Skip to main content

Mamata is winning as of today... Communalism can be game changer

Mamata Banerjee is “injured”. The two main political opponents of Mamata, the Congress-Left combine, on one hand, and the BJP, on the other, challenging what so far seemed to be her indisputable rule in the poll-bound West Bengal, are stating that it was an “accident” and Mamata was trying to use it as to gain sympathy. On the other hand, as already reported, the Trinamool Congress, which she heads, says, she was “pushed” by four to five persons and was the result of “security lapse.”
Without going into the controversy surrounding the incident, as it would take some time to reach some conclusion on what might have happened, I want to jot down a few interesting facts which I learned from a senior journalist friend from Kolkata, whom I have met a couple of times in Ahmedabad when he came down to cover elections in Gujarat. I talked to him a couple of days before the Mamata incident actually took place.
I wanted to know what was happening in West Bengal, whether the BJP would win, and what would be the fate of the Congress-Left conglomerate. The first thing this journalist – whom I am not naming because I didn’t take his permission – was, “as of today, Trinamool is winning the polls… as of today, remember”, he repeated twice. However, he said, the scenario might change.
This journalist, who spoke to me in Hindi with Bengali accent, was frank and straight. “This the first time when the Left is the third force in West Bengal. This wasn’t the case ever... even in 2019. We were the first or second force, always. However, things have changed. I witness sharp communal divisions, which was not there ever. It is being projected as a straight fight between Trinamool and BJP.”
But why does he say that the scenario might change? He said, “The main problem with Trinamool is, while Mamata remains popular, its rank and file has deserted the party and become part of BJP. In fact, Trinamool is facing the same situation which it had created earlier. Defections were not part of West Bengal politics, Trinamool introduced it. And now BJP is using this opportunism, created by Trinamool. Not only leaders, cadres, too, are shifting loyalty every day.”
I turned to the Left-Congress alliance, what role would it play – whether it would help BJP or Trinamool. According to him, his overall impression is, the Left-Congress alliance would “mostly neutralise” opposition to Trinamool, and many of those who do not want to vote for Trinamool and are broadly secular would vote for the Left or the Congress candidates. This would, hopefully, cut into potential BJP votes, he suggested, though he added, BJP would do everything in its arsenal to “communalise the situation to gain votes.”
I asked him how was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally, which took place a few days back in Kolkata. According to him, rallies in West Bengal cannot tell the full story of support or otherwise to a political party. It went off well, he said. For the first time, BJP was able to fill up the the ground. However, people are used to rallies and love attending them. Money played a major role. According to his information, people were brought to the rally from outside Kolkata on a payment of Rs 400 each in buses and trucks, plus lunch.
Furfura shrine
Finally, I asked him where would the Muslim votes go. Whether the Left-Congress alliance would get Muslim votes, and wouldn’t that cut into Mamata’s votes. According to him, the Left-Congress has allied with a political party floated by the Indian Secular Front (ISF), floated by Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, an influential cleric of the Furfura Sharif shrine in Hooghly district.
The Furfura shrine, he said, has followers both among Muslims and Hindus, just like Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan. Pointing out that Muslims, too, are disgruntled with Mamata, he added, an alliance with ISF would ensure victory of several Left-Congress candidates. And, because Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is not in the fray, the Muslim votes wouldn’t “go waste” like they did in during Bihar elections.
And finally, I asked him what had gone wrong with the Left – I was interested in it as I too belonged was a sort of Leftist during my youth. He said, it was seen as a party of the old, hence people appeared to have little hope from it. “The Left has done intensive social service for the benefit of the marginalised sections during the pandemic, but this may not get converted into vote”, he said, adding, though, “Recognising its image of a party of the old, especially the CPI-M has put up young candidates, many of them in the age group 40-45. People have begun coming out to listen to them, which is a positive sign.”

Comments

TRENDING

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor. 

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Environmental concern? Global NGO leads campaign urging banks to cut ties with Odisha steel project

A decade after the withdrawal of the South Korean multinational POSCO from Odisha following large-scale protests, questions remain about whether India-based JSW Steel, which took over the project, can successfully revive the 13.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) steel plant and coal-fired power plant. POSCO initiated the project in 2005 but exited in 2017 due to sustained local opposition.

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Olympics ready? Overflowing gutters in Amit Shah's high profile constituency: Vejalpur, beyond

A few days ago, I was talking to a close acquaintance who used to live in Bawla, a small town about 35 km west of Ahmedabad. It's an industrial hub with rice processing mills, cotton ginning units, and pharmaceutical companies. The acquaintance, from a very ordinary middle-class background, lived there because his son worked in one of the major pharmaceutical units nearby. However, he recently moved to a housing society in Ahmedabad, and I asked him why.