Is the West Bengal going to see change in political power?

Once again there is election in Bengal and Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee is facing the biggest challenge since her entire political career. As a result of which more than hundred BJP workers have been killed in West Bengal. Lately, Trinamool Congress leader Shubhendu Adhikari, along with several other rebel MLAs of the party joined the BJP in the presence of Amit Shah. Post which such joke started trending on social media that “Please ignore the rumors, Didi is still in TMC”!

If we look at the history of Bengal politics over the past several decades, then we will find huge stains of blood in it. Even the first military revolt of the freedom struggle of 1857 took place in Calcutta and Barrackpore in Bengal, which led to India’s independence in 1947 after the martyrdom of Mangal Pandey. During the three-and-a-half-decade rule of the Left parties, the bloody instances of political violence were not an unusual sight. When Mamta Banerjee come in power, it was hoped that the red color would now disappear from the politics of Bengal, but gradually the Trinamool Congress also stood up the same way wearing the same bloody dress that leftist once took off from their body.

Now, understand it properly by looking at the contemporary angles of politics in West Bengal.

In Bengal, when there was a Congress party government headed by Chief Minister Siddharth Shankar Royand as a rebellion of economic inequalities, Naxalwadi movement emerged. Along with the suppression of thousands of convicts, some innocents were also killed. After this the Left Front led by Indian Marxist Communist Party came forward to take power from Congress. After the elections in 1977, the Left parties wrested power from the hands of the Congress. Marxists ruled Bengal for 34 consecutive years. According to government data released by the Trinamool government, in the period from 1977 to 2007, 28 thousand politicians were killed.

One can understand this anecdote that the Left Front, which came to power with an overwhelming majority in the year 1977, followed the path of the Congress. In fact, the Left began to use murder as a political weapon in an organized way. By the way, the CPM cadres showed their political perspective by killing the Sen Brothers of Burdwan district only in the year 1969. Those killings are recorded in the political history of Bengal as Senbari murder.  In the 34 years of Left rule from 1977 to 2011, the type, volume and density of massacre during the period may not have happened in the same form in any other state of the country.

In the year 1979, the police and CPM cadres of the then Jyoti Basu government fired at the Bangladeshi Hindu refugees. Similar example of the cruelty cannot be found anywhere else. Even dozens of people saved their lives by jumping into the sea. So far there is no concrete figure as to how many people were killed in that Mareech Jhaapi massacre. Then in April 1982 CPM cadres burnt 17 Anandmargis alive in the metropolis.

Similarly, in July 2000, in Nanur in Birbhum district, the police killed 11 minority Congress supporters opposing forcible takeover at the instigation of political bosses. Thereafter 14 innocent villagers protesting the takeover in Nandigram on March 14, 2007 were also killed

However, after the Indian economy opened in the 1990s, the game of the Left began to end, the policies of the Left, which were against the economic liberalization, especially in rural areas, created a huge employment crisis. People had nothing in their hands to do, it was the time when the old leaders went to the margins and the leftist cadre became full of goons and musclemen; especially in rural Bengal, violence became an everyday thing.

The period from 2007 to 2011 was one of the most violent years There was the clashes of interest between the farmers and industrial people over the Nano car project in Singur and thereby land acquisition. Mamta adopted the pro-farmer and anti-industrial weapon formula in Nandi village and bend the Left Front government.

The dream with which TATA chooses the Singur of Bengal for manufacturing of that Lakhtakiya Car had to run away after wrapping everything from there. The same has happened with the Nandi village project. Singur and Nandigram took Mamta to every village and its effect was reflected in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections when Mamata achieved tremendous success. In the 2011 election, Mamata gave the slogan of Maa, Mati and Manush and overthrowed the 34-year-old Left Government.

As soon as the government of the Left came to an end, those frosty political goons became unemployed. Mamata had understood that if Bengal was to rule for a long time, there would be no development required but to take the favor of the political goons on her side. Therefore, The Trinamool continued its old stand even after gaining power, with the help of violent movements. The goons resorted to violence to intimidate the people in their favor and to take power and caste politics further ahead to remain in power. The last panchayat elections are vivid examples of how Trinamool party used violence to conduct and turn elections in their favour.

Now the people of the state have also become accustomed to it. According to rough estimates, in the last six decades, about 28 thousand people have sacrificed political violence in the state. During this time this state has become the top three states in the country in doing so. As if in the stories of the Hindi films of the eighties,-the politics of blood for blood and that thing keep triggering post each incident and have become very strong now.

Now it was the time of Lok Sabha elections of the year 2019. In Bengal, there is one popular saying, Karbo Larbo Jitbo. Prime Minister Modi is also involved in making this saying a reality and Mamata Banerjee too. It is said that the route to power in Delhi goes through Uttar Pradesh. But the BJP has also started measuring the route of Kolkata with Uttar Pradesh to reach Delhi. After a long struggle with the Left, Mamata Banerjee had gained the power of Bengal, now the BJP has set its feet in Bengal politics. In this, the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the stormy strategy of Amit Shah are showing colour on the land of Bengal. BJP strategists are now looking forward to taste victory in Kolkata’s Reuters building after their latest election victory in Bihar. Moreover, during 2019 LokSabha election BJP has became the number two party in terms of number of seats.

But there is one thing in the midst of all this and that is- that there are about 30 percent Muslim voters in Bengal, who are in decision-making role on almost 100 out of 294 seats in the state. Since 2010 Muslim voters in Bengal are considered the core vote bank of TMC, while the BJP is now moving ahead with the NRC issue in Bengal. In order to strengthen its position in the elections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made a big claim by regularizing the colonies of 119 Bangladeshi refugees in the state. Chief Minister Banerjee has said that all Bangladeshi refugees are citizens of India and they shall have no fear of anyone. The result of this is that the politics of votes has brought this state to the point that people belonging to particular class fearlessly sit on the bonnet of police car. On the other hand, the police drag the devotees out of the temple and grab them. Now elections are going to be held once again but this time it will be known whether people still have faith in the Vaam or Shri Ram!

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