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With its top gun leaders frequenting the state , BJP is going for the kill. TMC on the other hand has been rattled by several desertions and leaders like Suvendu Adhikari, Rajib Banerjee and Biashali Dalmiya ( daughter of late former BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya) switching over to the saffron party . Will these exits hurt TMC ? only time will tell. But BJP’s open arm welcome to all dissenting leaders from the TMC to the BJP fold has not gone down well with the local BJP leadership as some reports had suggested . Moreover, there is a danger / perception that with several former TMC leaders in its ranks there is a apparent danger that BJP might end up tagged as a B team of the TMC .
While the left and Congress are yet to hit the campaign road . The BJP has clearly announced its intention to challenge and replace the TMC . BJP party president J P Nadda is leading from the front . And during his recent visit he took on the TMC listing out the failures of the ruling dispensation and urging the people to vote for the BJP.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has made umpteen visits to the state to oversee the poll preparations and raise the morale of the party cadre’s despite many party workers losing their lives in alleged clashes with Trinamool workers.
And after the duo of Shah and Nadda , the BJP turned to their main star campaigner – Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At a recent rally in Haldia , Prime Minister Modi did not hold back punches and launched a blistering attack on the and made hard hitting charges like saying :”TMC has made many back to back fouls including mis- governance, violence, corruption, & attacks on beliefs. People of Bengal are watching and very soon Bengal is going to show ‘Ram card’ to TMC. In the first year of Mamata Government, it became clear that what Bengal had got was not ‘parivartan’ but revival of left and that too with interest. Revival of left meant revival of corruption, crime, violence, and attacks on democracy.”
That the BJP and the Trinamool Congress and Mamata Banerjee do not see eye to eye is clearly seen. The bitterness between the two parties is palpable . Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has cold ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. And this was clear not once but on several occasions . The recent was the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of the iconic freedom fighter Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. On a event held at the majestic Victoria memorial , despite the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on stage, Mamata refused to give her speech as she claimed was humiliated with some section of the crowd chanting Jai Shri Ram slogans. This prompted BJP to hit back at Mamata with party president J P Nadda asking why she gets angry with Jai Shri Ram slogan and not with Inshallah . And PM Modi even going a step further alleging Mamata gets annoyed even with slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
Now that the gloves are off between the TMC and the BJP stage is now set for a bitter battle ahead. Various media channels have indicated a momentum for the BJP post 2019 Lok Sabha results . But there is still time foe the polls and the it is voters who will decide the fate. But what if the BJP’s high octane campaign blitz fails to deliver like in Delhi ?
In Delhi assembly polls 2020, Union Home Minister Amit Shah spearheaded the campaign with 45 rallies. Over 200 plus MP’s and Chief Minister’s of BJP states , Union Cabinet ministers joined the BJP blitz to woo the people of Delhi but all was in vain. AAP won 62 seats, BJP was reduced to 8 seats. And much like hitting out at Mamata now, BJP during Delhi polls ran a personalised campaign against Arvind Kejriwal but it did not succeed. Will it click against Mamata? we will have to wait for while.
If Mamata is let us assume hypothetically is able to retain power , despite desertions , anti-incumbency and BJP’s high voltage campaign then it would a fantastic hat-trick against all odds. BJP on the on the other hand after investing so much into Mission West Bengal will surely lose face . Then it would be pertinent to ask who takes the blame for the debacle – Home Minister Amit Shah. party president JP Nadda, State BJP chief Dilip Ghosh or in- charge Kailash Vijayvargiya? .
Yes there are other states like Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, going to the polls later this year but the battle for West Bengal especially the TMC vs BJP slug fest is the one people are looking forward to with avid interest. This will surely be one hell of a make or break election for both TMC and BJP. The onus squarely is now on the people of West Bengal which side they want to be on – Modi or Didi.
