Mamata Banjee Leadership Analysis

“She is the leader of a small regional party but wields more power than the Prime Minister”

- Washington Post, 2012

Mamata Banerjee, the first woman Chief Minister of the West Bengal, is one of the most prominent figures in the contemporary Indian politics. Over the past decade, she has risen to have tremendous influence on the political scenario of both the state and the country. In 2012, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In September 2012 Bloomberg Markets magazine listed her among the 50 most influential people in the world of finance. Mamata Banerjee has been the Chief Minister of the state of West Bengal since 2011 after claiming a landslide victory over the Communist Party of India, which had

Her standpoints on various policies have had a huge impact on the national politics. Over the years she has personified populist force in Indian politics and has effectively used her political might to hold the balance of power in the constantly evolving coalition politics in India. According to the Washington Post, Banerjee represents the fundamental change that is transforming Indian politics which is evident in the declining vote share of the country’s two main political parties and the rising influence of regional parties. A critical analysis of the leadership style of Mamata Banerjee provides interesting insights into the strength and influence of the one of the most powerful female leaders in

Her leadership style presents a contradiction of her dictatorial and democratic impulses. This becomes evident in the political space where Mamata Banerjee is known to evoke strong emotions among her voters, her opposition parties as well as her alliances and own party members. The mass supporters believe in her fearlessness, simplistic lifestyle coupled with high-energy, dramatic and strong viewpoints. Her dissemination of the three decade old Marxist Government in Bengal was born out of the majoritarian acceptance of personality almost making her a cult. The electoral victory at the critical juncture in West Bengal has been completely credited to her mass popular political moves. Though the faith of the people of West Bengal in the CPI-M has long evaporated, it was not until the Singur and Nandigram movements that people turned to Mamata for leadership. She emerged as ‘Didi’ or elder sister who represented the concerns of the poor and down trodden. She became a widely accepted political figure after she went on a 25 day hunger strike to protest against the land acquisition by Tata motors for their Nano car project in Singur, West Bengal. The pressure created by her supporters was so huge that the Tata Motors had to shift its project to Gujarat. Interestingly, despite her opposition to the Left has maintained a mix of ‘leftist’ and ‘centrist’