Do It Alone
After the Anna Hazaare fiasco in Delhi, Mamata Banerjee returned to Calcutta and declared that Trinamool Congress will be the third largest party in the country after Congress and BJP. Far from looking the least bit embarrassed by the royal snub she received from Anna (for those just tuning in: the anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazaare ditched the Bengal chief minister at the last minute after announcing a mega-rally in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan), Mamata almost looked jubilant, as though returning from a victorious trip, when she landed at the Calcutta airport. As everyone – from her friends to her foes – cringed from the shame-quotient inherent in the Delhi episode she seems to be above it all. Call it being in denial, shamelessness or being thick-skinned, but there is no denying that the lady has the gumption to stand up tall against the worst kind of humiliation. In fact, I have rarely seen anyone uphold the principle of "turning adversity into strength" more exemplarily than Mamata Banerjee. The Anna incident seems to have made her more determined and resolute to fight alone. Without wasting any time speculating on the magnitude of the mortification she should feel – as most of us would be doing – she has plunged headlong into the election campaign in the state. And her call for "a third alternative" has been replaced by the slogan of "do it alone."