A ruling-party legislator's public praise for a rival party's chief minister has stirred a fresh political talking point in West Bengal. Samar Mukherjee, the senior Trinamool Congress MLA from Ratua, showered such praise on Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari that he went as far as comparing him to Lord Krishna.
Erosion in Bhutni, and a legislator's visit
Every year, the Ganga's shifting course eats into the Bhutni area of Malda district, leaving a large number of families without homes and farmland. This year was no different, and on Monday Mukherjee travelled to the affected stretch himself. He met families whose homes and fields had been swallowed by the river and handed out relief material. It was during this visit that he began openly praising Adhikari, telling those gathered that several chief ministers had held office before him, yet none had worked out a lasting fix for the erosion crisis. He added that every year people lose their homes, farmland and land to the erosion, and though governments have changed over time, the situation on the ground has not.
Six former chief ministers named
To back up his point, Mukherjee listed six names one by one: Siddhartha Shankar Ray, Jyoti Basu, Ajoy Mukherjee, Prafulla Sen, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya and Mamata Banerjee. He said he had watched all of them occupy the chief minister's chair over his political life, but none had taken the suffering of the lakhs of people living in areas like Bhutni seriously enough. He alleged that, over the years, embankments were built without proper scientific planning, largely to shore up funds for Puja bonuses, and that this negligence only deepened the erosion problem. Adhikari, he said, stood apart from that list because he had spoken of drawing up a master plan for the region instead of continuing with the old approach.
A Rs 3600 crore project, and the Krishna comparison
According to Mukherjee, the current government has cleared funding worth Rs 3600 crore for a project meant to permanently check the Ganga's erosion. He said he was confident the money would translate into real change on the ground and finally bring relief to residents. Building on that hope, he went a step further and appealed to the chief minister to consider altering the Ganga's course itself, arguing that doing so could shield not just Ratua but large parts of Manikchak, Kaliachak, Murshidabad and Nadia from erosion as well. Visibly emotional, he said, "I bless you with all my heart." It was at this point that he compared the chief minister to Lord Krishna, adding that Adhikari was chief minister for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians alike. He also referred to the CPM, Congress, the old Kalighat Trinamool and the new Trinamool during his remarks, as if to underline that his praise came from ground experience rather than party loyalty.
A link to the Adhikari family going back decades
Mukherjee's own political career stretches back a long way. He first won election as an MLA in 1982, the very same year Shishir Adhikari, father of the current chief minister, also entered the state assembly for the first time. That means the two leaders' association goes back more than four decades. Citing this old bond, it was noted that after becoming chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari had himself publicly praised Mukherjee's honesty on the floor of the assembly. Such open, emotional praise from a senior opposition MLA for the leader of the ruling side has, unsurprisingly, set off fresh chatter in Bengal's political circles.
