Of the state’s 42 seats, 22 had been received by the Trinamool Congress in 2019 and 18 by the BJP.
Kolkata:
West Bengal’s 42 seats make it the third-largest contributor of MPs to the Lok Sabha however what has made the state much more necessary and attention-grabbing in these Lok Sabha elections is the keenly fought contest between the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, with neither aspect keen to offer any quarter.
At NDTV’s particular present ’Battleground’ on Saturday, hosted by Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, a panel of specialists and spokespersons from the BJP and TMC dissected each subject that would play a job in both celebration getting an higher hand and likewise shared their ideas on what drives violence throughout elections in West Bengal
Whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee – and a Presidential-style contest between – them dominated the dialogue, the 2 different details that bought numerous consideration had been the Sandeshkhali controversy and the welfare push by each events.
Everybody, barring the spokespersons in fact, appeared to agree that the competition within the state goes to be a neck and neck one and the battle goes to be certainly one of wonderful margins.
Of the state’s 42 seats, 22 had been received by the Trinamool Congress in 2019 and the BJP had made large inroads and achieved victory in 18. Removed from resting on its laurels, the BJP has been relentless in its quest to extend its vote share since then. however the Trinamool Congress has additionally fought tooth and nail to carry on to its turf.
Pointing to how razor-thin the margins are within the state, Sanjay Kumar, Professor on the Centre for the Examine of Growing Societies (CSDS) mentioned, ”West Bengal is a state the place the regional celebration could be very robust however the BJP is placing up a fierce contest. The BJP has defeated the Congress in lots of states nevertheless it appears to be on the again foot in terms of contesting in opposition to regional events, however Bengal is an exception. I believe there’s a neck-and-neck combat. This can be a battleground in the actual sense.”
”There’s a contest in each seat. In 2019, the distinction in vote share between the events was simply three per cent. The distinction in seats was additionally of solely 4. If the votes swing by 2 per cent both means… if the BJP’s vote share goes up by 2-3 per cent, the TMC can lose 7-8 seats and if the other occurs and the BJP loses 4-5 per cent of votes it may be diminished to single digits,” he mentioned.
Including so far, political strategist Amitabh Tiwari mentioned there have been 22 seats in 2019 the place the margin of victory was lower than 10% or 1 lakh votes – and these had been cut up evenly between the TMC and the BJP. ”So there may be undoubtedly a ’kaante ki takkar’ (a neck-and-neck-fight) and this has change into a seat by seat contest,” he mentioned.
’Violence Vitiates Society’
Mr Pugalia identified there’s a dichotomy within the sense that whereas Bengal is taken into account a frontrunner when it comes to tradition and self-respect additionally it is one of the crucial violent states in terms of political violence. To this, political analyst Swapan Dasgupta mentioned the violence is a legacy of the Left, which dominated Bengal for many years and even the Trinamool was a sufferer of this when it was preventing the CPM.
”A few of these rough-and-ready strategies, sadly, have change into the brand new regular in West Bengal and I believe that is one thing that, no matter which aspect you favor, there needs to be unanimity on stopping the violence. This vitiates society,” he mentioned.
Pointing to an attention-grabbing statistic, Mr Dasgupta mentioned no nationwide celebration has ever received a majority of seats within the Lok Sabha from West Bengal in 1971. He additionally mentioned that caste, along with class – which was the CPM’s dominant narrative – has additionally made an entry in Bengal in 2019.
How Necessary Is Sandeshkhali?
Requested how necessary a job the difficulty of Sandeshkhali, the place there have been allegations of land seize, rape and sexual harassment in opposition to a Trinamool strongman – now suspended – and his aides will probably be within the elections, Amitabh Tiwari mentioned this relies on how a lot the BJP could make it pervade the general public consciousness.
”In 2019, Mamata Banerjee and the TMC had extra of a lead in opposition to the BJP amongst ladies voters than amongst males. The lead was roughly 4 per cent amongst ladies as in opposition to 2 per cent amongst males. This subject may change into necessary as a result of help amongst ladies has been a robust level of the TMC,” he mentioned.
The point out of Sandeshkhali sparked a heated debate between TMC Spokesperson Riju Dutta and BJP Spokesperson and West Bengal State Secretary Priyanka Tibrewal, particularly since Saturday was when a sting video by a non-public channel went viral during which a BJP chief purportedly says that no rapes or sexual harassment had taken place and ladies had been satisfied to file such complaints on the instructions of senior celebration chief Suvendu Adhikari.
The BJP chief, Gangadhar Koyal, has claimed that his voice was edited and has additionally despatched a criticism to the CBI.
Firing the primary volley, Mr Dutta mentioned the BJP has ”by no means understood and can by no means perceive the varied, pluralistic, democratic ethos of Bengal”.
”In a sting, a BJP block president is saying that the celebration’s Chief of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has paid Rs 2,000 to those ladies to file pretend rape instances relationship 7-8 months again. Are you able to think about what a concocted conspiracy that is to defame Bengal. The BJP can debate until the cows come residence that that is morphed however that is what their leaders are saying,” he mentioned.
Ms Tibrewal countered that Mamata Banerjee had initially mentioned that the victims had been mendacity and alleged the Trinamool Congress might have spent some huge cash to verify the video went viral.
”The courtroom has requested the CBI to probe this (Sandeshkhali allegations) and, in a listening to on Thursday, mentioned there are similarities between the CBI report and the victims’ affidavits. This exhibits that such incidents have taken place there. At the least 750 affidavits got and the TMC needs to say 750 individuals are mendacity. Mamata Banerjee’s discuss of nari shakti (ladies energy) stands uncovered at present,” she mentioned.
When Mr Pugalia requested pointedly whether or not one thing occurred in Sandeshkhali, Mr Dutta mentioned, ”Errors had been made in Sandeshkhali. Excesses occurred. However Sandeshkhali is a land subject. Some individuals misused the Trinamool image and grabbed land. However the politics being achieved on ladies’s our bodies, that by no means occurred. That has been uncovered at present. We’ve suspended the Trinamool chief and others have been thrown out of the celebration however Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Prajwal Revanna are nonetheless stars for the BJP.”
Mr Kumar of the CSDS mentioned the difficulty of Sandeshkhali has most likely resonated extra amongst city, higher class voters and never a lot among the many poorer lessons, which is a big vote base for the Trinamool Congress. ”I’m not stepping into what’s true what is not however I do not assume it is going to have a big influence on the vote,” he mentioned.
’Integral A part of INDIA Bloc’
To a query on why the TMC was preventing alone in West Bengal and never as a part of INDIA alliance, Mr Dutta mentioned his celebration is an integral a part of the INDIA bloc and is with them.
”However we’re with INC, the Indian Nationwide Congress, and never ARC, which is Adhir Ranjan Congress, as a result of Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is the conduit pipe of the BJP in Bengal. He was BJP’s ears and eyes and now he’s working as a direct agent of the BJP,” he alleged.
”Because of this, when Mamata Banerjee, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi Sitaram Yechury are having conferences in Delhi with the one goal of defeating the BJP, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is abusing Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress. And that’s the reason we’ve mentioned that, in Bengal, the TMC is the INDIA alliance. I’ll say this on file: No matter seats the BJP goes to get within the 2024 common elections, TMC goes to get a minimum of double of that,” the celebration spokesperson mentioned.