For BJP, Bengal emerges as a top priority state in LS poll run-up

Saugata Roy, TNN, KOLKATA: From a back-of-beyond location on the BJP’s electoral map, West Bengal has suddenly emerged as a top-priority state for the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP leaders have shifted into top-gear mode to break the ruling Trinamool’s near-monopoly in Bengal soon after chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced taking the anti-Modi opposition dharna from Kolkata to Delhi on February 13 and 14. The Banerjee-led opposition is also Prime Minister Modi’s prime target.

“My battle against corruption has ruffled many feathers, including TMC’s. So, they all assembled in Kolkata and collectively abused me. They got together to save their own families and hide their corruption. I will not rest till the corrupt are punished,” Modi said in his Facebook post on Wednesday. Taking the cue, the BJP national president announced at a public rally in Aligarh that party workers won’t rest until the lotus blooms in 23 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal.

Never has Bengal been the focus of BJP’s countrywide campaign as it was on Wednesday when party president Amit Shah spoke at length in Aligarh on Saradha, Rose Valley Ponzi scams and the Bengal CM’s desperate bid to protect a police commissioner facing CBI inquiry. “She (Banerjee) is trying to protect an officer because she fears that he might spill the beans on some scams to CBI,” the BJP leader said.

Banerjee is going all-out against BJP. She showed the “political vendetta” card at the Modi government yet again on Wednesday, hours after calling off her satyagraha in Kolkata on Tuesday. The Trinamool chief targeted the Centre on Enforcement Directorate’s questioning of Robert Vadra in an illegal foreign assets case. “They (Centre) are sending notices to everybody days ahead of elections. We are going to make a representation to the Election Commission. It may be a cheating case or a simple cheat case. But they are seeing a larger conspiracy in all of them,” Banerjee said in a bid to consolidate the opposition bloc days after Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted in defence of the CM after CBI approached the Kolkata police commissioner at his home.

The message has reached her ranks. Trinamool is organising dharnas across Bengal against BJP on Thursday. “Our party will be staging dharnas in districts against the Modi government. The dharna is not against CBI or ED. It is against the overall policies of BJP government. People are not paying heed to Bengal BJP leaders. The party is thus hiring central ministers from Delhi,” Trinamool leader Partha Chatterjee said.

Trinamool leaders also organised public meetings in Thakurnagar, Contai where Modi had addressed gatherings a few days ago to give a boost to party supporters.

But while Banerjee is going national, senior BJP leaders and Union ministers are making frequent forays into Bengal in a bid to cash in on anti-incumbency. From Union home minister Rajnath Singh to UP CM Yogi Adityanath, all have been touring districts harping on a common narrative — Banerjee is turning Bengal into a country within a country where BJP leaders are not being allowed to enter. In a meeting at Mohanpur, former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan dared the Banerjee government to stop BJP leaders from coming to Bengal. “If you don’t give permission for helipads, we will come by car. If you stop us on road, we will come on foot,” he said.

BJP leaders took up grassroots issues such as home for the poor and criticised Trinamool workers for “taking away” the money meant for them. They also reminded villagers about their plight during the recently held panchayat polls raising the pitch against Banerjee crying shrill over “butchery of democracy” by Modi.

At a time when Banerjee is trying to cement the opposition bloc at the national level, opposition parties in Bengal such as Pradesh Congress and Left are criticising her on her turf. Pradesh Congress president Somen Mitra took out a rally against the chit fund scam in Kolkata on Wednesday. “It’s a scam running beyond Rs 20,000 crore. People were cheated of their hard earned money. The Bengal CM didn’t stage the dharna then. She broke protocol and went straight to the police commissioner’s residence to give him protection. She gave protection to a police officer who has been evading CBI probe into a court-ordained probe. Why is it so?” Mitra said days after CPM leader Sujan Chakrabarty led a demonstration of those cheated in the Ponzi scam.