When the TMC government go t electorally ambushed on 4 May 2026, the focus could have immediately shifted to the immense potential that the newly installed government had in terms of meeting the aspirations of the populace in areas of income, employment and commercial endeavours. Instead, at least for the next week or so, we witnessed a continued focus in the media and social networks on the sins and misdeeds of the previous government. There was hardly much interest in who would be the next CM, or what would be his economic and social priorities, but instead a lot of discussion centered around the leading lights of the outgoing government and their perceived shortcomings that led to the downfall.

This, in a way, was not unnatural – given the long wait of the state for what Steven Spielberg described as the “best drink of water after the longest drought of my life.” The last few years of the Left Front rule (1977-2011) had left West Bengal gasping for breath in trying to come to terms with lack of employment and job opportunities, coupled with an all-pervading “party” culture where governance played second fiddle to a parallel government in Alimuddin Street. This was followed in 2011 by a change of regime with the slogan of “parivartan” or change.

The change promised was ostensibly in areas such as infrastructure, employment, work culture, and a general sense of freedom from the shackles of the “party” culture. Although it started off on a promising note, the later years of TMC rule fizzled out into the same pattern of general drift that the Left rule was accused of. In fact, the........

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