Highlights –
Public patience has broken due to ‘cut-money’, corruption, and extortion.
Commission-seeking in government schemes and the ‘syndicate raj’ have fueled the outrage.
Public anger has erupted against top TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee.
Public anger against Trinamool Congress leaders in Bengal has spilled out onto the streets due to ‘cut-money’, corruption, and extortion. This outrage, stemming from commission-seeking in government schemes and the ‘syndicate raj’, is now becoming visible even against top leaders like Abhishek Banerjee.
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The political atmosphere in Bengal seems to be changing rapidly after the change in power. Public anger against Trinamool Congress leaders is clearly visible on the streets of the state. This outrage is not the result of a single incident, but an explosion of frustration that has been accumulating for years.
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The roots of ‘cut-money’, corruption, and extortion had grown so deep that the moment the government changed, the public’s patience finally snapped. The compulsion to pay commissions to avail benefits of government schemes, the syndicate raj at the local level, and the corruption flourishing under political patronage have ignited the anger smoldering within common people.
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How the background of public outrage was set
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Whenever there was a change of power in Bengal, ‘syndicates’ grew stronger to control grassroots development works, construction materials (sand, cement), and local businesses. Initially considered a source of employment, it gradually became the basis for extortion.
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TMC leaders and workers on the target of common people
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During this period, when central and state government welfare schemes (such as Awas Yojana, toilet construction, MGNREGA, and ration) started reaching the people directly, local-level leaders fixed a certain ‘commission’ (cut-money) in exchange for delivering these benefits. Demands ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 rupees became common.
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When bundles of notes were recovered from the homes of top leaders of the ruling party in the teacher recruitment scam, cattle smuggling, and ration scam, the people of Bengal were stunned. The public, who were being harassed for ‘cut-money’ of five hundred to a thousand rupees, saw crores of rupees in cash on television.
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This is where the ‘dam of patience’ began to crack, but since the perpetrators were associated with the ruling party, this anger continued to smolder internally.
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In villages, those who refused to pay ‘cut-money’ were not just physically harassed; they were subjected to ‘social and economic’ blows. Tactics like not inviting their families to weddings, not allowing them to buy goods from local grocery stores, and blocking water to their fields were adopted. The anger visible today is a retaliation against this social harassment.
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Incidents that drew people’s attention
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In recent days, several such incidents have come to light that have caught the attention of the entire state. The most discussed incident occurred in Sonarpur, South 24 Parganas, where eggs were thrown at the convoy of Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and slogans of ‘thief-thief’ were raised against him.
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Stones were pelted at TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee in Serampore, Hooghly. Public resentment also surfaced against senior MP Saugata Roy in Dum Dum. Women pelted rotten eggs at former Bidhannagar Mayor Sabyasachi Dutta.
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The public now wants answers
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Rahul Sen, a resident of Belgharia, Kolkata, says that these incidents are also a signal that when the arrogance of power starts weighing heavily on the rights of the people, resistance erupts spontaneously on the streets.
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According to Mousumi Dutta of Chinsurah, Hooghly, the incidents reported in the state in recent days are not just stories of political violence, but an expression of the public outrage that has been brewing internally for a long time.
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Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya says that this public outrage is natural. People are reacting after enduring corruption, ‘cut-money’, and political atrocities for years.
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Kunal Ghosh, spokesperson, Trinamool Congress, says that the BJP is practicing the politics of vendetta. BJP-backed elements are active behind the attacks on TMC leaders, and a conspiracy is underway to defame the party.
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