The West Bengal unit of the BJP is hopeful that the recent communal violence in Bangladesh will have an impact on the by-elections to four assembly seats to be held on October 30. Over the past few weeks, the state BJP leadership has repeatedly raised the issue during its campaign in Shantipur. , Dinhata, Khardah and Gosaba constituencies. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the BJP of trying to polarize voters, a section of political observers believes that it will have no impact on these elections.
Leader of Opposition and BJP MLA from Nandigram Suvendu Adhikari was the first to raise the issue and linked it to the election results. Questioning Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s alleged silence, he said “Sanatan Hindus” would express their disapproval by voting against the ruling party. State BJP president Suknata Majundar has said that the BJP will not allow “turning West Bengal into Bangladesh”.
Ms Banerjee has left the job to party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, abstaining from campaigning in four constituencies. He has strongly criticized the BJP for “trying to polarize voters”. He responded to the BJP’s charge of Ms Banerjee’s “alleged silence” by asking why Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who traveled to Bangladesh during the state elections, maintained silence on the issue.
Shantipur and Dinhata are located close to the international border and the BJP leadership is hoping to profit from the communal unrest across the border.
‘No big impact’
Though the issue of violence in the neighboring country is at loggerheads with both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, a section of political observers believes that it will have no bearing on the upcoming by-polls. “It is true that people from all sections of the society participated in rallies in West Bengal to protest against the violence in Bangladesh, but this incident is unlikely to have any major impact on the coming elections, which will be fought on local issues, Political observer and election scientist Vishwanath Chakraborty said.
This election will also be a litmus test for the opposition parties, especially the BJP, which suffered a setback in the assembly elections this year. With 213 seats, the second round of bypolls will not have much political significance for the TMC. But for the BJP, it will be an opportunity to regain some political ground. In the September 30 by-election, the TMC won all three constituencies, including Bhawanipur, which was won by Ms Banerjee. Apart from these electoral victories, five elected representatives of the BJP have entered the TMC in the last five months.
Of the four seats that are being voted on, the BJP had won in the last elections in Shantipur in Nadia and Dinhata in Cooch Behar. BJP MP from Kookbehar Nisith Pramanik won from Dinhata by a margin of 57 votes and MP Jagannath Sarkar won from Shantipur by a margin of 15,878 votes. However, both did not take oath as MLAs as per the instructions of the party leadership.
The other two constituencies – Gosaba and Kharda – are again going to polls due to the victory of TMC candidates. Kajal Sinha, who won Kharda seat by a margin of 28,140 votes and Jayant Naskar, who won Gosaba by a margin of 23,709 votes, both died due to COVID-19 related complications.
A chance for BJP
For the BJP leadership, which also appears to be a divided house on various issues, the upcoming elections provide an opportunity to present a united front. Its newly elected state president Sukant Majumdar has tried to accommodate leaders of all stature by giving them different opportunities.
TMC has fielded Agriculture Minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay from Kharda in North 24 Parganas. He resigned from Bhabnipur to make way for Ms Banerjee, from where she won the latest assembly elections. Another veteran leader Udayan Guha is contesting from Dinhata on TMC ticket. Its other two candidates are Brajkishore Goswami from Shantipur and Subrata Mandal from Gosaba.
The BJP has reposed faith in its committed workers and has fielded Ashok Mandal from Dinhata, Joy Saha from Khardah, Palash Raha from Gosaba and Niranjan Biswas from Shantipur. Congress has fielded candidate from Shantipur and Communist Party of India (Marxist) from Khardah.
The counting of votes will take place on November 2.
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