The month of May is often associated with excessive heatwaves, leading to dehydration and resultant heatstroke. But due to the heat, one may also lose one's sanity, if we go by the "Midsummer madness," the 2018 song by musical collective 88rising. The heatwave across the country also seems to be testing the sanity of many high and mighty, leading to the emergence of bulldozers and cockroaches, both with serious consequences.

The recent days have seen a series of instances in which the initial enthusiasm of first-time rulers (as in the newly elected chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Keralam, and West Bengal) seems to go out of the board, drilling a hole in their boats. Indeed, the chief ministers do not want to waste any time in rolling out their electoral promises, lest people think the leaders have forgotten the promises they made to the people before the elections.

The chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Joseph Vijay, was the quickest, signing three government decisions, well-meaning as they were, soon after taking office. The first week had seen mostly positive changes, such as a courtesy call on the former chief minister, MK Stalin, improvements to the Amma Food stalls, subsidised eateries in the state's major cities, and the removal of all political billboards from streets.

His counterpart in Bengal had also shown the same enthusiasm and energy in announcing Annapurna Bhandar with ?3,000 for unemployed women, replacing Lakshmi Bhandar of ?1,500 initiated by Mamata Banerjee, giving land for the Border Security Forces to fence on the India-Bangladesh border, stopping namaz on streets, to name a few.

What seems apparent is that we have a new breed of chief ministers who have a vision, even if it is vitiated, and are ready to call a spade a spade. But the pitfalls before them seem like landmines, hidden beneath the earth, waiting to explode when they least expect, demanding a careful walk forward to bring all people under their protective care, particularly to keep minorities and social outcasts close to their hearts.

Cockroach, the Queen of Social Media
The unpremeditated (hopefully) comment by the Chief Justice of India, Surya Kant, the 53rd CJI to occupy the position since November 24, 2025, about unemployed youth and journos as cockroaches, has sparked a mass movement on social media, after the Cockroach Janta Party was launched just a few days ago. Perhaps even the founder of the new entrant into the socio-political arena, Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old former political communication strategist, now a public relations student at Boston University, would not have thought that the hoi polloi had been waiting for an opportunity to vent their anger on the irresponsible comments by those in power.

It is believed that within days of its launch, the CJP had over one lakh followers on Facebook, and its Instagram following crossed 18 million, more than those of the central ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. Its X account was suspended due to 'a legal demand.' It is not hard to guess who pulled the strings behind the suspension of the movement's excessively viral social media handles.

One might wonder why make such a hue and cry about a single comment by the CJI, while most of our ministers and bigwigs go scot-free, murdering hundreds of people due to their whimsical and impromptu decisions and go unaccounted. Think of the ordeals the nation's citizens endured due to demonetisation and the COVID lockdown announcements.

The unemployed cockroaches of the land may take a lesson from the annals of Bangladesh and Nepal's recent history and get on the streets to set right something rotten in the state of the nation. It may not be too late before we get to see the true face of the "angry young men and women" of our country, and the formation of the cockroach party may just be a prelude to it.

Brewing Bulldozer Bureau
It would not be surprising if the central government soon proposes the creation of a new central agency called the Central Bureau of Bulldozing. Yes, you have read it right, and just like CBI, this would be CBB, under the patronage of the one who had reinvented the wheel, Yogi Adityanath, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Sure, the expressed intention was a clean-up operation, but the unexpressed intention was a selective clean-up.

One of the first things the West Bengal chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari, did upon assuming office was to bulldoze illegal constructions in Tiljala, a densely populated area with tanneries and small-scale industries. There were two deaths and three injuries in a blaze in Tiljala on May 12 at the illegal factories. The chief minister and his ministers could justify the crackdown, and any sensible person would welcome it.

But there is another aspect to the crackdown: that the people living in or operating such illegal buildings be given notice of the demolition before bulldozers roll in, giving them time to gather even the meagre belongings. Even the locals did not refute the move, but demanded that they be given time to shift their belongings, and ultimately it was the court which had to come to the rescue of the sufferers.

The bulldozer culture seems to be fast catching up in other parts of the state too, thanks to the initial gift the fans of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) had given on the day of election results, rolling bulldozers to decimate Trinamool Congress (TMC) offices at New Market area in central Kolkata, a move that had been reprimanded by the Chief Election Commissioner, demanding a report on the incident.

Detect, Delete and Deport
The over-enthusiastic chief minister of West Bengal, who has just taken charge is busy dismantling what had taken years to build in the state, just because these structures were conceived and given birth by a woman he cannot stand; even the slightest excuse is enough for him to attack and demean the former chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, not having the least respect for her as a politician, mentor (he might have forgotten how she had mentored him into a seasoned politician) and human person.

Unfortunately good sense (which may be uncommon with party-obsessed politicians) may be absent in the hurried decisions, going to ridiculous extents (as changing the colour of the paint on bridges and street pillars from blue to white, removing the Biswa Bangla logo and replacing it with Ashoka emblem), costing the exchequer, which in fact is what has been contributed by even the poorest of the persons by way of tax.

But there is a fierce attempt to defame, deny and destroy (call it a sequel to detect, delete and deport of Suvendu Adhikari) those who belong to a different religion, not conforming to the ideology of the ruling party, in the name of infiltration of Bangladeshis and security of the nation. There is no problem in fencing on the international border in north Bengal, an issue that was refused by the previous dispensation, but making calculated attempts to push back even those Muslim men and women because they lack all the documents to show they are Indian citizens, is a grievous sin against humanity.

Vulnerable as the recipients are, they have neither legal protection nor social security, except for some lone voices crying in the wilderness amid the deafening silence of those who can toss them aside at will. The Citizenship Amendment Act, the brainchild of Home Minister Amit Shah, has been vehemently opposed by several parties, and, thanks to the majoritarian position in parliament, passing a bill to implement it is a cake walk. Now, the struggling masses at the borders have to bear the brunt.

The Bangladesh government has already anticipated that there could be unreasonable pushback from India into Bangladesh, and they would not accept such acts and would counter them appropriately. Now that the chief minister of Bengal is bent on forcefully pushing all those who are detected and deleted to be deported. This could only lead to unjustified conflict with the neighbouring nation, with repercussions that could be irreparable.

Cockroaches and bulldozers seem to point to some other looming reality before the people who are always at the receiving end. Forceful highhandedness could be just the beginning of the end of any regime, and careful, calculated moves in consultation with the losers or beneficiaries may be the only way forward, to let the summer heatwave pass without leading us to insanity, even if it is only the beginning. A humane approach to persons and incidents, such as the Tiljala blaze, could not only prevent such incidents in the future but also provide people living in such inhumane conditions with an alternative to live dignified lives.