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West Bengal: Question of respect for BJP and Trinamool Congress

42 seats in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections have become a matter of prestige and credibility for the ruling Trinamool Congress and the largest opposition party, the BJP, in the state. Voting for these seats is to be held in seven phases. Instead of coordinating on seats with the allies of the India Alliance, i.e., Congress and Left Front, the Trinamool Congress is fighting alone on all the seats in Bengal. Congress and the Left Front have compromised on seats, while on the other hand, India’s largest political party, the BJP, is also contesting elections on all the seats.

This time, both the contenders, i.e., the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, have a big challenge to save their old seats and increase their numbers. This is the reason why the top leaders of both parties have started a very aggressive election campaign. In the last 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP got 18 seats and the Trinamool Congress got 22 seats. Two seats went to the account of India’s oldest party, Congress, while the account of the Left Front was also not opened.

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Although West Bengal is the third-largest state in terms of seats, it has always been very important for all political parties. But this time its importance has increased much more due to the close fight between the two major political parties, i.e., the BJP and the Trinamool Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already held half a dozen election rallies before the first phase of voting. On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also not far behind. The BJP has set a target of winning at least 35 seats in Bengal. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress has also fielded 26 new faces in an effort to win maximum seats.

Big political analysts say that the BJP can get the benefit of the Citizen Amendment Act and the Sandeshkhali scandal. The BJP wants to attract the more than one crore Matuva population of Bengal to its fold through the Citizenship Amendment Act. Similarly, through Sandeshkhali cards, all the party leaders are promoting the status of women in the state. Matuva voters are decisive for at least five seats in Bengal.

Among them, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra also has a seat in Krishnanagar, but Mamata Banerjee and her party are continuously spreading the illusion that citizenship will be taken away as soon as they apply under the Citizenship Amendment Act. Mamta is also linking this law with the NRC. In such a situation, at present, it is difficult to tell who will get the electoral benefit or loss from this law. The teacher recruitment scam and ration scam done by the Trinamool Congress are also major issues for the BJP.

Many Trinamool Congress leaders, including Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, are making false allegations about the political use of central agencies. Besides, they are also alleging that no money has been given under central schemes. Mamta and party leaders are heavily promoting many schemes launched by the state government, like Lakshmi Bhandar, Kanyashree, Yuvashree, and Sabuj Sathi, besides the old age and widow pension. Out of 7.5 crore voters in Bengal state, 3.59 crore women voters are included.

In the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections, these schemes brought about 55% of women’s votes to the Trinamool Congress. After that, the Lakshmi Bhandar Yojana was started. As a counter to the central schemes, the state government and Trinamool Congress have been successful in promoting their schemes on a large scale through their strong mechanisms. But the opposition parties kept making allegations of corruption in the benefits received under these schemes, which is true to some extent. But the party leaders, despite knowing all this, say that it will have no effect.

The arrest of strong Trinamool Congress leaders in various scams in North 24-Parganas district has also increased the party’s concern. The minister handling the organization there, Jyotipriya Mallick, is in jail due to the ration scam. Parth Chatterjee, who is in charge of elections in Kolkata and Hooghly districts, is also in jail due to a teacher recruitment scam. The horrific incident of Sandeshkhali and the arrest of many party leaders, including shahjahan sheikh, accused in that case, have also become a headache for the Trinamool Congress. Sandeshkhali area is under Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency.

The party has not given ticket to actress Nusrat Jahan, who won from the same seat last time. Nusrat Jahan has been insulted a lot for ignoring the atrocities committed against women there during the Sandeshkhali incident. Similarly, powerful leader Anuvrat Mandal, who took responsibility for the party’s election campaign in Birbhum and surrounding districts, is also in Delhi’s Tihar Jail in the case of animal smuggling. Partha Chatterjee, who was a strong pillar of the party in the last elections, is in jail, while Shubhendu Adhikari has joined the BJP. Since joining the party, Subhendu Adhikari has provided a lot of strength to the BJP at the grassroots level.

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