Bengal: Narratives fail to play out as TMC hands down humiliating defeat to BJP

Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress handed down a humiliating defeat to the BJP on Tuesday (June 4), taking unassailable lead for fending an all-out attack against it over charges of corruption, land grab and even mass molestation in Sandeshkhali.

Repeating its dream run of 2021 Assembly elections, the incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) is set to get almost three times more seats than its saffron rival, rendering exit poll predictions and tall claims of getting 30 seats by BJP leaders untrue.

TMC eyes lion’s share of votes

Of the state’s 42 seats, the TMC is leading in 29. The BJP is way behind at 12. The Left Front and the Congress shrunk further, leading in just one seat as the huge response seen in their joint campaign proved to be a false dawn.

In terms of vote share, the TMC so far got about 46 per cent votes, around eight per cent more than what the BJP has polled.

The massive victory came on the back of rough patches for the TMC that saw several of its senior leaders being jailed on charges ranging from cattle smuggling to ration scam to taking bribes for providing teaching jobs in state-run schools. Banerjee’s party got another jolt ahead of the parliamentary elections when local villagers erupted in protests at Sandeshkhali, a sleepy island in Sunderbans.

Sandeshkhali row makes no impact

The villagers accused some local TMC leaders of forcefully acquiring their land. There were also charges of molestation against them. The TMC, though admitted the charges of land grab against its functionaries and took corrective measures, it denied that any molestation happened.

TMC supremo Banerjee in 150-odd rallies that she had addressed during the 76-day long campaigning, reiterated that her party, unlike the BJP, acted against those involved in corruption and other wrongdoings. She taunted the BJP, calling it a “washing machine”.

The current trend shows that the electorates believed in her narrative. The TMC took decisive lead in the Basirhat parliamentary seat that comprises Sandheshkhali. In what is seen as a bigger moral victory for it, the party even got a huge lead in the Sandeshkhali Assembly segment.

The arrest of TMC’s Birbhum strongman Anubrata Mondal in cattle-smuggling case did not make any impact on the electorates. The TMC set for victory in the district’s two seats.

Public mandate for Mahua Moitra

Mahua Moitra, who was disqualified from Parliament on the alleged cash-for-query scam, was also re-elected from Krishnanagar seat.

The voters appeared to have bought the TMC’s counter narrative of being targeted by the central government that had “discriminated” Bengal by denying funds on “flimsy” grounds.

Over 50 social assistance schemes that the TMC government runs in the state once again proved to be a game changer for the party.

The Opposition, particularly the BJP, failed to reckon the socio-economic importance of these schemes. Some BJP leaders during the initial-phases of the campaign had even claimed that the BJP would scrap the Lakshmi Bhandar Scheme if voted to power.

Social assistance schemes

Later realising the mistake, the party tried course correction. Endorsing the scheme, Amit Shah went to the extent of claiming that his party would increase the allowance under the scheme by ₹100. But by then it was too late as proved by the TMC’s surge across the state barring North Bengal and a few Matua pockets.

The BJP once again retained its strong presence in North Bengal taking lead in six of the region’s eight seats. Even here, the party did not emerge totally unscathed. The party suffered a major setback in Cooch Behar in the defeat of its top leader and Union minister of State for Home, Nishith Pramanik.

The CAA roll out just before the commencement of the election process prevented a total Matua backlash for the BJP. The party is holding on to its lead in two-Matua majority constituencies of Bangaon and Ranaghat. But it failed to reap benefits in other seats where the scheduled-caste community has a decisive presence.