How BJP has lapped up Sandeshkhali row to weave its poll narrative around ‘Nari Shakti’

The symbolism of a Durga idol that Bengal BJP leaders presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to the state was not lost on any.

The Nari Shakti, the women power that Durga embodies is the central theme of the BJP’s campaign narrative for the ensuing general elections particularly in Bengal where females constitute 49.20 per cent of the total voters. The emphasis on the theme is laid with a hope that the women-led uprising against the ruling Trinamool Congress in Sandeshkhali will help erode the support TMC and its supremo Mamata Banerjee enjoy among female voters.

That the BJP has made Sandeshkhali-centric women narrative focal point of its election plank in the state has been apparent from the gist of Modi’s campaign blitzkrieg. The issue was the central theme in four rallies he addressed in the state within a span of nine days this month.

Raking up Sandeshkhali

Modi met five “women victims” from the island in Sunderbans on the sidelines of his rally at Barasat on Wednesday and proclaimed that the Sandeshkhali uprising will snowball into a tornado that will blow away the TMC.

He raked up the issue again at his Siliguri rally on Saturday. Terming the TMC-government “anti-women”, Modi said the entire nation today is criticising what the TMC leaders did in Sandeshkhali with Adivasi, Dalit and poor women.

“The TMC extortionists are committing atrocities against women and looting entitlements of the poor,” Modi alleged, urging voters of North Bengal to initiate the process of throwing the TMC government out of power with the Lok Sabha elections.

The tone has been set. But will that resonate with the people, particularly women of Bengal? The challenge for the party is to make that happen and kick up a storm across the state as Modi predicted.

Not easy to corner TMC

To generate a massive state-wide wave against the TMC focusing on the alleged plight of women in the state will be easier said than done.

The BJP’s vote share has witnessed a steady decline in the state since 2021 assembly elections when it plummeted to 38.15 per cent from 40.7 per cent the party had polled in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It further dropped to 22.92 per cent in rural elections held last year. To do better than the TMC the BJP will have to increase its vote share at least by 20 per cent in a likely bipolar contest.

Moreover, BJP’s own record on that front is nothing much to boast of. The way it handled Unnao and Hathras rape cases as well as allegations of sexual harassment by six women wrestlers against a BJP MP are a few pointers to that effect.

On top of that the TMC government runs in the state a string of woman-related welfare schemes to woo women voters. In the last assembly elections, the TMC garnered around 50 per cent of the women’s votes as against over 35 per cent by the BJP.

Bid to contain unrest

The TMC government to its credit has also succeeded so far in containing the Sandeshkhali unrest to a large extent and did not allow it to spill over to other parts of the state.

A day after Modi made his storm forecast, Banerjee marched along with a group of women from Sandeshkhali on the streets of Kolkata to debunk the BJP’s campaign. As many as 150 women from Sandeshkhali joined Banerjee’s ‘padyatra’ on the eve of the International Women’s Day on Thursday held under the slogan--- Narir Adhikar, Amader Angikar (Women’s rights, our pledge).

“There were some issues of land grab which have been resolved. We got back our land. We came here to express our gratitude to Didi for taking prompt corrective measures and stern action against the offenders. Now there is peace and normalcy in Sandeshkhali,” said Sabitri Sardar, a woman from the island.

TMC’s counter pitch

The TMC’s counter pitch is that there were some isolated incidents in Sandeshkhali and those were aberrations. “All five fingers of a hand are not equal…. There may have been some incidents that took place without our knowledge. I don’t hesitate to take action against even my party members if I get to know about any wrongdoing,” Banerjee said.

A few hours before prime minister’s Barasat rally, Banerjee raised the remunerations of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), Anganwadi workers and their helpers in a bid to take the wind out of the BJP’s women-centric narrative.

West Bengal has 64,904 ASHA workers, 1,05,426 Anganwadi workers and 2,48,799 helpers, according to government data presented in Parliament in March 2023. Needless to say that these categories of workers are all women.

There are a slew of women-centric doles in the state, including electorally potent Lakshmir Bhandar scheme that assures a basic income assistance to women in all the rural and urban households.

BJP’s main poll plank

The BJP’s Nari Shakti gambit is, however, not entirely a futile off-the-cuff move. Much thought went into its decision of picking women as its main election plank in Bengal, according to BJP insiders.

The charges of corruption against the TMC were hitherto hinging on actions taken by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the two central agencies whose neutralities are under serious doubt. The charges against the TMC leaders in Sandeshkhali, on the other hand, appear more credible and acceptable as the whistleblowers there are the women of the area.

The BJP believes women in other parts of the state will be able to relate with the plight of their counterparts in Sandeshkhali. “Our main purpose now is to ensure safety and security of all mothers and sisters of Bengal,” BJP leader and MP Raju Bista told the gathering at Siliguri on Saturday.

‘Many Sandeshkhalis in state’

“There are many Sandheskhalis awaiting spark around the state,” asserts BJP leader Suvendu Adhikar. The claim is not without basis. Prevalence of corruption, land grab and extra-economic coercion like physical assault and sexual abuse of women in the hinterlands of Bengal was flagged in a study on status of Adivasi community in the state conducted by Pratichi Institute, founded by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, jointly with the Asiatic Society.

“In some villages, lands cultivated by the Adivasis have allegedly been grabbed by local powerful lobbies to convert them into fisheries. In some other areas inhabited by vulnerable groups, extra economic coercion like beating, sexual abuse of women, making people work for low wage rates were also reported,” read the report titled “Living World of the Adivasis of West Bengal—An Ethnographic Exploration” published in 2020.

“The context has further worsened because of state inaction towards implementing the constitutionally guaranteed safeguards against atrocities and injustice upon Adivasi women. Instead, often, the police, forest officials, as told by the women, ‘avariciously find occasions to harass us.’ Frequently, the police allegedly act against the very Adivasi women who approached the police station seeking justice,” it further stated.

Channelising simmering tension

Most of the victims in Sandeshkhali are tribals. The BJP plans to use Sandeshkhali uprising to channelise simmering tension over the “existing misconducts” elsewhere in the state to mobilise a state-wide movement against the TMC government.

To keep the Sandeshkhali pot boiling the party has rented a house in the island to back the “women-led movement.” It has also planned a rally there on Sunday. Clearly, the Lok Sabha battle in Bengal will be a show of women power.