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BJP's rising vote share in Bengal throws spanner to TMC, Left
Aftersecuring support of the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha(GJM), the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) is now confident of regaining at least its lone Darjeeling seat in West Bengal.
Whether a so-called Narendra Modiwave will help the saffron party to win a few more seats in the statemay stir up a debate, but a rising BJP in the state seems to begiving sleepless nights to TMC and Left.
Thealarm was raised for prominent political forces in West Bengal duringlast year's by-poll in Jangipur Lok Sabhaconstituency, where BJPsecured an 11% vote sharecompared three - four% inearlier polls in the area. Opinion polls and surveys too indicate BJPmay gain about a 10% vote share this Lok Sabha, which mayupset all political calculations.
TMC leaders admit, BJP could be a deciding factor in many closelycontested seats. "The recent by-poll does indicate that BJP's voteshare in the state is on the rise, perhaps it is not consolidatedenough to translate into seat. We have to see whose votes the BJPsnatches away more," a senior TMC leader said. As the common beliefis that BJP would get more of the anti-Left votes, TMC, which isgoing alone this time, has a cause for concern.
Perhapsthis is why, in a state like WestBengal where Muslims constitute around 25 percent of the population,TMC is working overtime to consolidate its minority voteshare,
Sofar as the minority support is concerned, the balance of politicalcalculations still seems to be favouring Mamata Banerjee's TrniamoolCongress. Sanction of 10,000 madrasas in West Bengal, establishmentof Aligarh Muslim University in WB, three Haj Towers in a row,declaration of second language status to Urdu in areas where the Urdu-speaking population is more than 10%, huge loan andsubsidy to the Muslim youths - there has been a lot in the offeringby the state government for minorities. She, in fact, went overboardas in case of declaring Rs 2,500 per month as Imam honorarium, which,however, was later stayed by a Calcutta High order.
CPI-Mcentral committee member Mohammad Salim acknowledges the reality, butpoints out, "By all these measures, TMC is actually making theBengal polity communal and BJP is taking advantage of this."
But ironically an increase of BJP's vote share is something CPI-M may behpoing for this election. Left believes it would take away more of TMC votes. "Electorally, BJP's increased vote share may benefitLeft only. Also in North Bengal, if TMC fields candidates in theCongress strongholds, we may trump the Congress to bag seats," saida senior CPI-M leader.
BJP's rising vote share in Bengal throws spanner to TMC, Left | Business Standard