Mamata Banerjee, Queen of 'Democrazy'

Bangalore: Mamata Banerjee is seen by her supporters as the messiah who ended three decades of communist rule in West Bengal. They believe that she is here to protect the farmers and small-time shopkeepers from the ‘evil-hands’ of globalization, while directing West Bengal to its rightful place as an economic and cultural powerhouse.

But after a series of disastrous moves and widely ridiculed antics, it seems like Banerjee might just hasten the end of honeymoon with voters.  Her inability to take criticism combined with her autocratic behavior is starting to alienate the very people who rejoiced when she defeated the Left. Her actions have prompted weekly magazine- India Today to call her the ‘’Queen of Democrazy’’.

She recently forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to fire his Railway Minister after he announced that railway fares would go up. "When I announced the increase in fares, everyone thumped the desk," said the former minister, Dinesh Trivedi. "And suddenly, I was asked to go," as reported by TOI.

The fare rise was seen by unions and economists as being essential to modernizing the railway network whose overcrowded trains and poor infrastructure act as an impediment to economic growth.

Following this incident, 52-year-old Chemistry professor Ambikesh Mahapatra forwarded an email that mocked how Banerjee treated Trivedi. Labeling it as ‘cyber crime’, Banerjee had the police detain him, but not before a group of unruly people beat him up.