WB bypolls: It's TMC vs BJP contest again as Left Front loses fizz
The Left Front was hoping the RG Kar movement would be its turnaround moment and it would become a major issue in the by-elections. But that did not happen
West Bengal’s political bi-polarity is unlikely to change in Wednesday’s bypolls to the six assembly seats, as protests over the R G Kar Hospital rape-and-murder case failed to resonate in the electioneering much to disappointment of the Left parties.
The protests that erupted in many parts of urban Bengal over the brutal incident and political patronisation of criminalities were seen largely as the handiwork of the Left and ultra-Left organisations.
Left Front loses plot
The Left Front, which for the first time even included the CPI (ML) into its fold, was hoping the R G Kar movement would become a major issue in the by-elections and they could reap political dividends from it.
Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the electoral contests in the assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the state have been entirely dominated by the Trinamool Congress and the BJP.
Last year’s Sagardighi by-election was the only exception. In it, the Left Front-supported Congress candidate Bayron Biswas surprised everyone by winning the seat, defeating the TMC candidate. Biswas, however, switched to the TMC soon after the victory.
The Left Front had continuously drawn a blank in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections and in the 2021 assembly elections.
For a turnaround it was banking on the public outrage over the R G Kar incident of August 9. But after the junior doctors called off their hunger strike on October 21 following a two-hour-long live-streamed meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Left lost the plot.
It failed to create any buzz in the campaign, leaving it to the BJP to make whatever noise over the R G Kar issue.
Also read: 'What is the source of your funds?' TMC minister questions agitating junior doctors
Protest impact
Even the BJP is sceptical about the impact of the protest. Claiming that Left and ultra-Left forces were steering the stir from behind, senior BJP leader Dilip Ghosh recently questioned the ultimate outcome of the movement.
“What did people get from the agitation? Has it succeeded in making the state-run hospitals more secure?” the former BJP state president asked.
Many Left leaders in private admit that the agitation fizzled out because of the astute and crafty handling of the situation by the TMC supremo.
The state government was both combative and persuasive in its dealing with the agitating junior doctors. It held at least six meetings, including two at the chief minister’s level, with the agitators.
In the live-streamed meeting with junior doctors, the chief minister conceded to their several demands while constantly reminding them of the hardship poor people, who solely depend on government facilities for medical care, were facing due to their stir.
Clearly, chief minister astutely played with public sentiment and turned the situation to her advantage.
“The live-streaming of the meeting was a master stroke,” pointed out political commentator Amal Sarkar.
Also read: Left diminished in Bengal, Communist parties go for self-introspection
Doctors' demands
The government agreed to establish a state-level apex task force comprising five doctors and five state representatives to monitor the functioning of all other committees overseeing medical education. This was one of the key demands of the agitating doctors.
It also agreed to another of the key demands to have college-level committees with adequate representation of doctors to oversee the functioning of hospitals.
Holding of student union elections by March 2025, installation of adequate CCTV cameras to strengthen security of the state-run hospitals and setting up of patient referral systems in all government hospitals across the state to weed out middlemen in bed allocation, were some other demands that the state government has agreed to fulfill.
Demands for resignation of state health secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam and scrapping of the current West Bengal Medical Council were firmly turned down, reminding the doctors not to overstep their jurisdiction.
Insisting that she herself wanted speedy justice for the RG Kar victim, Banerjee pointed out that the case is now with the CBI and not with the state police.
Also read: In young, aggressive avatar, Left Front takes on BJP, TMC in Bengal
Improving vote share
Now that the protest fizzled out, the contest in the bypoll would no longer be triangular.
As a CPI (M) leader from North Bengal, the region from where two constituencies – Sitai and Madarihat – are going for the bypoll said, “We are now concentrating mainly to improve our vote shares in these seats. That itself will be a big achievement.”
The Left and the Congress alliance had secured 4.24 per cent votes in Madarihat and 1.66 per cent votes in Sitai in the 2021 assembly elections.
Their performance was no better in four other seats. In Naihati, the alliance got 10.11 per cent votes. In Medinipur the percentage was 5.43 and in Taldangra 11.41. The TMC had won all the seats except Madarihat that went to the BJP.
Out of the six seats, the only seat where the Left-led alliance hopes to put up some fight, is the minority-dominated Haroa assembly seat in North 24-Parganas.
The Indian Secular Front (ISF), which is contesting the by-elections in alliance with the Left Front, is contesting the seat. The ISF had secured 21.73 per cent vote to finish second after the TMC in 2021.
The Left Front and the Congress have not stitched an alliance for the bypoll.
