How is Bengal cooking? Well, there is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on one side for sure. But don’t get the mistaken notion that Trinamool Congress is similarly stand-alone in the other corner. Despite the noise of Third Front, where Indian Secular Front has tied up with Left and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, and is working out maths with Congress, with avowed hostility to Trinamool Congress, all could cohabit in the same bed after May 2.
How would these Parties change colours once Mamata Banerjee falls short of majority? Example of Maharashtra is a ready reckoner. The so-called seculars, Congress and NCP, lost no time in smooching Shiv Sena to deny the single largest party, BJP, a chance to govern the state.
So critical is the compulsion in Bengal that these parties would lose no time in cohabiting to deny BJP its first stint in this critical state. All of them openly woo Muslim minority and would hate to look losers to their core constituency. Besides, so deep is Islamist infiltration from India’s borders—be it Bengal, Assam, Kashmir, Punjab and Kerala—that all these so called secular parties would come together “to save democracy” and protect the “Constitution.”
How is democracy protected when they show themselves on one side and change sides given how the results flip in an assembly polls? How would voters feel anything but cheated having voted against Trinamool Congress, and opting for Third Front, only to see the two in the same bed? Isn’t it “democracy” subverted? Isn’t it the murder of “Constitution?” The irony only gets shameful when one sees Congress and Left at each other’s throat in Kerala, on the same coming dates, as in Bengal.
Any doubt that Congress is nothing but a party of no spine, all manipulation and opportunism and no moral fibre? Communists appear to be identity extension of Congress. Their ideology and vote-bank is similar even if they appear to be bitter rivals at times. The truth is, for one compulsion or other, both appeared in the same frame in letting Muslim League have its way with the Partition of 1947. They did become rabid opponents in New India. But it was only to ensure no other third force rises in the country. No wonder, Bengal remained their preserve for more than 60 years. The two formed an election alliance for the first time in 2016. So much for their ideological spine.
“Baam (Left) ban gaye Zandu Balm” was in vogue. But it didn’t help in electoral politics. This alliance of 2016 did nothing but make Left slide many notches down the voters’ ladder. Congress gained but that’s only because they couldn’t have done any worse from the pits they were in. Left received just 7 percent of cast votes. They ended up with a mere 26 seats. Congress did better with its tally of 44. The 2019 General Elections were illustrative: Congress sneaked in with two seats. Left, in contrast, drew a blank. Even though General Polls bear no relation to assembly polls, it’s a barometer on how low the two have fallen in the eyes of Bengal voters.
So there is little wonder that Congress and Left are hanging on to the coattails of today’s Muslim League, aka Indian Secular Front, led by Abbas Siddiqui. As it happened in 1947, Congress and Left have again agreed to go along with the League’s modern version. No ideological barrier exists between Islamists and our so-called Secularists. And whoever thought that Communists don’t believe in religion, their sucking up to Islamic fundamentalists says otherwise.
As you have read in these columns about the Chacha-Bhatija duo, the ones of Twaha and Abbas Siddiqui are upto their own tricks. Twaha is not a part of Indian Secular Front, which is avowedly against Mamata, and for appearances it’s causing Muslim votes to split, but make no mistake they won’t lose a second to deny BJP a tilt at the power.
Just to let readers into the maths, Muslim constitute about 31 percent of voters in West Bengal, including a hefty chunk of infiltrators from Bangladesh. There are around 125 bastion of minority seats and 85 where Muslims constitute more than 35 per cent.
It should tell Hindus of Bengal–for whom this homeland was created due to unceasing efforts of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee when Bengal was the prey in the eyes of Muslim League in 1947– the slipping ground beneath their feet. They could do no worse than sit in their homes and skirt the all-important matter of voting, out of fear or indifference. At stake is their own future and absolute disaster for their generation next.
Debjani Bhattacharyya is a columnist who’s a keen observer of politics and social changes.. A communication-strategist by profession having special aptitude for analytical jackknifing of information, Debjani is a Pharmaceutical Engineer & a Management Professional by her credentials.
Analysis of data & information for generating insights for policy planning is a passion while her other significant area of interest is the Constitution of India and its interpretations thereof. She’s a voracious reader with enormous affinity towards Classics of Bengali Literature. She is an opinion-maker on social media through her blog, twitter and facebook.
