Another dent on Didi?

The August 14-15 night saw thousands of women across West Bengal coming out to protest the brutal rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at the R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata a few days back. A large number of men also joined the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest by the women in the early hours of the 78th Independence Day. Just three days later, in a rare show of camaraderie, the supporters of East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, the two rival football clubs of the city, came together and defied police action and rain to seek justice for the young doctor.

The ruling Trinamool Congress, beleaguered by the widespread protests by all sections of society, played to the gallery, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, herself, leading a march, seeking trial of the arrested accused in a fast-track court, seeking capital punishment for the culprit, pressing the Central Bureau of Investigation, which took over the probe from Kolkata Police, to speed up.

 Didi’s image undoubtedly took a hit as the murder of the doctor was followed by allegations about cover-up attempts as well as rampant corruption at the RGKMCH. But will it pose a significant political challenge to the TMC supremo ahead of the state assembly polls in 2026?

Ever since Banerjee led it to power in 2011 bringing the Left Front’s 34-year-long rule in West Bengal to an end, one scam after another hit the TMC. Many of the party’s leaders, including state ministers, were probed by the central agencies and arrested for corruption in the past few years. Her nephew and heir apparent, Abhishek Banerjee, is also under scanner. The rape and murder of a college student at Kamduni in North 24 Parganas in 2013, the killing of a student leader in Howrah in 2022, and the death of a student at Jadavpur University due to ragging in 2023 also sparked outrage.

But none could affect the TMC’s electoral fortunes and the party’s winning streak continued. The cash-for-school-job scam and alleged extortion, land-grabbing, and atrocities on women by TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan at Sandeshkhali in the state’s North 24 Parganas district were the central themes of the BJP’s campaign narrative in West Bengal during the recent Lok Sabha elections.

 The TMC, however, cashed in on the welfare schemes launched by Banerjee over the past few years, blunted the BJP’s poll blitzkrieg, and had a landslide victory.

The scale of the outrage over the rape and murder of the doctor at RGKMCH was unprecedented. But the TMC leaders say that it was not as intense and widespread in the villages as it was in the cities. The party already launched a campaign across the state, accusing the BJP and the CPI(M) of trying to politicise the incident and trying to destabilise its government. Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking strong central legislation to deal with rape cases expeditiously.

 She and Abhishek are expected to address a rally of the TMC’s student wing on August 28, setting the tone for the party’s long-term campaign to undo the damage caused by the outrage over the rape and murder of the young doctor.