Coming from someone with nearly six decades of political experience,this hits differently .
Speaking to IANS,Roy said party did not properly understand public mood,especially after tragic RG Kar incident involving rape and murder of postgraduate trainee doctor . According to him,that case was not just one law-and-order issue,it became warning sign of deep anger among people.
And his most direct line was this: “Many people,including some party leaders,were involved in attempting to cover up the RG Kar case.” That is serious allegation from inside party itself,not from opposition camp .
He basically said public outcry was ignored,and that ignoring anger eventually hurt party badly . Roy also accepted that Trinamool Congress’s stand against Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was justified,but government failed to give relief to voters where it was needed .
Few points standing out from Roy’s comments:
- Public anger after RG Kar case was not understood properly by party .
- Corruption,according to Roy,became embedded from local governance to highest levels of power.
- Democracy needs healthy opposition,otherwise government stops being questioned properly.
Roy also said,“The people's right to vote was taken away in numerous areas of West Bengal,” while talking about disenfranchisement . And tbh,this is where governance failure and political failure start mixing together badly.
He went further and said Trinamool Congress created environment where corruption became institutionalized . Political workers wanted to do their work,but without clear political agenda,many became disillusioned . His line,“We never allowed any opposition space to exist,” sounds like very blunt self-criticism only.
But another interesting part is his comment on Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) . Roy said I-PAC was first brought in for governance planning,but later its role expanded into candidate nominations and organizational decisions,which he says was never original intent .
And on welfare schemes also,he gave one reality check . He said schemes like 'Lakshmir Bhandar' helped women initially,but bigger question became safety and dignity . His words were, “Women wanted safety more than Lakshmir Bhandar,” and that says lot about mood in Bengal right now…
Because when someone from inside party starts saying public anger,corruption,lack of opposition space and women’s safety were all ignored,then question is not just why defeat happened,but how long warnings were sitting there unheard…
