West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee\u2019s first interface with Mumbai media on Thursday was a rather tame affair for those who were expecting drama, traditionally associated with her meetings. Faced with uncomfortable questions, she neither threatened to walk out, nor applied the Maoist tag to those who asked her such questions. That shows her maturity.
\nOverall, Banerjee was very restrained. She called the reporters as \u201cmy brother\u201d and \u201cmy sister\u201d and before the press conference started, checked with her people whether refreshments were served to journalists. When the Bengali reporters asked for hilsa fish, she didn\u2019t hear them.
\nIn the entire press conference, which lasted about half an hour, she didn\u2019t encourage anything silly. She was to the point, didn\u2019t entertain questions that were not related to the subject of the press conference\u2014investment opportunities in West Bengal\u2014and politely declined to answer queries that were sensitive and uncomfortable.
\nFor instance, on the disputed Singur land, her answer was she should not say anything as the matter was sub judice. Similarly, on being asked who would own Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, she said the bidding process would decide on that. What will be her role in the next general elections? Who will come to power? Her answer was: \u201cI am not a political astrologer. I believe in federal government and I want stability. I am a small fry.\u201d
\nAnother uncomfortable question was on the law and order situation in West Bengal. Without losing her cool or branding the reporter a Maoist, she said she cannot tackle the false propaganda as she does not own a TV channel but the results of the recent Panchayat polls show that everything is fine in her state.
\nShe handled the press with maturity, peppering the conference with Mamataesque humour, telling reporters to ask her questions in Marathi and answering them mostly in Bengali.
\nHer meeting with the industrialists and bankers went off well, although she did not get any concrete investment proposal. But then her road show was very different from that what Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been holding for years now. She also did not make any exaggerated statement on the outcome of the meeting. \u201cThey all are excited and willing to invest in my state, but such things do not happen over one meeting. They will go back and work on their plans,\u201d she told the media.
\nIf her version of the state of West Bengal is to be believed, this eastern state seems to be experiencing a renaissance in industrialisation and is a heaven for any investor.
\nConsider these facts: Two years back, the state had reported a loss of 7.8 million mandays and now it is zero; the government has created a 10,000-acre land bank; and, in three years West Bengal will be a power-surplus state. The state has an IT policy, textile policy and housing policy in place and there are industrial activities all around\u2014financial hubs being created, airports, film cities, hospitals, universities are being built. She promised \u201cA to Z of vitamin\u201d to industrialists. The Sundarbans, according to her, can be home to an African Safari, and a new Goa can be created on the beaches of the Bay of Bengal. Banerjee claimed to have Rs.1.3 trillion investments being made in her state, with Steel Authorty of India Ltd (SAIL) leading the brigade of investors with a Rs.20,000 crore investment.
\nShe did lean heavily on Bollywood. She said the late Sunil Dutt was very fond of her, that Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) loves her a lot and that Shahrukh Khan was West Bengal\u2019s brand ambassador. Along with industrialists from Bengal, singer Bappi Lahiri and actor Mithun Chakraborty also attended the meeting. Chakraborty, in fact, was dragged into the press conference for a few minutes at the fag end.
\nEven then, it was not a typical Didi press conference except for her bursting into song. Her choice was \u201cAye mere watan ke logon\u201d, the Hindi patriotic song that Lata Mangeshkar performed on Republic Day in 1963, two months after the end of India-China war. Those who were at the event to look for some fun were disappointed but if Mamata is changing, it\u2019s good for West Bengal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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