Forged in fire

Mamata Banerjee, her closest associates say, draws on instinct and grit in confronting a relentless BJP

- BY PREMA RAJARAM

Long before election arithmetic and booth management became the grammar of West Bengal's politics, Mamata Banerjee built her vocabulary on the streets.

It is a language her closest aides still speak fluently, one forged in protest marches, hurried strategy sessions and an instinctive reading of the public mood. As she heads into another bruising electoral contest, challenged by a determined BJP and a charged political atmosphere shaped by the special intensive revision of electoral rolls, those who work closely with her describe a leader who remains, at her core, unchanged. Combative, accessible, deeply emotional and stubbornly re- silient, Mamata is seen by her inner circle not merely as a chief minister defending her turf, but as a polit- ical survivor returning to familiar terrain. For Firhad Hakim, Kolkata's mayor and one of Mamata’s most trusted lieutenants, the present challenge echoes the past. His association with her stretches back over three decades, to a time when opposing the entrenched Left Front came with real physical risk. That memory, he suggests, is essential to understand- ing her current posture. He recalls a leader who was repeatedly attacked, whose life was under threat, yet who refused to take a step back. That instinct, he believes, defines her even today.

Hakim’s admiration is not framed in ideological terms but in deep- ly personal ones. He describes a leader who responds instinctively to distress, someone who would be the first to arrive ina moment of crisis. In his view, Mamata’s politics is inseparable from this emotional persona. It is also what, he argues, sustains her connection with voters, particularly in urban constituencies where familiarity and proximity matter as much as policy.