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the Hindi Heartland in November 2018 port base for the TMC. Besides, Mamata BJP leadership’s open exhortation to par-
along with agrarian distress, slow jobs Banerjee has been at the forefront of ty workers for carrying “batons, bamboos
growth and Opposition alliances entail- opposing the NRC and the Citizenship and goons attack you, you hit back. So, we
ing the potential of undermining elector- Amendment bill, alleging that the bills are fighting back.” Local party leaders
al prospects of the BJP in northern Hindi are aimed at making people stateless began to spew aggressive language. These
Belt in 2019 general election. refugees. activities have become more pronounced
In its attempt to compensate the loss Rather than emphasizing on its from 2017 onwards gaining further
in the north, the BJP leadership has been national agenda of driving economic momentum in early 2019.
driving hard to pick up support in West growth and providing jobs along with
Bengal and this push has set Modi-Shah affordable housing, the BJP in West Ben- Way forward
duo and the party on a collision course gal has been concentrating more on Modi’s recent claim that 40 TMC MLAs
with Mamata Banerjee. accusing TMC of corruption and Mamata were ‘in touch with’ him indicate BJP’s
With increased frequency of address- Banerjee of running a dictatorship. desperation for power even by destabi-
ing rallies in different parts of West Ben- Media have extensively reported state lizing the democratically elected TMC
gal, Modi-Shah duo have government by engi-
tried to project the BJP as neering defections. The
the principal opposition BJP president is hope-
party in the state. Even ful of his party winning
the top brass of the BJP twenty plus Lok Sabha
has not shunned from seats.
evoking religious pas- However, many ex-
sions of the Bhadralok to perts don’t subscribe to
garner votes. this assessment by ar-
According to some guing that even with 17
experts, BJP president per cent of vote share
Amit Shah’s speeches of the BJP at 2014 level,
have often flagged which declined to 10 per
emotional touchpoints cent in 2016, it is a her-
among the state’s Hindu culean task for the party
population, alluding to to reach that magical
how cows wouldn’t be number.
smuggled into Bangla- These analysts fur-
desh from West Bengal ther aver that to make a
were the BJP to come dent, let alone win, the
to power. How Hindu BJP needs to appropriate
refugees would receive not just the propaganda
citizenship. Cross-bor- platform but also the
der infiltration of Bang- political infrastructure.
ladeshis would stop. Besides, the ruling TMC
Payoffs to political-business syndicates can’t be expected to yield ground without
would end etc. West Bengal sees a tough fight.
The BJP, according to some experts, exchange of allegations Conceding that the BJP’s vote share
has been leveraging three emotive is- will increase in this general election,
sues — the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, and counter allegations analysts are wary about the BJP winning
National Register Commission and Bang- between TMC and BJP more than maximum five seats. They also
ladeshi immigration — through holding don\t rule out the possibility of ratchet-
a series of mega rallies in West Bengal over issues pertaining ing up of the ongoing rhetoric during the
headlined by top BJP leaders, including to corruption, use Lok Sabha elections snowballing into
PM Modi himself, to influence voters in confrontation for ensuing assembly polls
Bengal. of Central and state in early 2021.
Undoubtedly, one of the BJP’s main
charges against Mamata is about her agencies and claims Dr. Anil Singh is Executive Editor of
“appeasement politics”, nonetheless, the over the success of News24. Views expressed are his own
Muslim voting population, standing at
above 27 per cent, constitutes a solid sup- social welfare schemes letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 31 may 2019 28 www.Tehelka.com