Whether he likes it or not, Siddharth Nath Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal in-charge, had the toughest assignment after the Modi magic in the Lok Sabha polls. He was expected to break into West Bengal where the BJP has not been able to set foot ever. The recent civic polls, a pointer to the 2016 Assembly elections in the state, indicate that West Bengal could yet remain a distant dream. Mr Singh spoke with Sanjay Basak on his party’s debacle and the road ahead.
Despite its claim of making a major impact in West Bengal, the BJP was routed in the civic polls, which were being viewed as a dress rehearsal for the Assembly polls in 2016. You seem to have failed...
I don’t think that’s a fair assessment. In 2014, when the Lok Sabha polls were held under the supervision of the Chief Election Commissioner and central paramilitary forces, our vote share had gone up to 17 per cent. Subsequently, in the four by-elections, again under the supervision of paramilitary forces, we won one and came second in all three. The BJP’s vote share had gone up to nearly 29 per cent. These civic polls were rigged and do not reflect the popular mood in West Bengal. The West Bengal police acted in the most undemocratic manner. These elections were marked by violence and terror...
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien compared the BJP to a gas balloon, saying, “Gas balloon goes phuuush”…
As for gas balloon, the balloon in which Trinamul Congress is floating is full of poisonous gas which is being released over Bengal in the form of terror and corruption.
Given your allegations of mass rigging, how come the Left managed to show some improvement?
It’s not me who is talking about rigging, it’s the entire Opposition. Look at the video footage, media reports. Coming to the Left Front, let me point out that in the 2010 civic polls, they had 606 seats. They have come down to 282. Congress had 411, and it has come down to 160. The BJP was 16 and has gone up to 83. Having said that, it’s also true that the results do tilt in favour of Trinamul Congress. But as I said, these were rigged elections.
It seems you have a crisis of leadership in West Bengal.
Not a crisis. We are a new party in West Bengal.
You are not a new party in West Bengal. You have been trying to make inroads into the state for decades now.
Well, let me say that acceptance of the BJP in West Bengal is new.
Where is the acceptance?
There is an acceptance. Otherwise the media would not have been interviewing us and talking to us about West Bengal. Today we are emerging as a force to reckon with. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamul Congress recognise this.
Your pet plank of corruption linked to the Saradha scam did not work against Ms Banerjee.
Not true. Investigation is still on. The problem is that people expect prosecution to happen during the course of investigation. The BJP does not use the Central Bureau of Investigation as a tool. Therefore, investigation is going on at its own pace. I am confident that eventually it will be proven that the Trinamul Congress leadership is guilty and all its powerful leaders will be put behind bars by the time we hit the 2016 Assembly polls.
Do you have a face in West Bengal? Do you have an answer to Ms Banerjee?
As for a face, today I have no answer to that question. As it happens, we will declare a face. But let me also point out that there’s no face in the Trinamul Congress beside Ms Banerjee and the same problem haunts the Left and the Congress… It remains to be seen whether Ms Banerjee’s face remains equally attractive to voters by the 2016 state polls.
By 2016, Trinamul Congress leadership will be in jail you say?
Law will take its own course.
You tried to project actress Roopa Ganguly, who played Draupadi in B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat, as the BJP’s face in West Bengal. It kind of boomeranged...
We did not projected her as our mayor candidate. When we announced her name, the media projected her as such. Yes, she’s a Bollywood, Tollywood personality, but let me be honest — she’s turning into a good politician.
Like Kiran Bedi?
I don’t think so but she’s turning into a good politician.
To quote a Right intellectual — “It is often felt that the BJP’s lack of progress in West Bengal owes to its inability to acquire a bhadralok profile.”
These are his (Swapan Dasgupta’s) views, and people are entitled to have their own views. The rise of the BJP in West Bengal is because we have been able to make an impact on the Bengali bhadrolok and intelligentsia. We are certainly meeting the aspirations of the Bengali bhadrolok. I don’t support the view but we can look into this...
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had attacked Mother Teresa saying the prime motive behind her service to the destitute was converting them to Christianity. Do you think such remarks are harming the BJP?
I don’t really think so. This was a rigged election. When it comes to sarsanghchalakji, we don’t comment on his views.
Do you think repeated communally-laced remarks by BJP hardliners are alienating the party from people who voted the BJP to power on a development plank?
Yes, it does distract from whatever good work we have been trying to do. In the last 10 months, the Modi government has done phenomenal work. The government has taken major steps and initiatives. Everything is being done in national interest. But some statements of our partymen did cause distractions. We don’t approve of them.
Let me also point out that in West Bengal, Ms Banerjee recently started making noises over some “ghar wapsi” issue and accusing the BJP of indulging in forcible conversion. I called the media and said that if the allegations were true, please arrest those who were guilty and the West Bengal BJP would not protest. There was no merit in the Trinamul Congress’ accusation. It’s the Trinamul Congress which is trying to communalise West Bengal politics…
The BJP in West Bengal is trying to play the Netaji card. Why do you think Syama Prasad Mookerjee failed to have any impact on Bengali minds?
Now that the BJP is growing in West Bengal, ideologies of Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya are emerging. Earlier the Left historians had destroyed the image of these people in West Bengal, who should have been real heroes. The Congress too followed that strategy. It promoted a dynasty. Even Netaji was not given due credit. Now things are changing.
In West Bengal are you going to play on the Netaji file issue?
As a state unit we all are supportive of Netaji. Individually, I’m the man who introduced the Bose family in Kolkata to Modiji when he visited West Bengal as the chief minister of Gujarat in 2013. I’m in touch with the Bose family, supporting their cause… hopefully declassification will happen.
So you are relying more on Netaji than your own Syama Prasad Mookerjee?
I wouldn’t say that. We have not yet made Netaji a political issue. Netaji is above all that… But Netaji needs the due recognition that should have been given by the Congress.
There are reports that the BJP is trying to woo lumpen elements to flex its muscles during the Assembly polls in West Bengal. It was attracting a lot of lumpen elements from the Trinamool.
Not from the Trinamul Congress, but lots of criminals from the CPI(M) had joined us. When we realised this, we took action and suspended them.
Do you think muscle power counts in West Bengal polls?
Truly speaking, yes, it does. That’s where the challenge lies. Trinamul Congress came to power by countering Left violence with its own muscle power. The traditional route could have been using violence to counter violence. This is something we don’t believe in. We are focusing on good policies and constructive campaigns.
The Modi government is being perceived as pro-corporate. Is that hurting you?
That’s a wrong perception, not the reality. We should be accused of being pro-poor, pro-farmers. It took us 68 years and Mr Modi to arrive to get poor people bank accounts. “Jan Dhan Yojna” is not for the rich. During the Congress rule, coal blocks were being given to the rich not to the poor. We reallocated and through the tendering route we have taken that money for the welfare of the poor.
What about the controversy over the Prime Minister’s expensive suit?
The suit was auctioned and the money is going towards cleaning the Ganga. But let me say that the 1950s style of politics, that a politician needs to wear khadi is not the right way. Things have changed. By wearing rubber slippers and a khadi saree you don’t become an honest politician. Also, let me say that the Congress didn’t suit India so they got the boot.
