West Bengal: Political history
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Sri Ram in the politics and society of Bengal
Saugata Roy, ANALYSIS - BJP and the rise of Lord Ram in Bengal , May 8, 2017: The Times of India
Lord Ram was never a historical figure in Bengal as people believe in parts of north India. Perceptions vary in Uttar Pradesh and Bengal on this issue. For people in east UP, mostly avid readers of Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas, Ram is as real as the sun, but it's not so in Bengal. In fact, Tagore wrote “Kobi tobo monobhumi Ramer janmasthan, Ayodhyar cheye satya jeno (the poet's mind is the birthplace of Ram which is more real than Ayodhya).“
Yet, the spurt in celebra tion of Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in parts of Bengal, including Tagore's land Birbhum, has caught eyeballs, pointing to a shift in the state's socio-political narrative.Speakers at the rallies use the occasion to assert their Hindu identity, although at the grassroots, the deprived lot look at Ram as the icon against “injustice and terror“ by the ruling Trinamool Congress.
If you discount this as a “passing phase“ of saffron euphoria after UP polls, think again. For, it appears to be a building up of a new narrative in which Hinduism stands for patriotism and secularism means Muslim appeasement. Unlike in 1992, when Kolka ta saw a surge in Hindu passions after the Babri Masjid demolition, the VHP's rallying for Ram Janmabhoomi this time got some a social sanction. It touched the minds of a section of the educated middle class that's either irritated with, or insecure about, the rise of jihadi Islam.
Knee-jerk reactions to the saffron brigade from the Trinamool are adding to polarisation. A change in Bengali word `Ramdhanu' (rainbow) by the government in school books is one such instance. Environment lessons in Bengali in government approved textbooks for Class III have changed the word `ramdhanu' to `rongdhonu' to get rid of Ram.
If this is one facet, the other move is just the reverse. The recent South Contai assembly bypoll is a case in point, in which the BJP emerged as a clear second -far ahead of the Left and Congress that lost their deposits. The BJP's gain has a direct correlation with the vote shift from the Left. The Lok Sabha bypoll in Coochbehar held in 2016 showed similar trend.
The Left seems to be caught in a time warp, failing to rally people under its broad class politics paradigm. Also, the Left's inability to inspire youth has added to their woes.
“We've seen others, Congress, CPM and Trinamool.Let's see what Modiji can do,“ said IT manager Saikat Mitra.Modi has a package for every one -Ram Navami for the insecure middle-aged bhadralok, and development for the youth. The Mamata government has, in a way , paved the way for religious polarisation.The CM's donning hijab in public programmes and announcing honorarium for imams have stoked pent-up passions among Hindus in a state where many people have “crossed over“ from Bangladesh. With the Communists unable to read their minds as they had for decades, sections of bhadralok are gravitating towards saffron due to fears of being overrun by Muslims.Jihadi activities in Khagragarh have added to the fear.
“The bhadralok in Bengal were never secular. Most of them wouldn't like their sons or daughters to marry a Muslim. It's deep in their minds despite the fact that the two communities in Bengal have stayed in peace for all these years, notwithstanding occasional outbursts in 1964, 1992, and in recent times,“ said a retired government official, Debashis Sanyal.
Presidency University emeritus professor Prasanta Ray believes that this is only a slice of public opinion. “This is true for a section of the middle class, but not all. The middle class is in disarray . Most of the times they go unheard.“
What's new is the BJP's inclusion of Dalits in the scheme of things. To send out the message to the ranks, BJP president Amit Shah had lunch at Raju Mahali's house at Naxalbari digressing from the past when the BJP was seen as an upper caste party . “Even backward Muslims are our target group,“ said state BJP spokesperson Sayantan Das.
Shah, in his meeting with intellectuals in Kolkata, strummed the strings of cultural nationalism -an indigenous concept far removed from the idea borrowed from the West. The sub-text to this view calls for change in the secular, socialist tenets of the Constitution.
The `Hindu Rashtra' has little space for the other view. “It's often said Muslims who do not respect Bharat Mata should leave this country . I make my students sing the national anthem. But some want us to sing Vande Mataram which I can't enforce,“ said a Muslim teacher in Kolkata.
2017: BJP takes up void left by Left, Cong
HIGHLIGHTS
BJP is fast occupying the space of the Left and Congress across West Bengal.
BJP has been gaining mass support in West Bengal since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
However, TMC still has a good lead over others, including BJP.
In West Bengal, BJP takes up void left by Left, Congress
KOLKATA: Bengal politics is taking a bipolar course with BJP fast occupying the space of the Left and Congress across the state. The defining trend is evident from the results of the recently held seven civic polls in which Narendra Modi's party secured a 41.7% vote share in Jalpaiguri's Dhupguri municipality for the first time, a spectacular jump from the 8.6% share in 2012.
Dhupguri has a sizeable scheduled caste (Rajbanshi) and scheduled tribe population. It is 95km from Naxalbari, where BJP chief Amit Shah in April visited an adivasi family whose members were later forced to join Trinamool. Despite this, BJP has made inroads among Rajbanshis and SC/ST across the seven municipalities.
In terms of vote share, the party is ahead of the Left and Congress taken together in Haldia, Dhupguri and Panskura municipalities, and has come second in Durgapur and Nalhati. Its vote share is the same as that of the Left in Cooper's Camp. The surge in BJP's vote share is enough to put to rest the debate over the Left-Congress handholding to keep BJP at bay in Bengal.
Polls held under West Bengal State Election Commission have never been above controversy, and the polls in question are no exception. The opposition's clamour against rigging by Trinamool gains ground from the 43.4% hike in Trinamool's vote share in Cooper's Camp in Nadia compared to 2012, a 38.4% spurt in Haldia and a 26% spike in Durgapur. All these gains can't be explained by Congress leader Sankar Singh joining Trinamool in Cooper's Camp and Lakshman Seth leaving CPM in Haldia. In these places, Trinamool seniors Sankar Singh, Suvendu Adhikari and Aroop Biswas might have taken former CPM leader Anil Basu's route in Hooghly's Arambagh that once gave him the highest margins in Lok Sabha votes.
Yet, the Left and Congress can't hide their eroding base by blaming rigging. Even if Left leaders keep heaping allegations on the Trinamool toughs who had driven out CPM polling agents from booths in Haldia and Durgapur, such a situation was not unforeseen by Alimuddin Street. CPM state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra had appealed to party activists and supporters a day before the polls to stay around the booths and foil efforts to loot votes. With more than 1 lakh party card holders in Bengal, CPM has now come to a stage where it can hold impressive rallies but can't attract people. The situation is the reverse for BJP. It has been gaining mass support since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but doesn't have able organisers and a credible Bengali face to give the final push to Trinamool.
All these have gone to the advantage of Trinamool that won 140 of the 148 wards, averting the anti-incumbency getting transferred in the EVM. Mamata Banerjee will sail safe with the divided opposition as long as BJP remains a distant second.
