Martyr Trap

The clamour for President’s Rule in West Bengal has grown louder. A scathing report from Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, submitted to the Union Home Ministry after violent unrest in Murshidabad and Malda in April, paints a dire picture of radicalisation, militancy and an ‘adverse demographic composition’ in two Muslim-majority districts bordering Bangladesh. The report pointedly notes that the state government was aware of the situation, yet failed to act. Among its suggestions are the possible use of Article 356 which allows the Centre to dismiss a state government and assume direct control.

Such an option has long been mooted in a state as turbulent as Bengal, where political vendetta, communal flare-ups and administrative paralysis have become routine features of governance. Yet deploying this constitutional nuclear option is not without cost. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has long accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of Muslim appeasement and administrative incompetence, the temptation to act is strong. But doing so may spring a political trap that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is eager for the BJP to fall into. Governor Bose’s report is unusually forthright and coincides neatly with calls from state BJP leaders for a central intervention ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. They claim Bengal is hurtling toward lawlessness and that only the Centre can salvage the rule of law.

On paper, the BJP’s case is not without merit. Bengal’s recent spasms of violence, especially in Muslim-majority regions, have exposed a state government reluctant to confront radical elements within its support base. Mamata Banerjee’s years of soft-pedalling Islamist groups and ignoring provocations from the margins have eroded administrative credibility. Her reluctance to take strong action after protests against the Waqf Amendment Act turned violent further underscores her government’s precarious balancing act between governance and vote-bank politics.

But imposing President’s Rule could gift Mamata Banerjee with a narrative of victimhood. It would allow her to posture not just as Bengal’s strongwoman, but as a defender of federalism besieged by a hostile Centre - a role she has played with theatrical precision in the past. The BJP’s heavy-handedness could evoke memories of past central overreach and drive the Bengali electorate, often fiercely regional in sentiment, back into her fold.

Moreover, the record of Article 356 in electoral politics is chequered. Rarely has it helped the party in power at the Centre. From Tamil Nadu to Uttarakhand, President’s Rule has often backfired, rallying voters around the ousted government rather than its accusers. That may explain why BJP mandarins in Delhi remain cautious, wary of turning a political problem into an electoral debacle.

The BJP would do well to remember that Mamata Banerjee’s greatest political victories have come when she is underestimated or when she is cornered. President’s Rule may offer short-term administrative control, but at the cost of long-term political capital. The wiser path may lie not in dismissing the government, but in defeating it at the ballot box.