Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have expectedly launched blistering attacks against the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal on multiple fronts including infiltration, corruption and women’s safety in the runup to the upcoming polls.
Political experts tracking the election campaign of senior BJP and TMC leaders, however, have noted a sharp departure in the BJP’s campaign strategy this year compared to the party’s electioneering for the 2021 assembly election.
“Remember the sarcastic tone ‘Didi-o-Didi’ which Modi used umpteen times to attack Mamata Banerjee during his campaigns ahead of the 2021 assembly polls? You haven’t heard a single such remark this time. The personal attacks against the sitting chief minister are missing entirely,” said Rabindranath Bhattacharya, former professor of political science in Burdwan University.
While Modi has addressed at least seven rallies in West Bengal so far, Shah has held at least 12 since March 15 when elections were announced. Modi, for one, instead of directly attacking Banerjee at campaign rallies, mostly attacked her government; he referred to the TMC-led government as “Nirmam Sarkar” or cruel government. Shah in his rallies addressed Banerjee and ‘’Mamataji’’
“Cruel is the antonym for Mamata, which means affection. The words have been very carefully chosen so as not to attack the woman chief minister directly but at the same time step up the ante in such a manner that everyone understands who is the prime minister referring to,” Bhattacharya said.
Experts say that the personal attacks against the woman chief minister didn’t go down well with the masses during the last campaign.
In 2021 the BJP had set a target of winning 200 seats in West Bengal out of the 294 assembly seats. The party, however, failed to cross even the 100-mark, bagging only 77 seats. Even though most BJP leaders saw it as an achievement as the party’s vote share shot up along with the number of seats since the 2016 polls, a former Bengal BJP chief, Tathagata Roy was critical of the party’s leaders after the election debacle.
“Kailash-Dilip-Shiv-Arvind (KDSA) foursome have dragged names of our respected Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and Home Minister (Amit Shah) through mud and have sullied the name of the biggest political party in the world. Sitting atop Agarwal Bhavan of Hastings (BJP’s election office in Bengal) and 7-star hotels, they have distributed tickets to incoming garbage from Trinamool Congress,” Roy had tweeted in 2021, soon after TMC returned to power.
Political analysts believe that the BJP’s heavy dependence on central leaders in the 2021 assembly polls had a negative impact, giving the TMC a chance to sharpen its attack on the BJP as an outsider party.
“The BJP seems to have learnt from its earlier mistakes. This time we can see more local leaders and candidates rather than the party’s central leaders taking the centre stage. Modi, pausing his speech and walking a few steps on the dias, to hold hands of the candidates during his rallies to highlight them, seems to be a departure from 2021. This could be an attempt to shrug the tag of an outsider party,” said Sujay Ghosh, professor of political science at Vidyasagar University.
Experts pointed out that the BJP in the coming elections the BJP was concentrating on hyper-local issues to target the TMC regime.
“While on one hand the BJP has come up with a charge sheet against the TMC’s 15-year-old regime, it is highlighting hyper-local issues such as the RG Kar rape and murder, Kasba law college rape and Sandeshkhali to attack the TMC. Even in it its manifesto the BJP has promised on many local issues such as clearing DA dues to government employees,” said Biswanath Chakraborty political commentator.
On Tuesday Modi held a virtual meeting with BJP workers in Bengal while advising them to strengthen the party’s infrastructure at the booth-level. “The key to victory lies in the booths. The formula is hidden in the booths. This is the golden opportunity to form the government in West Bengal,” he added.
During the interaction, which lasted for more than an hour, Modi advised party workers to dig out old videos related to crimes against women in each area and show them to the voters repeatedly.
“First make a list of crimes that have taken place in your area. Tell the people that the crimes took place because the goons had the blessings of influential TMC leaders and their nexus with the police. Make special contacts with the women and hold small meetings with 20 – 25 women. Dig out videos of heinous crimes such as RG Kar rape and murder, Kasba law college rape, Sandeshkhali. Show the videos to the people and remind them of the crimes. Show them videos in which women and girls could be seen crying. Study the party’s manifesto in details. Jot down points on your mobile. Tell the women how the BJP would ensure their safety,” Modi told Rina Dey, a BJP worker in South Kolkata’s Kasba area.
“Every election is not the same. This time the BJP started its campaign by releasing constituency wise chargesheets against sitting TMC and highlighting the failures of the incumbent MLA,” said Samik Bhattacharya, BJP state president.
“After its poll-debacle in 2021 the BJP has very well understood that the people of Bengal won’t tolerate if their daughter is humiliated. The BJP is basically against women empowerment. No matter what disguise they wear, they are anti-women at the core. They speak of women reservation in the Parliament and have even introduced a bill, but when it comes to giving tickets to women candidates, they fall behind. The people of Bengal have seen their original face. The people of Bengal rejected them in 2021, they would again be rejected this time,” said Arup Chakraborty, TMC spokesperson.
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