By Sujit Bhar
Democracy is fragile, always has been. At a stretch, sometimes, it looks less like democracy as we know it; it simply resembles the outcome of an elaborate, sinister blueprint, every bit of the system thrown in, before being dressed up as the people’s choice. It’s still democracy, by definition.
Just the other day “deserving” political systems won democratic elections in several states, especially West Bengal, where an unlikely saffron hue has swept the polls, with top angst-aggregator Suvendu Adhikari not just winning, but beating Mamata Banerjee in her own constituency of Bhabanipur (by over 15,000 votes).
At the time of writing, the chief minister post-claimant Adhikari was unanimously elected the leader of the BJP legislature party and will take oath as the chief minister of the state on May 9. Adhikari also met Governor RN Ravi and staked claim to form the first BJP government in the state.
Last time out, the BJP had managed 77 seats (reduced later through defections) in this state; this time the TMC managed 80, with the BJP soaring to 207 in the 294-member Assembly. A decade back, the BJP had just three seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been knocking on Bengal’s door since its inception 46 years ago, and if this conquest of its “final frontier” is the result of such patience, then it is also because of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which removed 91 lakh names—a decrease of 12 percent voters—of which 27 lakh were deleted in the name of “logical discrepancy”, a vast majority of them Muslims. It is also because of the TMC’s chequered 15 years of rule, peppered with large scale corruption and arrogance at such levels that even lowly auto rickshaw drivers were counting the day to the polls. The equation has worked both ways.
Mamata Banerjee refused to put in her resignation, claiming that “100 seats were stolen” in the visibly biased poll process, but this ended as a somewhat childish affront as state Governor RN Ravi dissolved the legislative assembly of the state with effect from May 7.
It is interesting that while over 34 lakh appeals had been filed with the ECI and the courts, just a few hundred could be addressed within the limited time. A process that should have taken no less than six to eight months was compressed in less than four, yielding strange errors, not many of which were addressed in time. A court observation even said that the rest (those whose cases had not been adjudicated, despite appeals), “can vote the next time”.
That wasn’t the end. Seven lakh-odd voters were suddenly added via supplementary lists in April, with no details provided. That needed a verification as well. None done.
Exit polls did point at a BJP victory, but the final scale of it was overwhelming. The predictions were so off the mark, even Plato’s “ship of state” would have logged a better course.
OTHER SURPRISES
There were surprises elsewhere as well. Three other states—Tamil Nadu, Assam and Kerala—as well the Union territory of Puducherry had gone to the polls.
Tamil Nadu saw the rise of yet another film star, Joseph Vijay, who dislodged MK Stalin’s remarkable DMK government. At the time of writing this, Vijay is yet to choose a suitable partner to reach the magic figure, but this, one assumes, is just a matter of time.
The Communists bid farewell to Kerala, ending all manner of socialist rule in the country, losing to an Indian National Congress-led alliance. The regular change of governance seems to be back in this state.
It was not a surprise that the BJP retained Assam for a third consecutive term with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma assuring a return to power (he is set to retain his throne), and there was no change in the power structure of Puducherry either.
A DIFFERENT DISH
Bengal, though, has remained a different kettle of fish for the BJP over the years. The immense mix of religion and caste-creed-free erudition that the state had immersed itself in had effectively deflected the religion and caste-based poll campaigns of the BJP, till all the issues were handled with tremendous force by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-led dispensation.
The infiltration issue is not a figment of the Centre’s imagination. It has been happening since the Congress days, having accelerated during the 34 years of CPI(M) rule and remained a problem as Mamata took charge 15 years back. Yet, every time the centre had asked votes in the name of religion, the state had rejected it. Every time the centre parachuted in top leaders from other states, not a dent had been made.
This time every loophole was sealed. The SIR disenfranchised such a large section of the populace that every person with a vote to cast made sure that he/she did, raising the voting percentage within the thinner electorate to above 90 percent. Then there was the imposing presence of the Enforcement Directorate, the Central Bureau of Intelligence, the NIA and more. With the Central Armed Police Forces, the CRPF and more, there were more than 2.5 lakh boots on the ground. Incidents of deaths and mayhem during the polls reduced, but so did the confidence of the people in the poll system per se.
THE FINAL NAIL
The final nail in the coffin, though, was driven in not by the BJP, but the Trinamool Congress. Years of extortion, syndicate torture and forcible eviction of people from old homes to assist in the promoter culture had driven people to the brink. Private land in places such as Bolpur have been forcibly taken over, with the police looking the other way, and even small-time market vendors had to pay hafta to the political warlords.
The common saying was: “During CPI(M) rule you had to pay just one dada of the locality. During TMC rule every other political activist was a dada.” With no industry of any magnitude agreeing to set up shop in Bengal, hence no jobs, the only option before Mamata to feed the immense greed of her cadre army was to allow them to carry out such extortions. In the end, the structure of the party was Mamata heading a consortium of extortionists. Even the state film industry was taken over by TMC leader Arup Biswas’ brother, and every filmmaker had to do his bidding or say goodbye.
The common man, unfortunately, turned against their own, with the BJP reaping the benefits.
THE OPTIONS
The question is, was there no other option? The Congress has, for all practical purposes, ceased to exist in the state. Their last surviving leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, was finally beaten this time. The CPI(M) did present a few very promising candidates, but the people may not have forgotten the party’s 34 years of misrule and the systemic stripping of the state’s industrial base, leading to the current situation. The Communists were ruled out from fatigued minds.
That brought the people to the BJP’s fold. It may not be an exaggeration to say that the BJP benefitted from a situation where the common man had run out of options, agreeing to “take a chance” on a new entrant. Let us be frank. Shakahari BJP leaders eating fish on public podiums had little effect on people. Yes, the Bengali loves his/her fish, and his chicken and his mutton, but it is laughable to imagine that they agreed to vote for the BJP because a few leaders ate fish in public. That would be seriously insulting the state’s general intelligence.
THE WAY FORWARD
That brings us to the way forward. It will not be governance as usual for BJP in West Bengal. This is a volatile state, and governance will be more problematic than reaching the victory margin was.
First is the issue of the huge Muslim population. They will stay. They cannot be pushed over to Bangladesh, simply because most of them are Indians, many through several generations, some having migrated even before the 1971 partition of Pakistan. Muslims are accepted as a part of the social fabric in Bengal, and the BJP needs to accept this quickly. Actions that have been taken in Uttar Pradesh or Assam or Bihar will not bear fruit in Bengal. This is a touchy issue.
One must remember the history of the state. One must remember how, even during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and other places, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Bengal remained peaceful. It was reasonably peaceful even in 1992, when a nationwide bloodbath ensued with the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
Religion does not move this state, cast and creed does not, the resultant hate definitely does not either. The good decision would come from development, from an end to rampant corruption and an end to years of political tension. Bengal does not have oil beneath its feet; it does have a bit of coal, but no other major mineral veins. The riches of this state are in its intellect, its ports, its ability to assimilate the best of all worlds.
That would be the best bet for BJP for its newest jewel in the crown. Or it would lead to a situation that Banksy’s new and sudden statue in the heart of London says: Leader’s view obfuscated by the flag he bears.
Suvendu aide shot dead
Suvendu Adhikary, BJP’s giant-killer in the recent West Bengal polls, was shocked on May 6 when his personal assistant Chandranath Rath was brutally gunned down by bike-borne assailants near his house on the northern outskirts of the city. Another aide, Buddhadeb Bera, who was driving the car, was also injured in the attack and is battling for his life at the time of writing this.
While some BJP leaders and a section of the media were quick in pointing fingers at the TMC, there has been no confirmation on this from the police as of writing this. The killing of the ex-Air Force man created massive tension in the city, and it was only timely intervention by senior party leaders that cooled the atmosphere somewhat.
Trinamool Congress immediately condemned the incident.
It may be recalled that three other aides of Suvendu had died in the past, not one of those death mysteries having been solved.
The Tamil Nadu surprise
Considering the huge strides the state had made under MK Stalin, one would have expected a continuance of good governance. Yet, in a surprising twist, the state chose another film icon, Vijay. His Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) managed to push his “experiment” to a genuine political disruptor. Both the DMK and the AIADMK have fallen by the wayside, though Vijay, as of writing this, needs a secular enough partner to reach the magic, figure, and he will.
Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI) was Vijay’s long-standing welfare association. He was at the top of his film career, but he quit, to focus on the 2026 assembly elections.
Vijay positioned the BJP as his “ideological opponent” and the DMK as his “political adversary.”
The results shocked analysts, with a victory riding on young voters. The happy part of this is Vijay’s commitment to secularism, and a slight bent towards socialism. If he chooses the DMK as a partner, he may be, in the long run, engulfed by Stalin’s political acumen. Vijay must choose wisely.
The post A Crown Of Thorns, Maybe appeared first on India Legal.