Kolkata: After a tight ropewalk, finally the BJP-JD(U) led NDA has been able to retain power in Bihar though by a narrow margin. Inspired by that victory in Bihar BJP’s West Bengal unit now has its focus on the assembly elections next year. According to the state BJP president, the victory in the crucial Bihar elections will genuinely benefit BJP’s prospects in the Bengal poll next year.
“Our party is totally focused on West Bengal now. Even our central leadership is taking Bengal polls very seriously. I admit that the nature of elections varies from state to state. Still, our victory in the Bihar elections will benefit us to a great extent in Bengal next year. Out workers are fighting the ruling Trinamool Congress at the grassroots level. Their hard work and struggle are bound to yield positive results,” said Dilip Ghosh, West Bengal BJP state president.
However, Congress and the left leaders feel that despite being defeated by an extremely narrow margin, the grand alliance in Bihar has sent a shockwave in the NDA camp. They feel that the success of the grand alliance in Bihar has strengthened the effort to clinch the Congress-Left Front alliance in West Bengal.
According to Abdul Mannan, Congress legislator and the leader of the opposition in West Bengal assembly, the factional infighting in both Trinamool Congress and BJP’s Bengal unit is the main drawback for both the parties. “However, the Congress-Left Front alliance in West Bengal is intact still now. We had several rounds of discussion on the seat-sharing agreement. I am confident the Congress-Left Front alliance will surely do well in Bengal next year,” Mannan said.
Left Front chairman in West Bengal and the CPI(M) politburo member, Biman Bose said the alliance process in West Bengal is going smoothly. “I am confident that the Left Front-Congress alliance will ultimately be able to form the new government in West Bengal next year,” Bose said.
However, the factor that is keeping Congress, Trinamool Congress and Left Front worried is the fact Asaduddin Owaisi’s party has played a crucial role in Bihar polls by dividing the minority votes there that has been beneficial for BJP. Owaisi, on Wednesday, said his party will contest in West Bengal assembly polls as wells. If that happens then there is a high possibility that in minority-dominated districts like Malda and Murshidabad, his party will divide the minority votes a factor that otherwise will go in favour of BJP.
However, the leaders of the three camps are not willing to officially express that anxiety. Both Mannan and Bose said that they do not think that Asaduddin Owaisi will be able to make an impact in West Bengal polls.
Trinamool Congress leader and the state power minister, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said the voters’ nature of West Bengal is different from that of Bihar.
“The recent development projects taken up by the state government have immensely helpful to people irrespective of their religion. The politically conscious voters of West Bengal always caste their votes on the basis of work done by the government. They will do the same next year as well. Owaisi will not be a factor for us," he said.
Krabroty Mukhopadhyay feels that it is quite possible that without winning a single seat Asaduddin Owaisi’s party might play a favorable role for BJP by dividing minority votes, especially in the border districts.
Meanwhile, the extraordinary results of the Left parties in Bihar elections have encouraged the Bengal Left Front before the state assembly polls next year. By contesting from only 29 seats as partners of the grand alliance the three Left parties namely CPI(ML), CPI and CPI(M) won in 16 constituencies.
According to the leader of the Left Parties in the West Bengal assembly, Dr Sujan Chakraborty, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Left Parties were ahead only in the assembly constituency in Bihar.
“From that angle, the performance of the Left Parties had been the best in Bihar. Poor people have given a clear mandate that food and employment are more important for them than caste or religion. In the Bengal polls, the Left parties will surely march ahead along with their associates. In the case of Bihar, both the state government and the Union government were from the same camp. In West Bengal, the factor is virtually the same. Both the West Bengal government and the Union government are- anti-people,” he said.
A senior CPI(M) state committee leader of CPI(M) said on condition of anonymity that it is quite certain Congress-Left Front alliance will gain more this time both in terms of the number of seats as well as vote percentage. But to doubly ensure that what both Left Front and Congress need to do is to complete the seat-sharing agreement at the earliest and start the campaign process before Trinamool Congress and BJP.
"Both Trinamool and BJP are suffering from senior factional infighting and this infighting is bound to increase over the allotment of seats. So if we can start our campaign process early, we can send a clear message to the people of the state,” he said
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