Election Tracker: Mamata Banerjee Has Lost Her Lustre

By Richa Rai / Kolkata

Mamata Banerjee has lost some of her lustre in West Bengal. After emerging as the political giant killer in 2011 by ending the 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state with a thumping victory, she was expected to bring about a dramatic change to the state. That has not quite happened.
Surrounded by controversies that erupt almost on a daily basis, Didi, however, retains some of her popularity in crucial pockets. Her party, the Trinamool Congress, is still more popular in the rural areas. The urban areas appear to be getting disillusioned with her fast.

According to a survey conducted by Delhi-based CSDS, the approval rating for her government is 39 percent in rural Bengal compared to 29 percent of the previous Left Front government. In the urban constituency though the latter scores marginally better with an approval rating of 39 percent to 37 percent of the Trinamul Congress. The 10 percent gap in the rural areas could prove to be crucial in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The survey had a sample size of 1397, spread over a cross-section of constituencies.

However, this should not bring much cheer to the Mamata. The level of dissatisfaction with her government, according to the survey, was nine percent in 2011; it has climbed to a whopping 42 percent in 2013. Law and order issues have been a problem but it is the chit fund scandal that seems to be hurting her the most. Seven out of 10 people in the state are aware of the scam. As many as 29 percent of the respondents blamed the Trinamul Congress for it and 20 percent felt the CPM was responsible for the scandal. Was it badly handled by the state government? A whopping 44 percent of the respondents said it was handled poorly while 21 percent said the state government managed it well.

Is Mamata Banerjee arrogant and intolerant to criticism? That impression seems to be gaining ground in the state. As many as 27 percent of the respondents said she was arrogant and 16 percent said she was somewhat so.

Put together, it becomes a big percentage of the population. Mamata surely needs to do something quickly about her image. The opinion is nearly equally divided over decision to quit the UPA. However, only 20 percent of the respondents felt she had brought ‘poribortan’ to the state.