Backed by a resounding mandate, the new Suvendu Adhikari government in West Bengal couldn’t be better placed to address the high expectations of “poriborton” or change. For the first time in nearly 50 years, governments in the state and at the Centre are led by the same party. But Chief Minister Adhikari faces tough challenges, too. It will be his responsibility to ensure that his government does not slip into the systemic inertias and blind spots that contributed to the downfall of its predecessor, the 15-year Trinamool Congress dispensation, and before it, the 34-year Left rule.

Since at least 1977, West Bengal has had a unique form of political culture and competition. The CPI(M) made the party a parallel state and the state an extension of the party. This smudging of boundaries led to........

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