Mamata Banerjee on her way to throttle BJP’s West Bengal strategy
The momentum that the saffron camp built around the proposed yatra appears to be fizzling out
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s proposed rath yatra in West Bengal that is stuck in the courts is easily the most spectacular political programme the saffron camp could have staged in the state in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. BJP boss Amit Shah has bet big on the state, setting a target of winning at least 22 of the 42 seats—an 11-time rise from the previous highest the saffron camp has ever managed.
If the party could organise the yatra—formally Ganatantra Bachao Yatra (Rally to Save Democracy)—it could reaped dividends before the elections. The BJP never had a sustained high-pitched campaign in the state and this yatra was supposed to move through all the parliamentary constituencies. Star speakers, crowd pullers and poster boys of Hindutva such as Yogi Adityanath and Sarbananda Sonowal, not to speak of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah would have carried their message in public rallies in the state through dozens of public meetings.
However, the situation on the ground does not look so promising for the party now. The state government has refused permission arguing that the yatra may engineer communal unrest, and it is likely that the administration will continue the fight till the Supreme Court. With the court moving into winter vacation it might well be January even if the BJP manages to secure final relief from the courts.
That the Mamata Banerjee government is in no mood to relent till it exhausts all appellate platforms was evident from the appearence of Congress Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Abhishek Manu Singhvi in Calcutta High Court on Friday and arguing for the DGP and ADG (law and order). It was mainly due to his arguments that the division bench stayed the order of the single bench and asked the justice to have a look at the intelligence reports submitted by the state before arriving at a decision.
The BJP is clearly running against time. February will be the month of class 10 and plus two level board exams in Bengal that will entail a ban on the use of microphones for an extended period (February 9 to March 13) making it impossible to organise the yatra and public rallies.
As things stand now, the momentum that the saffron camp built around the yatra appears to be fizzling out. Aware that time is slipping away, BJP leaders have already launched plan B that consists of holding padayatras in different district and public meetings by state-level leaders. Wherever local administration would refuse permission for the padayatra, the leaders would organise gherao and sit-in demonstrations around offices of district magistrates, police superintendents and sub divisional officers.
Having already suffered the embarrassment of putting on hold the prime minister’s rally in Siliguri on December 16, the party has also indicated in courts that they can even settle for a truncated programme which stretches over 42 days.
With their opponents struggling with what could have their biggest show of strength and most ambitious programme in the state so far, Trinamool Congress leaders can hardly conceal their glee.
If the yatra is eventually scuttled, or curtailed, Ms Banerjee has a lot to gain. Not only can she prove that she can take on the might of the BJP, but also that she can blunt the most potent tool of her most powerful opponent.
The Trinamool Congress chief has a two-fold objective: a publicly announced one of making a clean sweep of all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, and a less than clearly articulated one of taking the leadership position in the much-discussed new anti-BJP front for the general elections. If the yatra is cancelled, or curtailed, it will take her another step closer to the first one at least.
avijit.ghosal@htlive.com