It has been nearly a month since the new BJP government took office in West Bengal. Within this remarkably short span, public unease regarding its administrative approach has been steadily mounting. This discomfort stems not only from the ruthless eviction of hawkers and vendors and the chilling implications of introducing a "bulldozer culture" to the state. It is also not limited to the "statist" rhetoric of the BJP state president and other leaders who are advocating for a complete overhaul of textbooks and social life.

Instead, a broader, more troubling narrative is gaining ground: this government is remarkably adept at making lofty promises, but significantly less so when it comes to actual execution. Consequently, deep questions are beginning to surface regarding just how people-centric this administration truly is.

FRACTURED PRIORITIES

A striking contrast has emerged between the government's cultural assertiveness and its economic sluggishness. Observers are asking why there is such a frantic urgency to enforce the singing of Vande Mataram in schools and madrasas, contrasted against such slow momentum when it comes to the tangible welfare of the populace.

A collective question has arisen in the minds of many citizens: are the uprooting of hawkers, the eviction of people from their homesteads, the rigorous implementation of the Animal Slaughter Control Act of 1950, or the issuance of directives that effectively muzzle government employees truly West Bengal's most urgent and pressing problems at this moment? These actions were certainly not listed among their primary priorities upon winning the election. Why, then, did the new leadership choose to place these ideological manoeuvres at the very top of their preference list?

Critics argue that it is far more important to immediately address the democratic crisis left in the wake of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. Carried out through a terrifying process, this revision saw around 27 lakh people removed from the voter list. Rather than working to reinstate the names of lakhs of citizens who have been deleted or remain trapped in the web of adjudication hearings, the newly formed state government chose this moment to announce the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Simultaneously, the administration, led by key figures like Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, declared its "detect, delete, and deport” policy regarding infiltrators. The chief minister has announced plans to identify infiltrators and place them in “holding centres” within the state, mirroring the detention centres of Assam. Across all three steps, one characteristic is abundantly clear: the objective is not the fulfilment of their pre-election slogan, "fear out, confidence in"; rather, it is to generate panic in society and foster mutual distrust and suspicion in the name of religious polarisation. A deep sense of apprehension has now infiltrated the minds of everyday citizens.

INSINCERE PLEDGES

From the very beginning, a lack of consistency has defined the space between what was promised before the elections and what is occurring now. Take, for instance, the demands of state government employees — an area where the BJP was exceedingly generous with its pledges on the campaign trail. Street billboards promised Seventh Pay Commission implementation within 45 days of government formation. Instead, the cabinet only gave in-principle approval to constitute a commission for various state bodies and institutions. Employees view this as mere "re-packaging" of the previous TMC government's February budget announcement, failing the explicit pre-election pledge.

Concerns are also rising over the unpaid dearness allowance (DA). Despite supporting the DA movement while in the opposition, the current chief minister has remained silent on the 4% hike previously budgeted for April. Litigation regarding the 2009 Revision of Pay and Allowance (ROPA) rules persists with no resolution. The current government appears to be adopting the previous administration's delaying tactics in court, citing treasury deficits. Bridging the current 42% DA gap between the Centre and the state now seems increasingly unlikely.

BREAKDOWN OF RULE OF LAW

A separate nuisance has surfaced recently on the streets of West Bengal. A few leaders and workers of the Trinamool Congress, which is already torn apart by infighting, are facing street attacks that are being labelled as "public wrath." Over the last 15 years, Leftists have repeatedly fallen victim to similar well-planned and barbaric attacks under the guise of so-called public wrath, routinely assaulted in an attempt to muzzle their voices.

Incidents involving leaders like Abhishek Banerjee or Kalyan Banerjee suggest two distinct realities: first, they point to a severely weakened judicial framework where, despite claims of transformative change, the rule of law remains fragile as established administrative and statutory standards are repeatedly ignored on the streets; second, these physical attacks are inadvertently fuelling a political rehabilitation by refocusing public attention back on the Trinamool Congress (TMC), potentially resuscitating an opposition party that had been almost completely sidelined by internal conflict, deep corruption charges, and public alienation. 

Civil liberties activists are further questioning the degradation of basic human dignity under the current administrative atmosphere. They ask whether parading an accused person down the street half-naked with a rope tied around their waist — no matter how heinous their crime — does not constitute a gross violation of human rights. They fear that while this heavy-handed trend may begin with criminals as the target, it will ultimately imperil any legitimate humanitarian right to hold the system accountable.

BUREAUCRATIC LABYRINTH

The transition from Lakshmir Bhandar to the promised Annapurna Yojana highlights another stark shift in administrative behaviour. Initially, the BJP declared that all those who used to receive the previous welfare stipend would automatically receive 3,000 rupees under the new Annapurna Yojana. However, as soon as the elections concluded, the BJP revealed a very different face.

Despite announcements that the scheme would launch on June 1st with automatic fund transfers for existing beneficiaries, the reality has proven far more arduous. Accessing the programme now necessitates completing a convoluted 12-page application, a requirement that has become a source of significant distress for hundreds of thousands of underprivileged women.

This extensive new document requires a staggering level of detail, including the applicant's identity, sensitive documentation placeholders, and comprehensive voter data. Furthermore, it mandates the personal identification and income specifics for every family member, as well as an explicit disclosure of whether the residence contains more than three rooms. Such an intrusive inquiry has fuelled widespread concern among the working class regarding their ability to navigate the form without making disqualifying mistakes.

"Is the purpose of this form to provide support, or is it a tool to identify reasons for exclusion? Why is there a need for the personal details of every household member or our property deeds?" — frustrated women are questioning the new terms across the state. Meanwhile, the state’s minister for women and child welfare, Agnimitra Paul, stated that simply filling out this form correctly does not guarantee that one will receive the Annapurna Yojana funds, noting that many other aspects will be thoroughly scrutinised. Following this statement by the minister, further confusion has ensued. People are openly observing that before the elections, there was a detailed list of what benefits would be available under new schemes; now, what they are actually getting is a detailed list of the tactics used to block specific people from receiving them.

EMPTY PROMISES

Compounding these structural hurdles is a severe economic blow. The Modi government has hiked petrol and diesel prices as many as four times in just two weeks. This persistent surge impacts the entire market, sending the prices of essential commodities soaring and heavily bruising the common kitchen budget. Kolkata has recorded the highest fuel surge in the nation, with petrol sitting at ₹113.51 per litre and diesel reaching ₹99.82.

Despite previously demanding tax relief from the old regime, the current BJP leadership has gone completely silent on waiving its own share of fuel taxes. Similarly, the pre-election campaign video promise of providing cooking gas cylinders for just ₹450 has failed to materialise. It has all merely remained confined as viral videos on social media platforms.

To defend their record, government apologists point to the June 1st launch of free bus travel for women. However, critics note this measure is purely theoretical on most routes because the state fleet was majorly dismantled long ago. Blue-and-white government buses are virtually invisible on primary commuting corridors, leaving many state transport corporation depots empty.

This crisis forces citizens to rely on private buses, auto-rickshaws, and e-rickshaws, which are becoming increasingly expensive due to rising fuel costs. As Mustafizur Rahman (Rana), the CPI(M) MLA from Domkal, noted in a letter to the chief minister, on routes like Berhampore-Domkal-Jalangi, government bus service simply does not exist.

RURAL EXCLUSION

An even more perilous dimension of the crisis is gradually coming to light in the rural sectors: the BJP government will not procure paddy from nine major districts of the state. For the time being, this directive has been issued for the Rabi season.

The districts completely excluded from the purview of paddy procurement this rabi season are Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura, and Purba Medinipur. Along with the decision to completely halt procurement from the farmers of these nine districts, the Suvendu Adhikari government has drastically altered the overall targets.

The overall rabi paddy procurement target has been slashed by 60 per cent compared to the previous financial year, dropping from last year's 5 lakh metric tonne to a mere 2 lakh metric tonne. The administration has also notified that it will not procure any paddy for the Central Pool, confining all activity strictly to the State Pool. This operational shutdown leaves millions of cultivators in these vital agricultural hubs completely deprived of official sales channels, forcing an economically vulnerable population into distress selling at the hands of exploitative middlemen and broker syndicates.

STRIKING DOWN SOCIAL SAFETY

Depriving backward minorities of OBC reservation was a key pre-election agenda for the BJP, and upon taking office, they moved swiftly to roll it back. By strictly adhering to the reservation list that existed prior to 2011, the Suvendu Adhikari government effectively slashed the OBC reservation quota from 17% down to 7%.

This 17% quota had been established in February 2010 by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s Left Front government under the 'OBC-A' category, following explicit Backward Classes Commission recommendations to uplift highly impoverished and educationally backward sections of the Muslim community. State Minister Agnimitra Paul defended the rollback by branding the old reservation as "vote-bank politics" and "appeasement" that marginalised eligible Hindu communities, announcing a formal push for a National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) review.

This policy shift has triggered an intense political backlash. Jahanara Khan, state president of the All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), warned that this rollback strips nearly 2 crore poor minorities of their constitutional rights to advancement. Left Front leaders have condemned the decision as a blatant display of anti-minority bias that will stall socioeconomic progress and deepen religious polarisation across the state.

THE SMART ASSAULT

Final utility management has also become the target of an aggressive administrative overhaul. It turns out that the pre-election promise of "200 units of free electricity" was nothing but a campaign gimmick. Instead, the 'double-engine' government has finalised a blueprint for a twin assault on the state's electricity consumers by hiking power tariffs and initiating the installation of smart meters.

Before the elections, the BJP had explicitly promised up to 200 units of free electricity to the state's consumers in its manifesto (Sankalp Patra). Yet, even before fulfilling that promise, the central and state governments have burdened consumers with a dual onslaught of increased tariffs and smart prepaid meters.

Following a meeting in Rajarhat between Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, state minister Agnimitra Paul, and various officials, a joint blueprint for electricity was finalised. Departing from pre-election welfare promises, the government will begin installing smart meters across 2 crore households in the WBSEDCL network this July. These will subsequently transition into prepaid units, forcing consumers to pay entirely in advance.

A TROUBLING TRAJECTORY

The first month of the new administration in West Bengal has revealed a stark chasm between campaign rhetoric and governance reality. From utility management and basic economic welfare to civil liberties and social safety nets, the initial focus has drifted rapidly away from public relief towards aggressive bureaucratic restructuring, fiscal tightening, and ideological polarisation. For the common citizen, the promised "good days" have instead manifested as a complex labyrinth of escalating costs, systemic exclusion, and mounting administrative unease. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress is fracturing completely, with the media exposing daily accounts of their horrific past criminal activities. Simultaneously, the BJP's retreat from earlier commitments is driving the people to view Left and democratic forces as a genuine alternative. (END)