As Mamata Banerjee completed 12 years as the chief minister of West Bengal, State Cabinet Minister Dr Shashi Panja has said that the Trinamool Congress supremo has always prioritized the people of the state.
While talking to ANI about CM Banerjee’s 12 years of experience and journey, Dr Shashi Panja said, “She is a humanistic Chief Minister, whose priority is always the people of State. If we see back from 2011 to 2021 she worked in different areas. A lot of development has happened which she had promised to people. Many government schemes have been implemented which are not only important but also helpful for all age groups.” “A scheme like Kanya Shree helps girls with their education, and Lakhmi Bhandar economically helps women. I must say Mamata Banerjee initiated several schemes that have helped people immensely,” she added.
The year 2011 in the history of West Bengal politics is a benchmark for Trinamool Congress as well as for party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
In 2011, the Trinamool Congress put an end to the 34-year rule of the Left Front in the legislative elections and Mamata Banerjee became the first woman chief minister of West Bengal.
After the historic victory in 2011, she again won assembly elections in 2016 and 2021 with a huge margin of votes.
In May 2023, she completed 12 years of her journey as chief minister of West Bengal.
As a chief minister, she always said, “I didn’t took leave, I worked 24×7 for the people of Bengal because my aim is very clear the development of the State and ensuring that the people of West Bengal get better facilities from my government. I don’t care about the opposition and their propaganda. I believe in myself and my family (people of Bengal).”
Meanwhile, the ex-Mayor of Kolkata and MP of CPIM, Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya said, “12 saal me 12 baja diya. She is a total failure as a chief minister in all government sectors. The education sector is very important for the state but Mamata Banerjee promotes corruption. She announced lots of schemes but no one benefited from this. There were about 4 lakh fewer students in the secondary examination as compared to the previous year.”
As opposition, BJP leader Rahul Sinha said, “As a chief minister she has totally failed in all sectors of West Bengal. Now West Bengal is bank corrupted. She has already said in the assembly that she is not in a position to pay DA financially. Yes, she promised many things but all are verbal. If we talk about investment, not a single investment comes up here. Law and order are baseless, Bengal is number one in crime against women.”
Born on January 5, 1955, Mamata started her political career as a Youth Congress worker in the 1970s. She quickly rose to the ranks and became the general secretary of Mahila Congress and later All India Youth Congress.
In 1984, she was elected as a member of parliament in the 8th Lok Sabha becoming one of the country’s youngest parliamentarians. She founded the All India Trinamool Congress in 1997 after a disagreement with Congress.
She worked with three Prime Ministers including PV Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh. She had been a Union Minister in both National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) governments and held portfolios like Human Resource Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, Women and Child Development, Coal and Mines and the Railways.