The rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College, and the events that followed including a surge in non-political protests, have caused fresh challenges to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who rode on her popularity among female voters to post two major poll performances in the state: in the 2021 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The state capital has been witnessing protests, with students, doctors, political parties, common citizens and even artists and sportspeople hitting the streets almost everyday since the PG trainee doctor was found raped and murdered on August 9. Outrage has also been pouring in on social media.
While opposition parties have been mounting their attack on the Trinamool Congress administration, the Calcutta High Court slammed the state government over the incident and handed over the case to the CBI. The court also ordered the central agency to probe vandalism and alleged financial irregularities at the medical college.
Banerjee, on the back foot, has been trying to deflect some of the blame. Her government has been saying that the local police were quick in arresting the accused. She also accused the CPI-M and BJP for the August 14 vandalism of the medical college. She also tried to pacify the protesting medical students, but her statement that she did not take action over the protest was perceived as a veiled threat by junior doctors. She then had to clarify her stand that she stood by the students.
A major concern for the ruling Trinamool is that the protestors include a large number of women, a big vote bank for the party.
Trinamool swept West Bengal riding on its female vote bank. The Banerjee government’s welfare programmes like ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ have been big hits among women.
The Trinamool won 29 seats from the state in this year’s LS elections, against 12 by the BJP and one by the Congress.
In the aftermath of the murder, many puja committees, a number of them run by women, have denied assistance provided by Banerjee – a worrisome development for the Trinamool.
Many women have received benefits under the programmes of the Trinamool government, a political analyst said. “Lakshmir Bhandar alone has 21.8 million female beneficiaries. Lakshmir Bhandar is one of the main reasons behind their (Trinamool) victory,” a political analyst said.
