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Correspondent

21 August 2024 at 10:20:16 am

Grim Reckoning

The heckling of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee during the latter’s visit to Sonarpur is a stark reminder that fear has an expiry date. For years, West Bengal’s politics has been defined by intimidation. First the Communist, and later during Mamata Banerjee’s TMC regimes, the state’s political discourse has been overwhelmingly accompanied by violence, cadre dominance, partisan policing and a culture in which dissenters were expected to keep their heads down and their opinions to...

Grim Reckoning

The heckling of Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee during the latter’s visit to Sonarpur is a stark reminder that fear has an expiry date. For years, West Bengal’s politics has been defined by intimidation. First the Communist, and later during Mamata Banerjee’s TMC regimes, the state’s political discourse has been overwhelmingly accompanied by violence, cadre dominance, partisan policing and a culture in which dissenters were expected to keep their heads down and their opinions to themselves. Whether in villages, municipalities or university campuses, countless Bengalis, especially the Hindu community, have complained that political power was exercised not only through the ballot box but through fear during the TMC rule. Against this backdrop, the scenes that unfolded during Abhishek Banerjee’s Sonarpur visit was a symbolic moment. The TMC political class that once inspired fear suddenly found itself confronting fearlessness and the ire of ordinary citizens. Trinamool leaders accustomed to hectoring and threatening the public were forced to face its ire as Abhishek was heckled and pelted with eggs. The Trinamool Congress would be mistaken if it dismisses the episode as an isolated incident. Across West Bengal after the polls, there is a palpable anger against TMC leaders and their henchmen. That simmering rage appears increasingly difficult to contain. For years, Abhishek Banerjee had projected himself as the heir apparent to Bengal’s ruling establishment, speaking haughtily with the confidence of a man convinced that power was permanently on his side. Now that the TMC is out of power, Sonarpur offered a starkly different picture. It showed what happens when politicians who are accustomed to commanding the public are suddenly confronted by it. From the horrors of Sandeshkhali to the public fury unleashed after the R.G. Kar outrage, West Bengal witnessed episode after episode that laid bare the TMC’s intimidation and moral corruption. The crowd that confronted Abhishek Banerjee at Sonarpur was venting years of accumulated resentment against a political culture many Bengalis had come to associate with arrogance, patronage and strong-arm tactics. They reflected what a significant section of the public has increasingly come to see as the moral bankruptcy of a political order that believed it could rule indefinitely through fear and organisational muscle. Abhishek Banerjee, more than any other TMC leader, had became the face of that system. The hostility he encountered in Sonarpur was political payback delivered by a public no longer willing to whisper its anger. While no civilised society should endorse mob violence, no politician can expect public sympathy after years of bullying and intimidating citizens. He or she must realize that political arrogance has consequences and that public anger, when it finally erupts, grinds even the most powerful dynasties to dust. Abhishek Banerjee’s reception in Sonarpur may therefore prove to be more than an embarrassing political episode. It may become the defining image of Trinamool’s final decline and fall.

Tata knew the art of peacefully extracting good work from his team

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Tata

Sanjeevv Nabar, who won a silver award in Global Maharashtrian Entrepreneurs Competition held in London in 2017 on the occasion of Marathi Sammelan in London, has a pool of experiences to share. He has closely interacted with and worked on several key projects like modernization of the manufacturing facilities and the colour TV manufacturing for Nelco and a few others with the able guidance of late Ratan Tata.


Sanjeev Nabar said, “I spent four years in early 1980’s, working closely with Ratan Tata. However, he is still my source of inspiration and I still follow the principles learnt from him in my group of companies. His influence has permanently etched on me and it still helps me to achieve my career goals.”


He pointed out that when NELCO had opened after a long lock-out due to labour trouble at that time back in 1980. It was like a new company when he joined NELCO as the Senior Manager- Engineering. Sanjeev Nabar is a B.Tech (Mechanical) and post graduate in (Industrial Design) from IIT-Bombay and also three Management diplomas from Mumbai University. Nelco produced transistor radio sets and was working on a unique model called Cheetah when Sanjeev Nabar joined. Cabinet grill of that product was with metal finish, which we were sourcing from an outside vendor, however the quality was not up to the mark.


Nabar said, “Ratan Tata chaired the meeting to plan the same and asked me upfront whether I could take the challenge of making this product in our own factory and eliminate the bottleneck. I agreed and knowing the need to do this fast, promised to make the automatic machine in just two months. It was too short a notice and everyone was taken by a shock when I actually did it. Ratan Tata issued me a letter thoroughly appreciating my contribution.”


Nabar said that Tata was so honest and liberal in his moral support as an ideal boss that he happily handed over the opportunity lead the complete modernization of NELCO’s consumer electronics product facilities, which again by his blessings which Nabar achieved well within the stipulated deadline.


Nabar proudly recalled, “He would always take me along for his factory visits and discussed all the developments with me closely. He had a very great quality of giving a whole hearted pat on the back of his employees. Once, while introducing me to the visiting VIP, Sumant Mulgaokar, the CEO of TELCO by referring me as the brain behind modernisation of NELCO.” He was an achiever and knew the art of peacefully extracting good work from his team.


Nabar said, “Under his guidance, I got another very interesting opportunity. I was the leader of NELCO’s color TV manufacturing project team. In India, colour TV transmission started for the first time during the 1982 Asian games in New Delhi. He, very wisely identified the best time to enter into colour TV manufacturing from components level. He was extremely happy when this project was successful.”


Nabar highlighted that although he worked with the TATAs only for four years, as an entrepreneur, he owed a lot to Ratan Tata for the greatest opportunities that he got under his leadership. He pointed out that Ratan Tata was the greatest industrialist I have seen in my lifetime.


Nabar said, “Earlier, Tata Group was an India centric company. Ratan Tata took over Jaguar, Land Rover, established Tata Tea brand and Tata Steel internationally by timely global acquisitions. All this pushed Tata Group into the global space making it an internationally recognised brand. During his time as the Chairman of Tata Group, he achieved a growth in business 40 times and profits 50 times, making it an unprecedented commercial success.”

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