oppn parties The Congress-Left Alliance In West Bengal Will Benefit The BJP

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  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
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  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
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  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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The Congress-Left Alliance In West Bengal Will Benefit The BJP

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2020-12-28 07:14:34

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

There is little doubt that the Congress and the Left parties are spent forces in West Bengal and have been pushed to irrelevance as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) seeks to consolidate its position and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) makes deep inroads into its citadel. Hence, when they announced an alliance to contest the ensuing state elections together, there was not much enthusiasm in the political circles.

The state elections in 2021 are going to be a no-holds-barred fight between the ruling TMC and the BJP. The BJP is buoyed as it did very well, both in terms of vote percentage and the number of seats won, in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Since then, it has managed to create divisions in the TMC and has snared many top and middle level leaders from the party. It has also beefed up its infrastructure in the state and repeated visits by party president JP Nadda and Amit Shah have created enthusiasm among the the party cadre who are now sensing a huge turnaround which can be translated into a victory in the final reckoning.

The TMC, on the other hand, is not much worried about the deserters as it has been riding on the immense popularity of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The party has also appointed political consultant Prashant Kishore as the campaign manager (which has raised hackles in some quarters) to take on a resurgent BJP. The state government has also rolled out many people-friendly initiatives (like Duare Sarkar, or the government at the doorstep, which seek to deliver welfare schemes directly to the people) which have raised its image. But the desertions will obviously hurt and the party will have to think of firefighting measures in a few districts.

In such a scenario, the coming together of the Congress and the Left will benefit the BJP because the secular vote will get divided. People in the state are worried about the NRC and the CAA (as witnessed in the rush to lay hands on documents that prove residential status) and both the TMC and the Congress- Left alliance will play on these fears. In that case, votes of those who do not wish to vote for the BJP will get split and the BJP is likely to benefit. The Congress-Left alliance is not likely to make any impression apart from a few areas of influence, although such areas are also fast vanishing.

 

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