In the podcast interview, Sanyal said, “The first time when he (Jyoti Basu) got elected, he already had carried out the Marichjhapi massacre. He had already begun to shut down the businesses. He already was mismanaging the electricity supply. I remember growing up doing my homework essentially by lantern and candlelight. Not because I came from a poor family. I came from a solidly middle-class family, but because there was no electricity. And this was before the days when generators were commonly available.”
“The question is, why did they keep getting him back despite his lack of performance? Some part of it was, of course, electoral malpractice. Booth capturing was converted into an art form. But I would argue that even more important than that was a poverty of aspiration,” Sanyal added.
“If your society aspires that the highest form of life is a union leader or an adda intellectual. That is your aspiration that you are sitting around smoking and sipping your Old Monk and passing judgment on the rest of the world, rather than doing anything. That is the aspiration of the society. If Mrinal Sen’s movies are the aspiration of your society, then do not complain that that is what you get,” he further said.
After the interview, the TMC took to ‘X’ and strongly condemned Sanyal’s views. “The hate spewing Bangla-Birodhis of @BJP4India have crossed all lines of decency! PM @narendramodi’s Chief Economic Advisor and a new addition to the list of modern-day Mir Jafars, Sanjeev Sanyal openly criticised the glorious culture of Bengal by accusing us of having a “Poverty of Aspirations”, making a complete fool of himself! Following the footsteps of his Bangla-Birodhi overlords of the BJP, he mocked our cultural icon Mrinal Sen and the prolific culture of Kolkata, the city of joy,” it said. Mir Jafar, the 18th-century general, is often associated with the idea of betrayal after his actions led to the British conquest of Bengal and later India.
“The next time PM Narendra Modi comes to Bengal he should clarify whether he endorses such xenophobic views harboured by Mr Sanyal,” the party added.
However, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh lashed back at the response. “Many people are saying many things about Bengal. These are happening because of the things that are going on in Bengal. Now Bengal means corruption… But simultaneously it is also true that if anyone’s comment hurts anybody, he or she can restrain themselves from such comments. But what is happening in Bengal now…those who take cut money, corrupt leaders, what is happening every evening,” he asked.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also responded to Sanjeev Sanyal’s comments and said, “He should know that what Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow. Bengal is leading on all fronts like music, culture, education, economics, research, science and other areas. Bengal’s projects are copied in different states. So, he has no right to defame Bengal. He may criticise the time when the CPI(M) was in power but his main target was to defame Bengalis.”
The TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar also accused the bureaucrat of trying to fan hatred against the state. “@sanjeevsanyal PM’s chosen Econ Advisor trying to fan @narendramodi ‘s open hatred of Bengal — for rejecting him decisively in 2014, 2019. PM stopped funds to WB. Not 1 Cabinet Minister from WB despite 18 MPs from here Mir Jafars_ helping Modi — despite obvious hate for WB,” Sircar said.