The Never-Ending Woes Of The BJP In Bengal
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2022-05-23 09:14:02
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After its loss in the 2021 state elections, the BJP is finding the going tough in West Bengal. Most leaders who left the Trinamool Congress (TMC) before the polls have switched back. On Sunday, the high profile Arjun Singh, BJP MP from Barrackpore and his son Pawn Singh, BJP MLA from Bhatpara, left the party and rejoined the TMC. Singh said that the BJP was finished in Bengal as the leaders are working out of air-conditioned rooms and on Facebook and have lost touch with the masses.
Singh was with the TMC since inception and had joined the BJP in 2019 before the Lok Sabha polls. But he had always worked in the jute industry as a union leader and was distressed with the Centre for the price-cap put on raw jute, which he felt would spell the death knell for the industry. He fought against the cap and even visited Delhi to get it reversed. Although the Union textile ministry kept the price-cap on hold, Singh made up his mind and deserted the BJP after fighting the TMC on the streets for 39 months.
There are two other factors which would have helped Singh make up his mind. First, when he was fighting tooth and nail against the TMC, more than 70 criminal cases were filed against him. Second, after he won the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket with a margin of around 15000 votes, it has been downhill for the party. The BJP has lost vote share in successive elections leading to an alarming reversal of fortunes. In fact, in the 2021 assembly elections, TMC won 6 of the 7 assembly segments in the Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat with a lead of nearly 112000 votes. Singh could see the writing on the wall.
The fall for the BJP in Bengal as been as swift and dramatic as the rise when it won 18 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The party has not been able to present a cohesive face after the drubbing it received in 2021 and that has resulted in mass desertions. Arjun Singh's decision to rejoin the TMC will now lead to further exodus. Nothing seems to be working for the BJP in Bengal and Amit Shah's recent visit to the state has not made any difference. It seems the party has given up on the state for now.
