West Bengal BJP Uneasy About Three Disadvantages
"Sensing that their survival is at stake, the TMC cadre is now working like a well-oiled juggernaut," the BJP leaders remarked.
New Delhi:As the West Bengal elections draw closer, the BJP state unit is increasingly uneasy about three distinct disadvantages. While one section of the party believes the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will work in the BJP's favour, others argue that booth-level officers (BLOs) aligned with the Trinamul Congress at the grassroots have in fact strengthened the ruling party in West Bengal by smoothing over internal frictions and tightening its organisational grip. A second red flag is the possible resurgence of the Left, particularly the CPI(M), which the BJP leaders fear could split the broader "anti-Mamata vote". And finally, a large section of the Bengal BJP is wary of the central leadership's heavy-handed campaign style, particularly the attempt by "non-Bengali" leaders to invoke the "Lord Rama plank", which they believe may alienate rather than consolidate Bengali voters in the state.
On the issue of SIR, a senior state BJP leader admitted that the exercise has, in fact, ironed out long-simmering rifts within the TMC at the grassroots. With the TMC's leadership urging its cadre to close ranks and function as booth-level operatives, the party's organisational machinery has received a fresh lease of life. "Sensing that their survival is at stake, the TMC cadre is now working like a well-oiled juggernaut," the BJP leaders remarked.
The CPI(M)'s aggressive bid to reclaim its "lost" vote bank has emerged as another major cause of concern for the BJP. In the 2021 state elections, the Left managed barely seven per cent of the vote share, yet even that modest presence proved electorally damaging by splitting the broader anti-Mamata vote and blunting the BJP's challenge.
The BJP strategists now fear that if the CPI(M) succeeds in expanding its footprint through sustained grassroots mobilisation and a revived organisational push, it will once again slice into the anti-TMC space, indirectly benefiting the ruling Trinamul Congress. The saffron party's internal assessment suggests that the Opposition vote could be fragmented three ways – between the Left, the Congress and the BJP, which will eventually dilute the anti-incumbency factor.
Still smarting from its drubbing in the last Assembly elections, a section of Bengal BJP leaders has also turned its fire inward, accusing the central leadership of being "tone-deaf" to Bengali political sensibilities.
"Trying to impose Ram in the land of Durga and Kali was a strategic blunder," one senior leader remarked, reflecting a widely held view within the state unit. Signs of a course correction have since surfaced. At Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Durgapur rally last year, for instance, chants of "Jai Ma Kali" rang out in place of the more familiar "Jai Shri Ram".
With Assembly elections looming, the Bengali BJP leaders have grown particularly wary of the influx of the "non-Bengali" BJP leaders parachuting into the campaign. They have not only been told not to harp on the Ram temple or Ayodhya but also been made aware of the state unit's simmering anxiety of an "over-zealous" Hindutva pitch.
There's also a feeling in the state unit that the much-hyped debate on Vande Mataram in Parliament "will have no electoral impact".