Mamata faces open rebellion from intellectuals

Priyanka Gupta CNN-IBN | 13-Apr 07:53 AM

Kolkata: They helped propel Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee to power. But eleven months on, Kolkata's urban intellectuals are fed up of her antics, and finally took to the streets on Thursday. One of them was her own party MP.

Kabir Suman, a Trinamool Congress MP, said, "There were certain principles which brought us together but she has not fulfilled any of those conditions. This is a betrayal."

The immediate trigger for the anti-Mamata wave was the crackdown on human rights activists on Wednesday, who were protesting against the forced eviction of slum dwellers in Nonadanga. The activists were reportedly heckled by Trinamool Congress workers and subsequently, detained by the police.

Said Sunanda Sanyal, an academician, "They are doing the same thing twice over... What the CPI-M had done, they are doing the same thing."

From Mamata's comments against the Park Street rape victim, to the removal of select newspapers from libraries - the list of grievances for Kolkata's liberals is long.

The Trinamool Congress, which was just too happy to take their help during elections, is, however, singing a different tune now.

Shukhendu Shekhar Roy, a Trinamool Congress MP said, "These are merely disgruntled elements. They go wherever the wind is blowing."

The liberals of Kolkata were once seen walking shoulder to shoulder with Mamata Banerjee during her Singur and Nandigram agitation but today, they are taking her on right on these streets. They claim they have been betrayed.

What is left to be seen though is whether Mamata will make any overtures to woo the same people back who had once propped up her Poriborton Plan.

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