Classy century by Suvendu in first 100 days of Bengal BJP regime
Biz revival plan, however, needs to be sharper!
By Valmiki
Bengal is supposed to turn over a new leaf after the assembly elections 2026. There has been a change of guard and the new regime, with the full backing of New Delhi, is expected to transform the state bottom upwards. The first 100 days of the Subhendu Adhikari led BJP government gets completed on or around next Sunday, August 16, going by the government formation date of May 9 when the first five cabinet ministers had come on board. This period has been relatively well spent so far.
As happens with lions in the wild, if the challenger wins the fight against the reigning leader of the pride and becomes the new boss, he first undertakes the job of stamping his authority everywhere. His harem, so long used to the ways of a different leader, must learn to know him, respect him, fear him and snuggle up to him. Outsiders beyond the limits of his territory also need to know that the new don means business.
In the first 100 days, Suvendu Adhikari has done just that. He has a very masculine way of going about doing things, bold and minus frenzy. His Bengali has an earthy Midnapore accent replete with its softish dental “S” and truncated intonation. Bengal, fed on a more orthodox city-bred phonetics with a maniacal pitch for the last 15 years, has welcomed the change so far.
However, that’s about where the similarity with the lord of the jungle ends. While the lion king is the beginning and end of everything, Subhendu lives in the shadow of Delhi. Every action taken so far has been a follow-up of the promises made in the election manifesto or what Amit Shah had said would be done if voted to power. The speed with which several things have got done, also suggests that things were already kept ready, and they just needed to be introduced. BJP there, BJP here. That’s the entire magic of the “double engine Sarkar” concept.
Border security has got topmost priority, the Chicken’s Neck problem in the Siliguri Corridor being resolved, Ayushman Bharat introduced, Annapurna Yogana launched, religion based welfare schemes abolished, state government job age limit raised, DA hiked by 20 percentage points, anti corruption, extortion, gunda-gardi etc being tackled with an iron hand.
But re-industrialising Bengal wouldn’t be either that easy or speedy. There is nothing here to enforce or copy paste. It just requires a very deep understanding of what big investment actually requires of a state before it decides to fly in. It also requires a fine eye to separate the grain from the chaff in deciding who to woo, who not to woo, and why.
Suvendu, by his own admission, has done a PhD in eliminating celebrity thugs from the days of Lakshman Seth of Haldia to Jahangir Khan “Pushpa” of Falta. He knows those things very well. Coming from an agrarian landholding background, he wouldn’t know much about industry. His industry minister Tapas Roy too isn’t any different. Roy’s basic training has been as a Somen Mitra protégé when he was in the Congress.
So Team Suvendu will have to rack its brains. Now, more than ever, it needs Delhi’s support in planning and deciding the way forward. Critical expertise in such matters, is much more readily available there than here. So what exactly is the nature of the turf that Suvendu is standing on in this context ?
A) Bengal is primarily an agricultural state. The land is fertile, large portions of which is multicrop land. Fallow land is minimal. Last time land availability for industry caused a furore in the dying breaths of the CPIM government, it got revealed that fallow land was just 7 per cent.
B) Once the hub of Indian industry, Bengal had driven out big businesses since the early 1970s, through misplaced ideologies of successive governments and political parties. Much of that industrial expertise has been lost forever.
C) Countless industries among those which stayed put, became sick and closed down over the decades due to any number of issues.
D) To cap it all, was the Mamata Banerjee sponsored mess in Singur. Driving Ratan Tata out of the state and ruining the Nano project was the ultimate insult and a shocker to Indian industry at large. That shook the confidence of India Inc to its foundations. Bengal became untouchable.
To bring the crème de la crème of Indian industry back therefore to Bengal isn’t going to be a cakewalk. Sure, a prod from Delhi might force a re-think, but first, Bengal needs to set its own house in order. And, for that, here is a suggestion :
· With Delhi’s auspices, let a high-powered committee be formed to examine the issue in its entirety. Maybe prime minister Narendra Modi himself might want to chair it. Let the committee decide what kind of industry would be suitable for Bengal in 2026, what kind of infrastructure and market support can Bengal provide in return.
· Who can be on the committee ? Well, there can be a few mega names from India Inc., a few major union ministry representatives, Suvendu and two of his top ministers, but atleast two big consultancy majors on board. Maybe all the minds together can find a way forward.
· Maybe a McKinsey or any of the Big Three consultancy majors can investigate all possible angles and document a White Paper. That atleast would be a structured approach to this very complex problem and one far better than the hitherto whimsical attempts made by previous governments that invariably failed to make any impact.
Suvendu and Tapas Roy seemingly have started the game a bit differently. Media reports speak of small land parcels being made available to interested businessmen, a 1000-bed hospital project coming up or some closed jute mills and tea gardens in the Dooars and north Bengal region being reopened, groundwork being prepared for a hosiery project and so on. But that is a pittance.
If Bengal wants to be reckoned as the latest investment destination for India Inc., it needs to set up atleast half a dozen really big industries that can also provide jobs to the state’s unemployed. For that, Suvendu Adhikari has got to seek Delhi’s help and subsequently pave the way for implementation of the projects planned so that when his government seeks re-election in 2031, it will have plenty to show. Time is on his side, he only needs a Luis de la Fuente to be able to lift the World Cup.
