Power is intoxicating, especially that drawn by a leader from the people. It takes a very balanced, mature personality to ensure that it does not go to the head. More often than not, in politics especially, this balance and maturity is absent. Political history is replete with examples where leaders, elected with massive mandates, muffed it by allowing power to get to their heads.

At risk now of joining that long list of leaders is our very own Didi, who has been going about the Tata Motors-Singur land issue like the proverbial bull in a china shop. Her sole focus in the month that she has been in power has been Singur, and the restoration of status quo as it prevailed before Tata Motors ventured to set up its Nano car plant there. Nothing wrong with that, especially because Singur was what provided her the momentum to take on the Left. Besides, she has a promise to keep to the farmers from Singur, and elsewhere in West Bengal, who have been dispossessed of their land in the name of industrialisation.

Didi's strategy

But wasn't there a better way to go about fulfilling the promise than to use the overwhelming majority in the Assembly to pass an Act and dispossess the Tatas and their vendors of the land? Did Ms Mamata Banerjee imagine that the Tatas would sit by idly and watch the government seize the land from them and without paying any compensation?

Surely not. Didi's strategy appears simple. Pass the Act and seize the land from the Tatas. Take them on legally if they go to Court. If the Court rules in the government's favour, the job is done. If it rules in favour of the Tatas, well, you can tell the people that you tried your best to redeem your pledge, but thanks to the Court verdict, that is now not possible.

This is a dangerous approach because the dispossessed people can turn angry and they are not going to distinguish between the government and the Court. They had voted for Didi in the expectation of a return of their land and she would be seen as breaching that promise. The feeling that they have been let down will quickly set in and the groundswell of people's support can then quickly turn into disenchantment. In sum, Didi is riding a tiger now.

Could Ms Banerjee have handled this differently, in a less confrontational manner? Wouldn't it have been a more elegant approach to invite the Tatas, discuss with them how best to sort out the issue in a manner that would keep all the parties — the farmers, the government and the Tatas — happy?

Yes, the Tatas were forced out of Singur when they were on the verge of launching the Nano from there. But, surely, they are pragmatic enough to understand the circumstances that prevailed then, and what prevails now, and settle for a compromise that would minimise their losses. With the Nano driving out of Sanand in Gujarat now, the Singur plant is not important in the scheme of things for the Tatas at this point in time.

With a fair recompense for the land and the efforts they put in there, who knows, the Tatas may have agreed to quietly leave Singur, if that is what Didi wanted.

Unpleasant environment

With such an approach, the Mamata Banerjee Government would have also sent out the right signals to others eyeing investment opportunities in West Bengal. Instead, what we have now is an unpleasant environment that is sure to repel prospective investors.

If the Tatas, howsoever depleted their goodwill after all that has happened in the last few months, can be trampled upon in this manner, other industrialists are bound to think twice before doing business in and with West Bengal.

This is surely not a good augury for the State which desperately needs investment in industry. Ms Banerjee may have captured power with her promise of protecting farmers but as she is bound to realise, she needs industry as much as agriculture to propel the State forward.

Whether she has damaged that cause by the approach of the last month, only time will tell.

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