Mamata commitment on jobs

Devadeep Purohit, TT, Calcutta, May 27: Mamata Banerjee today started her second innings as chief minister with the composure of a seasoned politician and the commitment to provide jobs to the youth of Bengal.

Five summers ago, when Mamata strode to power on a similar sultry Friday afternoon in May, she had raised hopes of the wheels finally turning in Bengal.

Although Mamata has claimed that she has taken Bengal to new heights after coming to power, her track record has been interpreted in more ways than one and she has often been criticised for further de-industrialising the state. There had been predictions that lack of jobs would spell trouble for her.

But the massive mandate she got in the Assembly polls this time proved such forecasts wrong and established that her popularity - both in rural and urban areas - remained unaffected.

When the chief minister was asked today whether she had made any mistakes in the past five years and drawn any lessons from them, she gave a roundabout reply, stressing that "the biggest lesson was to work for the people".

In her first news conference after being sworn in as chief minister, Mamata was also asked how her government would pursue the objective of creating jobs for the youth.

There was no specific answer. "We have asked everyone to come up with suggestions.... If you have some, you are also free to give them to me," Mamata said after holding the first cabinet meeting of the new government.

"As this was the first meeting, there was no specific agenda.... I will hold my first administrative review meeting on June 3, when we will see the availability of funds and other issues and then make concrete plans," she said later.

Cut to May 20, 2011, when she had walked into Writers' Buildings with thousands following her and taken charge as chief minister. Mamata had stayed on at Writers' well past midnight as she kept changing the portfolios of the 37 ministers who had taken oath that day. The list of ministers was announced at 12.15am, and she left her office at 12.25am.

No such confusion or indecision was in evidence today as the chief minister read out the list of ministers during the news conference. The list did not have many surprises as she had retained some of the key departments with herself and rewarded loyalists with important portfolios.

Unlike five years ago when the first decision the cabinet took was to return land in Singur, Mamata did not show any haste in sending out a political message after taking charge. Although the promise to return the land had helped pitchfork her to power, the decision - still entangled in a legal battle - did not do any good to the concept of Brand Bengal she was so keen to revive.

The approach this time, at least what was visible on Day One, looked a bit different. The swearing-in was conducted with clockwork precision and wrapped up before time. The chief minister reached Nabanna in her vehicle without any ado, took a guard of honour and reached her office on the 14th floor by 2.40pm.

Later, Mamata presided over the first meeting of the cabinet, during which she oversaw the drafting of a resolution that contained the significant promise.

"In the days ahead, our focus will also be on our young generation, creation of more employment opportunities and on overall development of quality of life for all," finance and industries minister Amit Mitra read out from the resolution as Mamata nodded in agreement and translated the sentence into Bengali during a question-and-answer session.

Ahead of this year's Assembly polls, the state government had claimed the creation of over 68 lakh jobs in the past five years, a piece of statistics that had evoked more questions than answers.

The fact that there was no mention of past achievements bore hints that the new government was keen to start with a clean slate. Mamata stressed that industry would be her priority, before she hastened to add that agriculture would also get due importance.

"It was her first coronation and there was hysteria all around and she got swayed by it.... Today, she looked much more composed," said an IAS officer, comparing the first days separated by five years.

Morning does not necessarily show the day and neither does one swallow make a summer. Similarly, composure and intent alone cannot bring about change.

"She has to do something extra this time to meet her objective of creating jobs.... She has to be more tolerant of her political opponents and rise above political considerations for the sake of the state," said a city-based industrialist.

Mamata has often been accused of adopting an inflexible approach. But the chief minister did not tread that path on the first day of her second innings - attended by chief ministers of three states, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley and other leaders - when questions on a bigger role for her in a possible anti-BJP federal front were posed to her.

"Federal front is a good idea.... I will always try to help it. But I don't want anything for myself. I have a lot of things to do for Bengal," she said, steering clear of the race to head the anti-BJP brigade ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

She also tried to strike a balance when questions were asked on the Centre's reluctance to accept the demand for a debt waiver. "Do not focus on negative things on the first day," she said with a smile, and the message for Delhi could not be missed.