sacrifice, and there were these people who were questioning her even before she had arrived – almost negating the import of her humongous effort!

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