Dibakar Dutta

The Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has been able to do the unthinkable: Erase fault lines and friction between the Assamese Hindu and the Bengali Hindu community living in the State. For decades, Assam kept boiling over ethnic tensions between the Assamese and the Bengali population. Issues like mass migration, religious persecution, demographic change, and economic opportunities have prevented both cohesion and harmony to a large extent.

The Trinamool Congress party, which came into existence in 1998, is counting its last days. A little more than a month earlier, no one could have possibly imagined this drastic downfall of the party. Supreme leader Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek, who once threatened to teach BJP workers a lesson in violence, are now fighting for existence and political relevance. TMC’s heavyweight leaders have now created new factions and have openly declared rebellion against the Pishi-Bhaipo hegemony.