Global media blown over by the winds of change in Left citadel

All roads seem to be leading to West Bengal. A bevy of scribes armed with notepads and flashing cameras on the eve of the ‘judgement day’ could just be the prelude to the media frenzy surrounding the possibility of an end to three decades of Left rule in the state.

The presence of the international media in Kolkata is staggering and the high-voltage poll battle is turning out to be the most talked about event in the state, after the demise of Mother Teresa in 1997.

Whether the people’s verdict would be in favour of Paribartan (change) or bring back Left rule in the corridors of the Writers’ Buildings is still being debated in media circles, but everyone is holding on to their breath to bring in the first visuals of Kolkata’s skyline either being painted in green or perhaps in red.

More than the Left Front bosses like Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Biman Bose and Gautam Deb, the media is focusing on the “change agent” — Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee. “The global media is going gaga over a woman, in her mid-50s wearing a plain white saree, wearing Hawaii chappals. Now, all of them want an interview with Didi. Some have already met her, some are already here and others are on their way,” said Derek O’Brien, vice-president of Trinamool Congress and a popular quiz master.

Among the prominent media organisations covering the West Bengal elections are New York Times, BBC, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Gulf News, Netherlands Radio, Al Jazeera, France 24 TV and Reuters. “It seems all of them want a piece of the Trinamool leader,” he said.

According to sources, international journalists have put up at premier hotels like Floatel and Peerless Inn in Kolkata and most have had got an appointement to interview Banerjee and Bhattacharjee.

But why is the Bengal elections so important for the global media? Jason Burke, South Asia Correspondent of the Guardian, said: “The demise of the Communist party in West Bengal, if it happens, is much more interesting and significant overseas than the various changes elsewhere.”

Compared to earlier elections, the journos are competing with each other over how they would describe the Trinamool chief. “The woman with a fiery voice belying her short frame came, spoke and conquered the Kolkata crowd in the manner of someone who is about to become the fulcrum of power in the world’s largest democracy,” wrote Alistair Scrutton of Reuters.

The Associated Press in its report wrote: “West Bengal’s poverty-weary people, hungry for change, have been captivated during recent elections by populist firebrand Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress party is predicted to unseat the Communist Party of India-Marxist for the first time in 34 years.”

According to reports, major journalists covering the event include Alistair Scrutton of Reuters, Kate Daigle of AP, Makiko Itoh of Japan’s Nikkei and Pulitzer winning Jim Yardley of New York Times.

The countdown has started and all eyes are on Bengal to see whether the wind of change that was blowing across the state will be strong enough to unseat the Left from the Writers’ Buildings.