Bandh test-ground for anti-rigging plank - BJP calls strike on the same day as Left, throwing open 'possibilities' in state politics

Actors-turned-BJP leaders Roopa Ganguly and Locket Chatterjee at a party rally on
Monday to protest alleged Trinamul violence during the civic polls. Pic: Pradip Sanyal

TT, Calcutta, April 27: The BJP today called a 12-hour strike on Thursday to protest alleged electoral malpractice during the civic polls on April 18 and 25, prompting questions on whether the Opposition parties were trying to test the waters to forge an anti-rigging alliance in the state.

The Left had yesterday called a dawn-to-dusk shutdown on the same day along with trade unions that have announced a 24-hour strike against the Narendra Modi government's proposed Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2015.

"Is this the beginning of an era of cooperation among the Opposition in Bengal?" a senior bureaucrat asked.

Although the BJP and the CPM are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, there is a history of the two forces joining hands for common causes.

The two parties had come together in 1977 against the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi and helped prop the Janata Party government at the Centre. In 1988, Jyoti Basu and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had joined hands against the Rajiv Gandhi government.

Given the divergent political paths of the two parties and their mutual acrimony, one should not read too much into the decision of calling strikes on the same day.

But a city-based political scientist reminded of Bismarck. "Politics is the art of the possible. May be, both the parties are trying to test the waters before launching a bigger movement against the ruling Trinamul," the political scientist said, requesting not to be identified.

The "testing the waters" hypothesis has gained ground primarily because neither the Left nor the BJP was the first to call the strike.

Several trade unions - CPM-backed Citu, CPI-backed AICTU, the Congress's Intuc and RSS-supported BMS - had first called a 24-hour nationwide transport strike on April 30 to protest the Centre's proposed bill, which the Opposition has described as anti-people. The Bengal trade unions later included electoral malpractices to the protest agenda.

The decision of Alimuddin Street calling a strike on the same day may not surprise many, as Citu's activities are directly linked with the parent organisation.

"As a section of the CPM, who are part of Citu, would already be on the streets to enforce the strike, the party would not have to make any extra effort.... But as the shutdown is likely to be complete, the CPM can claim political success by calling it people's spontaneous reaction to Trinamul's intimidation of voters and Opposition workers," the political scientist said.

The BJP can reap similar dividends as well. Given its organisational strength, the party cannot make a strike successful on its own.

"But for a total shutdown on April 30, we can always claim some political credit," BJP MLA Samik Bhattacharya said today.

A senior CPM leader said general secretary Sitaram Yechury had made a tactical move by taking the decision to hit the streets with a strike call before the civic poll results.

"Yechury did the right thing by calling the strike before the results are announced.... With the strike, we have set the agenda before our cadres. We are not going to leave any ground," said a CPM state secretariat member.

In the Rajya Sabha today, Yechury and Trinamul's Derek O'Brien engaged in a war of words.

When the CPM general secretary said that 24 potato growers had committed suicide in Bengal in the recent months, O'Brien questioned the source of the information.

"The CPM is shedding crocodile tears," O'Brien said, adding that most suicides happened in Bengal when the Left was in power.

The strike on Thursday would also give holiday-happy Bengal a long weekend as May 1, a Friday, is also a holiday in the state.

Given the long history of bandhs in the state, most of the general and transport strikes called by the Left during its tenure were "total successes" as people preferred to stay indoors.

Even Trinamul had enjoyed "success" in strikes, until the party decided against it after coming to power.

While Trinamul has vowed to try its best to foil the April 30 shutdown and has already started criticising the "bringing of the bandh culture back in Bengal", a complete shutdown would be an embarrassment for the ruling party.

"Both the BJP and the CPM would not spare any effort to make the bandh a success. If people do not venture out, it will seem that they support the Opposition's claim against us," a Trinamul leader said.

CPM politburo member Mohammad Salim saw nothing wrong in two Opposition parties calling a strike on the same day.

"This is not about political alignment. When democracy is under attack, every party has the right to hit the streets. Like the Left, the BJP too has come under attack in Bengal," Salim said.

Trinamul was quick to point fingers at the Opposition for trying to throw Mamata Banerjee's development plans off track.

"We have been saying all along that the BJP, CPM and the Congress are working together in Bengal. The strike call on the same day proves it. They are out to destroy Bengal's work culture," said Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee.

Although the Congress's trade union wing, Intuc, is participating in the transport strike, the parent party has decided to stay away from the 12-hour general strike.

State CPM secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra called upon all parties to join the strike. BJP state president Rahul Sinha directly urged the Congress to participate in the shutdown.

State Congress president Adhir Chowdhury ruled out such a possibility.

"Every political party has the right to call its own programmes. If others have called a strike, it does not mean that I too have to follow them," said Chowdhury.