KKR victory bash: Didi uses an opiate to revive her image

It was over the top for sure. There’s no plausible reason why a state government should go hyper over an IPL victory. Kolkata Knight Riders is not a team supported by the state. Its owners are outsiders. Players from West Bengal have a notional presence in the team. But let’s not grudge Mamata Banerjee her moment in the sun. If she claims she was instrumental in KKR’s victory in the final against Chennai, let’s ignore her for a change. At least she has not presented us with a bizarre conspiracy theory holding the CPM responsible for the earlier losses of KKR, she does not call anyone a Maoist and she does not blame the media. She needed an occasion to lift the overwhelming feeling of negativity in the state. KKR’s victory was a godsend. It has been a turbulent year in power for Mamata indeed. From giant killer— she ended the 34-year CPM rule in the state — to a confused leader ill-at-ease in power, her fall in public esteem has been sharp. She has not yet shown glimpses of a leader comfortable with the nuances of statecraft. While her popularity with the masses might have stayed undiminished, she is fast losing credibility among the elites. These were the people who had shifted to her from the CPM in the assembly elections last year. The media has been rather harsh on her. It has not helped that she is inarticulate and excitable, clear negatives in the era of hyperactive media. Her discomfort in taking questions from the audience during a CNN-IBN interview and subsequent storming off the show was the worst conduct from a leader in recent times. Earlier too, she has been too tactless while facing the camera. It is true that the media has been too critical of her. Her flaws have been magnified and blown beyond proportions and she has being pilloried for the mistakes committed by the CPM. But in this age, she can hardly afford to escape the media. The distinct impression in recent times has been that she is distancing herself from people. [caption id=“attachment_325133” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“KKR’s victory was the right occasion for her to go for that. PTI”]  [/caption] What she needed at the moment is an image makeover. KKR’s victory was the right occasion for her to go for that. It was not the normally fretting and fuming Didi on display at the victory show. The scowl on her face was gone and she was smiling happily. She was almost like the Mamata Banerjee some years ago — soft, humane and affable. The big victory celebration at Kolkata was more manufactured than spontaneous. But it was such a celebration for the city in a long, long time. People did not have many occasions to celebrate in recent years. Obviously, the Trinamool Congress was not going to allow it let go. It was a Trinamool Congress event from the beginning to the end. But Mamata stage-managing the grand show does not mean much politically. The enthusiasm of the thousands of young spectators is not likely to translate into new converts to the Trinamool Congress. She might face the charge of wasting public money on a non-event. But what is important from the party’s point of view is it managed to build a connect with young people and sought to provide them a relief from the climate of unhappiness around. Mamata would like to build on the positive energy emanating from the event. Not long ago, Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman of the Press Council, called cricket, among other things, the opiate of the masses. He said the new media made people indifferent to real issues by feeding them cheap entertainment. The Trinamool Congress seems to have discovered the uses of the opiate — cricket in this case. If it helps people forget the sadness of their existence even for a few moments, then why not. But the party will need much more than cricket to revive its shrinking public image. When people come back to reality, they will start asking questions, uncomfortable ones. Didi should stay prepared for that.