What's in a language? BJP and Mamata vie for the Telugu pie

West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee decided to accord Telugu an official language status. The opposition BJP has termed the Mamata-government's move as appeasement politics and has virtually challenged the ruling party to make inroads in Kharagpur Sadar Assembly seat by 'playing the language card', writes Dipankar Bose, News Coordinator of West Bengal from ETV Bharat.

Hyderabad: Is it an honest response to a long-standing demand, or just another move to appease a section of voters? This question has been doing rounds in the alleys of Kharagpur in West Bengal since yesterday after the Mamata Banerjee-government decided to accord Telugu an official language status.

Why was Kharagpur chosen? That's because this bustling railway town has the largest concentration of Telugu speaking population in the state, which, going by a rough estimate, is around 1.5 lakhs. Out of them, around 50,000 are voters and could surely leave an indelible mark on the outcome of Kharagpur Sadar constituency in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections. And therein lies the issue of the state government's sudden decision to accord Telugu, the official language status.

The Telugu-speaking population of Bengal have been demanding that the language be recognised in the state as an official language, which in turn could help people in several government works. The government's decision has brought smiles to the Telugu-speaking people of Kharagpur, but not everyone is happy.

The opposition BJP has termed the Mamata-government's move as appeasement politics and has virtually challenged the ruling party to make inroads in Kharagpur Sadar Assembly seat by 'playing the language card.'

In fact, the Kharagpur Sadar Assembly seat has been a peculiar political experiment of sorts in Bengal. Whoever gets elected to the hustings of the state, never gets elected from this seat. Barring independent India's first election in 1951, when Muhammad Momtaz Moulana of the Congress won the undivided Kharagpur seat, this seat has never returned anyone from the ruling party.

When Bengal was ruled by the Congress, Kharagpur Sadar always had an opposition winner, in the name of Narayan Choubey of the CPI or Gyan Singh Sohanpal of the Congress when the state was ruled by the Left Front. The tradition went on till 2016 when Dilip Ghosh of the BJP won the seat. But, all calculations went haywire when in the bypoll of 2019, Trinamool Congress created a history of sorts. For the first time in 42 years, the Kharagpur Sadar seat went to a party, which was also ruling the state. Pradip Sarkar did it for Trinamool and also became the only TMC candidate to secure the seat in 21 years of the party's existence!

But, BJP's B Soma says, this move by the Mamata Banerjee government barely a few months ahead of the polls would not cut much ice among the Telugu-speaking voters. “Had they been so sincere about the demands of the Telugu-speaking population of Kharagpur, they could have easily done so ten years ago when Trinamool Congress came to power. Why now? It is only because they are scared of the BJP. They know that the 2019 bypoll results will not be repeated in 2021. If they feel that this move will bring them dividends in the polls, they are mistaken,” Soma says.

B S Giri Rao of the Telugu family is happy and says the Telugu-speaking population is not linking the government's decision with any politics. “The move is a positive one and will come handy for us in many ways. Electoral mathematics does not come in our sanity and the people,” he says.

Kharagpur Sadar MLA and giant slayer Pradip Sarkar says granting Telugu the status of official language, has been a long-standing demand of the people of Kharagpur and, “Mamata Banerjee has fulfilled it. Many will be benefitted by this decision.” Sarkar rubbishes all opposition allegations.

Pradip had won by a margin of over 21,000 votes in the 2019 bypolls and had increased the Trinamool Congress vote share by a staggering 18 per cent. And all that happened in the backyard of Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh, who is also the local MP. Many in Kharagpur also know that there was one invisible hand behind Pradip Sarkar's win in 2019, that of the organisational strength of Suvendu Adhikari.

The December of 2020 has seen Suvendu picking up the saffron flag and there will be no Adhikari support for Mamata in Kharagpur Sadar constituency. Is it so that the Trinamool Congress supremo is leaving no stones unturned to secure whatever votes she can, ahead of the crucial elections? Hence, Telugu being accorded the official language status in Bengal, barely four months ahead of the polls? Will Mamata again succeed in digging out another pound of flesh from BJP's vote bank? We have to wait till the votes are counted in 2021.