Mamta Banerjee did not get even a minute to rejoice her party바카라s thumping victory by destroying the myth of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah바카라s invincibility. It was a high-voltage battle of nerves, fought over two months바카라one woman alone, with more than a little help from Prashant Kishor바카라s organisation바카라against the might of the party ruling at the Centre, which had so far exhibited nearly unchallenged authority across the country.
바카라What did the BJP not do to defeat Mamata in Bengal?.... But Mamata made Modi-Shah bite the dust.바카라 The wounded tigress has given a new direction to politics of the country,바카라 said an editorial in the May 3 edition of Saamana, the mouthpiece of Shiv Sena that is ruling Maharashtra in coalition with the Congress and Sharad Pawar바카라s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
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These eulogising comments do not come as a surprise, not only because Saamana바카라s editor Sanjay Raut바카라a close confidante of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray바카라had already been heaping praises on Banerjee, but also because the majority of India바카라s opposition parties were wishing for Banerjee바카라s victory and willing to play their part, as desired by the TMC.
Shiv Sena, NCP, Bihar바카라s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Jharkhand바카라s ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) usually put up candidates in some seats in the state, though with little effect. They chose not to field any this time. The RJD바카라s Tejashwi Yadav campaigned for the TMC in seats with substantial Bihar-origin voters. Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren campaigned in some tribal-dominated seats bordering Jharkhand. Samajwadi Party sent Kiranmay Nanda and Jaya Bachchan, two of the party바카라s leaders with a background in Bengal, to campaign for the TMC in some seats.
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Even though the Congress was challenging the TMC in alliance with the Left, Rahul Gandhi came to campaign only once and addressed two rallies in north Bengal바카라none of them in Bengal바카라s Muslim heartland-cum-Congress바카라s final bastions바카라Malda and Murshidabad, both of which the TMC eventually swept.
Though she prevailed, she got hardly a night바카라s peaceful sleep, as the situation unfolded rapidly in the state since she took oath as chief minister for the third time on May 5.
The very next day, a four-member team from the home ministry, which is headed by Amit Shah, landed in Bengal to inquire into incidents of political violence allegedly perpetrated by the TMC on supporters of opposition parties. A day later, governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, known as one of the TMC government바카라s harshest critics, sanctioned the CBI바카라s plea to file chargesheets against two newly sworn-in ministers, who were accused in the Narada sting operation case, which took place before the 2016 assembly elections.
There is, however, no news of the CBI getting such approval for Suvendu Adhikary and Mukul Roy, who too were accused in the Narada cash-for-favour case, but are now with the BJP. Adhikary is the newly elected leader of the Opposition in the assembly, and Roy is a BJP national vice president.
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A lawyer who worked for the CBI said, requesting anonymity, that since both were MPs when the alleged scam happened, sanction will have to come from the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, for Adhikary and Roy, respectively. Whether the CBI will seek or get approval to file chargesheets against two of the BJP바카라s top leaders in Bengal is something the state waits to see with curiosity.
Political observers point out an interesting feature in the CBI바카라s move바카라while assembly speaker Biman Banerjee said he never received a similar request from the CBI in the past five years, the request was placed before the governor when the new government was yet to be sworn in, giving him the right to sanction the plea.
바카라The BJP has started a dirty war, shamelessly using all central agencies to destabilise the Mamata Banerjee government that has just received a massive mandate from the people of the state,바카라 says TMC Lok Sabha MP Kalyan Banerjee.
It has also been decided by the BJP leadership that 75 MLAs of the party바카라s alliance, including one from All Jharkhand Students바카라 Union and one Gorkha National Liberation Front candidate who won on a BJP ticket, will get security from central forces바카라a decision to which no parallel can be found in any other state, according to senior political observers. Regarding the home ministry team바카라s visit, the TMC바카라s national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha leader Derek O바카라Brien refused to comment. 바카라Not commenting on the BJP바카라s attempts to divert narratives,바카라 he said. By narratives, O바카라Brien most likely means the COVID-19 situation in the country, as his Twitter handle reflects. The party has been saying that handling Covid was the priority of the state government.
Their focus is understandable, as the Centre is facing flak from different corners, including international media, for mismanagement and lack of preparedness to tackle the second wave of the pandemic. The TMC does not want to give the BJP any breather on this issue. The battle for 2024 has started and no one wants to lag behind. For both camps, Lok Sabha elections in the state has special significance. For the BJP, retaining its 2014 tally in Bengal is important for returning to power at the Centre. For the TMC, toppling the government at the Centre in 2024 is the best way to secure a fourth term in the state in 2026.
Unsurprisingly, the TMC, too, has taken some quick steps. Two days after Banerjee was sworn in, the TMC바카라s Cooch Behar district president Partha Pratim Roy convinced the family of Ananda Barman, who died in firing by alleged TMC supporters at Sitalkuchui area during polling on April 10, to accept a job offered by the state government. Apart from Barman, four others were killed that day바카라all of them TMC supporters바카라in firing by central forces. Banerjee had promised jobs to all five, but Barman바카라s family had initially rejected the offer.
A day after Roy바카라s success, Banerjee announced compensation for families of 16 persons, supporters of both the TMC and the BJP, who died in political clashes between May 2 and May 6.
BJP leaders during a demonstration against post-poll violence in Bengal..
바카라This was done with two objectives 바카라 to take the wind out of the BJP바카라s campaign on post-poll violence, and to portray Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister of all, including supporters of the Opposition,바카라 says a minister who got a third term in her ministry.
Mamata promptly wrote to the prime minister, urging him to fulfill his poll promise of paying Rs 18,000 to farmers in the state who are eligible for the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi바카라something Modi had said farmers will get as soon as the obstacle called Didi was removed. She wrote a second letter to Modi, repeating her demand for universal free vaccination. Her party even moved a petition in the Supreme Court demanding free nationwide vaccination for all. If things go according to the TMC바카라s plan, Mamata will keep her focus on the state, while the likes of O바카라Brien, TMC바카라s Lok Sabha leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra would coordinate with Opposition parties for national-scale programmes, under guidance from Abhishek Banerjee, Mamata바카라s nephew and heir-apparent.
Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, a professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati University in Calcutta, says the battle for 2024 has already started because the BJP was sensing a threat from Mamata, not only with her prospective role in a prospective Opposition alliance, but also for getting enough seats from West Bengal in the next Lok Sabha elections.
바카라The BJP played a very high-stakes game in Bengal, where the PM, home minister, several Cabinet ministers and CMs of other BJP-ruled states literally became daily passengers. Having defeated the BJP resoundingly despite all these, Mamata has increased her stature among leaders of national opposition parties. So, the BJP is trying to keep her under pressure and busy with Bengal, to draw her focus away from national politics,바카라 says Basu Ray Chaudhury.
A senior BJP leader of the state, who did not want to be identified, cites the assembly election analysis behind the Centre바카라s proactive role in Bengal soon after the elections. Going by poll data, the TMC was leading in 33 of the state바카라s 42 Lok Sabha seats, while the BJP was leading in only nine바카라two of them with thin margins. In 2019, the BJP got 18 seats from the state. Retaining their Lok Sabha tally from Bengal was 바카라absolutely necessary바카라 for it to return to power at the Centre in 2024, he says.
바카라After their massive victory, there is a possibility that the TMC will try to poach our MLAs and other leaders to weaken the state unit ahead of Lok Sabha elections. Hence, the central leadership is very sensitive about the Bengal situation,바카라 he says.
The TMC also has its goal clear. A senior Rajya Sabha leader, unwilling to be identified, says the party knows it will be 바카라game over바카라 for the BJP in the 2026 assembly elections if the government at the Centre falls in 2024.
바카라Defeating Modi바카라s government in 2024 is the best way to keep the BJP out of the race in the 2026 state elections,바카라 the MP says.
