Bengal Election 2021: Mamata vs Modi
- In Politics
- 12:01 PM, Mar 06, 2021
- Ranabir Bhattacharyya
Elections in West Bengal, the easternmost political frontier of India, never fail to surprise the political fraternity of India and abroad. The countdown to 2021 legislative elections in West Bengal has presented a unique scenario with the new entrant Pirjada Abbas Siddiqui giving a pseudo-secular tip to the poll-flavoured nexus of the Communists and the near-extinct Congress Party. As the nation is gearing up for Legislative Elections in multiple states including Assam, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala and Puducherry - BJP has high hopes on saffron surge in Bengal. Sailing on a ship without a captain is not going to be easy at all for the party which witnessed encouraging results in Loksabha Elections in 2019. But this time around, it is now or never for BJP, a party ably supported by strong Hindu sentiment from Darjeeling to Sundarbans.
294 seats in total - a year ago the Bengal election was anticipated to be a close contest between Mamata Banerjee's TMC and the resurgent BJP. The battle has been intensified by political killings, high profile exodus of political figures from one party to the other and the ever-continuing saga of the poll, promises and scams. The constant ire of the central investigating teams like the CBI, ED has played a stellar role in shaping up the BJP narrative. PM Narendra Modi has time and again called for 'asol parivartan' implying a true change in the political guard of the state. BJP on the other hand has faced criticism for its over-dependence on party leaders from other states. TMC has played a high pitch campaign on how BJP is trying to manipulate the voting psyche with the 'outsiders'. The left is in constant juggle with the 7% and Congress is too crippled to have any ambition at this juncture of time.
Change in demography, unemployment, factions in local shakhas, weak governance and many other prominent reasons have pushed the anti-government agenda this time around. Bengal didn't notice farm bill protests even after leftist efforts on the digital front and the national narrative against the BJP doesn't seem to work out here. But BJP West Bengal desperately needs a steady captain who will win the hearts of Bengal intelligentsia. TMC on the other hand is relying on Mamata Banerjee's charisma, Prashant Kishore's data analytics and numerous social schemes launched in the last ten years. Listless CPM and Congress are relying on the 'not so secular' Indian Secular Front. The North Bengal districts have witnessed opportunistic politics from both BJP and TMC. South Bengal has been traditionally tilted towards the TMC but Suvendu Adhikari's late inclusion has given hopes for the saffron outfit.
There is no denying the fact that Bengal politics has lost its shine a long time back. Gone are those days of 'bhadralok' Bengali political persons. Most Bengalis have mass apathy for the politicians here. As the IT cells, Tollywood stars, digital influencers are blazing all guns for political parties, people of West Bengal are hopeful of peace in the elections. Thankfully, the central forces have already started monitoring the sensitive areas. Whether it is BJP or TMC, people of Bengal are praying for a peaceful and non-violent election.
Image provided by the author
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. MyIndMakers is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of MyindMakers and it does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
Comments