Sutapa Mukerjee | Kolkata, The Pioneer, 30th April 2011
The Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a ‘blitzkrieg’ campaign in the State before the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha elections 2011. Even the All-India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has noticed this; it became visible with its appeal to “refrain from voting for the BJP. The CPI(M) is encouraging them here, just to cut our votes.”
Reacting to this statement, a senior BJP leader simply smiles and says, “What the TMC leader does not realise is that this way she is creating an awareness of our presence here. It is indirect propaganda.”
West Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha has been long organising these meetings. Speaking to The Pioneer, he said, “I am extremely happy about the large gatherings in all the meetings and the fact that a lot of youngsters are present in meetings here. I am confident that we will get a good result to all the efforts that we have put in.”
Senior leaders of the BJP have been making rounds campaigning here since mid-April. Each day a leader is trying to cover at least three constituencies reaching the remotest areas. “The plan is to cover at least 294 constituencies,” says Rahul.
In the last few weeks there has not been a single party leader who has not shown up here including Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh and the party’s central observer and Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra.
It has been rather obvious that despite Mamata attacking the BJP, not a single leader retorted to any of her remarks. They instead elaborated on the “sorry state of affairs in the 35 years of Left rule in Bengal” besides severely criticising the Congress, TC’s ally in these Vidhan Sabha elections. Most of the senior leaders like LK Advani are appealing to the people here to elect an “honest and principled party” in these elections.
Chandan Mitra so far has covered around more than 30 meetings, including padyatras. He has been covering at least three to five meetings daily, either independently or jointly with a senior BJP leader. Hailing from Bengal, he has been at an advantage as compared to the other BJP leaders in relating with the crowd in their lingua franca. Using metaphors and witty remarks, he has been applauded and cheered by the many who gathered in the meetings. To correct the common misperception that the BJP is not for the Muslims, he said in a few of his meetings, “Our party encourages good natured Muslims and Hindus. Above all, we encourage any good and true Indian.”
Most of the BJP leaders have been exhibiting a certain amount of pragmatism while campaigning in West Bengal. For example, addressing a meeting, Rajnath Singh clearly stated, “We are not aspiring to rule Bengal, but we want to have at least a few representations in Assembly so that as opposition we can help the junta by checking the Government each time they fall short of their responsibilities.” Sushma too spoke on the same lines and added that it is equally important to have a dependable opposition who can work for the good of the masses.
At the same time, the leaders did not miss any chance to expound to the people how ‘hopeless’ the ruling party has been. Taking advantage of the fact that there are several people working in Gujarat in different industries, Narendra Modi pointed out while addressing a meeting in Madarihat Assembly constituency in Jalpaiguri district, “These people have come to Gujarat as they have no jobs here. It is not possible to find jobs when there are no industries.”
While refraining from criticising the TC leader in any way, senior party leaders did put forward a few questions. While Rajnath Singh appreciated the TC chief for being honest he also warned her, “Remember if you remain associated with a corrupt party, no matter what, soon you will also have a blemish.”
The fact remains that the BJP has all of a sudden come to Bengal to carpet bomb before an election perhaps for the first time. “This is not far from the truth,” admits a senior party leader. He reasons, “The BJP president has set a target of increasing the BJP vote share by 10 per cent. The party is therefore going to raise special emphasis on the States where it is still weak - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal and also Assam where the BJP is in a relatively better position.”
The leaders also mentioned that they have been focussing on West Bengal since the beginning of this year. The BJP youth wing had flagged off the Ekta Yatra in Kolkata on January 12th. Post which the BJP had the ‘Naba Jagaran Yatra’ (March of New Awakening), which started from Cooch Behar in North Bengal, moved through 17 districts of the State, and culminated in a rally in Kolkata on February 15. Several senior party leaders participated in this Yatra. At the meeting in Kolkata, the stalwarts were all there including Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley. They used the occasion to kick off the party’s campaign in the State Assembly elections.
Reacting to Mamata Banerjee’s remark that the BJP have suddenly come to Bengal from nowhere Chandan Mitra states, “It is strange if people forget the history of West Bengal. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who actually formed the BJP (erstwhile Jan Sangh), hails from West Bengal and has been an extremely popular freedom fighter admired by everyone across the country.” He also added that though the BJP had 12 per cent votes in 1991 the numbers slipped to half in 2009, “mainly due to its long alliance with the TC which, perhaps, weakened the party.”
During their campaigns, several senior party leaders have been rather irked with the State administration. Rajnath Singh pointed this out in his meetings and Sushma Swaraj also minced no words in criticising the police et al in the state. The day she was addressing a meeting in Burrabazaar locality in Kolkata when another meeting started off around the same time in the vicinity: “This overlapping of meetings here only speaks of the deteriorating state of law and order in Bengal. I have had similar experiences in Kerala, it is too obvious that the administration is not cooperating with us. Rahul Sinha had even gone on an indefinite fast last week alleging non-cooperation from the administration regarding the BJP election meetings. However, he ended his fast a day later after the Chief Election Officer assured the BJP that he would look into the matter and take proper action.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a ‘blitzkrieg’ campaign in the State before the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha elections 2011. Even the All-India Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has noticed this; it became visible with its appeal to “refrain from voting for the BJP. The CPI(M) is encouraging them here, just to cut our votes.”
Reacting to this statement, a senior BJP leader simply smiles and says, “What the TMC leader does not realise is that this way she is creating an awareness of our presence here. It is indirect propaganda.”
West Bengal BJP chief Rahul Sinha has been long organising these meetings. Speaking to The Pioneer, he said, “I am extremely happy about the large gatherings in all the meetings and the fact that a lot of youngsters are present in meetings here. I am confident that we will get a good result to all the efforts that we have put in.”
Senior leaders of the BJP have been making rounds campaigning here since mid-April. Each day a leader is trying to cover at least three constituencies reaching the remotest areas. “The plan is to cover at least 294 constituencies,” says Rahul.
In the last few weeks there has not been a single party leader who has not shown up here including Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh and the party’s central observer and Rajya Sabha member Chandan Mitra.
It has been rather obvious that despite Mamata attacking the BJP, not a single leader retorted to any of her remarks. They instead elaborated on the “sorry state of affairs in the 35 years of Left rule in Bengal” besides severely criticising the Congress, TC’s ally in these Vidhan Sabha elections. Most of the senior leaders like LK Advani are appealing to the people here to elect an “honest and principled party” in these elections.
Chandan Mitra so far has covered around more than 30 meetings, including padyatras. He has been covering at least three to five meetings daily, either independently or jointly with a senior BJP leader. Hailing from Bengal, he has been at an advantage as compared to the other BJP leaders in relating with the crowd in their lingua franca. Using metaphors and witty remarks, he has been applauded and cheered by the many who gathered in the meetings. To correct the common misperception that the BJP is not for the Muslims, he said in a few of his meetings, “Our party encourages good natured Muslims and Hindus. Above all, we encourage any good and true Indian.”
Most of the BJP leaders have been exhibiting a certain amount of pragmatism while campaigning in West Bengal. For example, addressing a meeting, Rajnath Singh clearly stated, “We are not aspiring to rule Bengal, but we want to have at least a few representations in Assembly so that as opposition we can help the junta by checking the Government each time they fall short of their responsibilities.” Sushma too spoke on the same lines and added that it is equally important to have a dependable opposition who can work for the good of the masses.
At the same time, the leaders did not miss any chance to expound to the people how ‘hopeless’ the ruling party has been. Taking advantage of the fact that there are several people working in Gujarat in different industries, Narendra Modi pointed out while addressing a meeting in Madarihat Assembly constituency in Jalpaiguri district, “These people have come to Gujarat as they have no jobs here. It is not possible to find jobs when there are no industries.”
While refraining from criticising the TC leader in any way, senior party leaders did put forward a few questions. While Rajnath Singh appreciated the TC chief for being honest he also warned her, “Remember if you remain associated with a corrupt party, no matter what, soon you will also have a blemish.”
The fact remains that the BJP has all of a sudden come to Bengal to carpet bomb before an election perhaps for the first time. “This is not far from the truth,” admits a senior party leader. He reasons, “The BJP president has set a target of increasing the BJP vote share by 10 per cent. The party is therefore going to raise special emphasis on the States where it is still weak - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal and also Assam where the BJP is in a relatively better position.”
The leaders also mentioned that they have been focussing on West Bengal since the beginning of this year. The BJP youth wing had flagged off the Ekta Yatra in Kolkata on January 12th. Post which the BJP had the ‘Naba Jagaran Yatra’ (March of New Awakening), which started from Cooch Behar in North Bengal, moved through 17 districts of the State, and culminated in a rally in Kolkata on February 15. Several senior party leaders participated in this Yatra. At the meeting in Kolkata, the stalwarts were all there including Rajnath Singh, LK Advani, Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley. They used the occasion to kick off the party’s campaign in the State Assembly elections.
Reacting to Mamata Banerjee’s remark that the BJP have suddenly come to Bengal from nowhere Chandan Mitra states, “It is strange if people forget the history of West Bengal. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, who actually formed the BJP (erstwhile Jan Sangh), hails from West Bengal and has been an extremely popular freedom fighter admired by everyone across the country.” He also added that though the BJP had 12 per cent votes in 1991 the numbers slipped to half in 2009, “mainly due to its long alliance with the TC which, perhaps, weakened the party.”
During their campaigns, several senior party leaders have been rather irked with the State administration. Rajnath Singh pointed this out in his meetings and Sushma Swaraj also minced no words in criticising the police et al in the state. The day she was addressing a meeting in Burrabazaar locality in Kolkata when another meeting started off around the same time in the vicinity: “This overlapping of meetings here only speaks of the deteriorating state of law and order in Bengal. I have had similar experiences in Kerala, it is too obvious that the administration is not cooperating with us. Rahul Sinha had even gone on an indefinite fast last week alleging non-cooperation from the administration regarding the BJP election meetings. However, he ended his fast a day later after the Chief Election Officer assured the BJP that he would look into the matter and take proper action.
No comments:
Post a Comment