A fateful Friday that saw Mamata’s rise and Kanimozhi’s fall

May 20, 2011

A fateful Friday that saw Mamata’s rise and Kanimozhi’s fall
by admin 15:53:00 - 0

New Delhi/Kolkata, May 20: It was an extraordinary yet ironical day for women in India on Friday. When one fiery women stormed the predominantly Left-bastion of Bengal to imprint her ideologies in the psyche of the population, another women stubbed out her chances to soar in the echelons of a once-sound political career. Yes, we are talking about the historic day that saw the fall and rise of two charismatic leaders, Mamata Banerjee and Kanimozhi.

On what can be seen a strange twist of fate, the two incidents will remain etched in the mind of the Indian public for some time to come. When Mamata ousted the Left rule in West Bengal, she was writing sheer history overthrowing the 34-year-old Left rule that was inbuilt into the mentality of the Bengali who has seen nothing except a red-wave in the state.

Kanimozhi’s is however a different story altogether. With a rich political lineage and an amazing ability to speak the language of the common man, Kanimozhi was a comparatively new entrant in the murky world of politics. With a life filled with poetry and writing initially, her first baby-steps into the DMK was slow, yet calculated. With her clout within the party growing over time, she too succumbed to the lure that power brings with it. The first instance of this lure apparently being wealth.

But Friday, the 20th of May had different plans for both women. When Mamata swore-in as the first women non-Left Chief Minister of West Bengal, Kanimozhi was left hiding a tear or two from public glare when she was sent to Tihar Jail for being “an active brain” in the 2G spectrum scam, one of the biggest scams Independent India has ever seen.

With both women at different ends of the spectrum at the moment; one chose to tread the path in her hawai-chappals and crumpled cotton sari while the other ‘literary heir” of Karunanidhi graduated from poetry and the Thirukural to the sticky world of power politics that was all-consuming.

An apt time to quote from the Thirukural itself, “Avoid an act which you may repent later; If done by mistake, better not to repeat it.” Hope Kanimozhi heeds the advice given by the great saint Thiruvalluvar ages ago.