Kolkata, Jan 26 (IANS) A social media post by writer-turned-politician and Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislator Manoranjan Bapari, in which he praised the courtesy and magnanimity of workers from both the BJP and the CPI(M), has triggered discussion and surprise in political circles in West Bengal.

Bapari, the TMC MLA from Balagarh in Hooghly district, shared the post on Monday morning, citing two personal experiences — one involving BJP workers and the other CPI(M) youth activists — to underline his belief that values such as courtesy and magnanimity transcend political ideologies, even among rival parties.

The first instance that Bapari referred to in his social media post is an incident that occurred a couple of years ago when he was returning from a party meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium in central Kolkata, addressed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

On his way back, his vehicle was stopped because of a protest demonstration by the BJP workers at the Dankuni Toll Plaza. “My assistant Partha asked me not to step out of the vehicle. I refused to listen to him. I stepped out of the car and asked the BJP supporters the reasons for their protests. They recognized me. With extreme softness in their voice, they apologized and asked me to move on. I am a strong opponent of them. Despite this, it was a great honour for me to receive respect from the radical workers of the opposition party,” Bapari said in his post.

He also said that, at a time when clashes between different political parties have become a regular affair, he said he travels throughout the state without any security and, at times, even in public vehicles. “No one has ever attacked me. I do not believe that anyone would ever do that. I have earned people’s love my whole life,” Bapari added.

The second incident that he narrated was as recent as Sunday, when he was returning from the Kolkata International Book Fair by a public vehicle. “Understanding that I was facing difficulties in standing because of my recently replaced knee, one of the three chatting youths in the vehicle vacated his seat for me. Being embarrassed, I refused. Then one of them told me that he had recognized me. He also said that, being an ardent CPI(M) youth worker, he and his two friends often engage in political discourse with me on my various social media posts. What followed next was a long chat session with them. I agreed with some of their points, and they also agreed with some of mine. What surprised me the most was that despite knowing that I am a Trinamool Congress legislator, they gave me a lot of respect and also praised me,” Bapari added.

He ended his post claiming that, though he is not aware of how successful he had been as a legislator, the greatest achievement in his life is the respect that he earned from common people, irrespective of political affiliations.

Political observers feel that mutual friendships between political leaders of opposed political views are nothing new in West Bengal. The friendship and mutual admiration shared by two legendary West Bengal Chief Ministers — Late Siddhartha Shankar Roy and Late Jyoti Basu — were known to all. So was the mutual administration shared by former Union Home Minister L.K. Advani and former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, with the common chord between them were both connoisseurs of modern literature. Similarly, Bhattacharya and former Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, were mutual admirers,” said a city-based political observer.

–IANS

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