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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Battle for Bengal: BJP in bloody struggle with local rival for votes

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KOLKATA: At an election rally in the eastern state of West Bengal, a local leader from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) described how workers from the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had disrupted a public meeting in January by destroying their vehicles.


“So, we thrashed them in retaliation, smashed their vehicles and burnt their party office,” Arup Das, a district secretary of the Hindu nationalist BJP, roared at the rally in the town of Kharagpur.


“Stand up and protest,” Das said to the crowd. “Trinamool Congress will run away in fear.” Political differences have been erupting into tension and sometimes violence across India ahead of the general election in April-May, but it’s particularly bad in West Bengal. Both the BJP and the TMC are accusing each other of killings, beatings, vandalism and making false allegations to the police.


After losing three state elections late last year, and with weak farm incomes and slow jobs growth undermining his backing in the BJP’s traditional Hindu base in the north, Modi is driving hard to pick up support in West Bengal.


The push has set him and the BJP on a collision course with firebrand politician Mamata Banerjee, the TMC leader and the state’s chief minister.


For Banerjee, popularly called ‘Didi’ or elder sister, defeating the BJP’s challenge is vital to cement her power base and bolster her image as a possible future prime minister if opposition parties win enough seats to form a coalition government.


“BJP is rising in West Bengal,” said Udayan Bandyopadhyay, head of the political science department at Bangabasi College in Kolkata, the state capital.


There is a sense of anti-incumbency that is working against Mamata, who has won the previous two state assembly elections, Bandyopadhyay said. BJP did well at village council polls last year and a recent survey showed the party winning eight out of the 42 parliamentary seats in Bengal, up from two currently.


To be sure, Modi could win the national election without taking many seats in West Bengal. What could have been a close contest has changed in recent weeks because of a suicide car bomb attack in Kashmir that killed 40 police officers.


Pollsters say they expect Modi to get a boost because of the sense of nationalism stirred by the events in Kashmir. And the disarray among parties opposed to the BJP will also play in its favour.


The BJP has been holding a series of mega rallies in West Bengal headlined by top BJP leaders, including Modi himself. Rather than emphasising its national agenda, such as driving economic growth and providing affordable housing, the BJP in West Bengal has been focusing more on accusing TMC of corruption and Mamata of running a dictatorship.


The BJP said it had to cancel several visits by senior leaders to address rallies as Mamata’s administration denied permission for their helicopters to land.


The BJP’s West Bengal President Dilip Ghosh said police and other government officials were being used by Mamata to thwart democracy in the state.


“I’ve announced openly everyone should carry batons, bamboos and if goons attack you, you hit back. So we are fighting back. Now goons are afraid to turn up,” said Ghosh.


On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi, president of the Congress party that is the main national opposition group, also accused the TMC of regularly harassing and beating up its workers in Bengal. — Reuters


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