BJP’s Vidyasagar debacle

The main hindrance which could have prevented BJP’s startling rise in West Bengal in Lok Sabha polls was undoubtedly the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Although BJP managed to counter it with considerable success in the first six phases of the Lok Sabha elections, it hit a rather unexpected roadblock in the last phase when nine Lok Sabha seats including three in Kolkata and adjoining areas went to polls. TMC won all the nine seats in the last phase.

The reason behind BJP’s failure to win even a single seat in the last phase in Bengal is very likely the vandalisation of the statue of Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, the iconic social reformer and a towering figure of the Bengal Renaissance. The incident which took place on May 14 during BJP president Amit Shah’s roadshow in Kolkata, four days ahead of the final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, generated massive outrage mainly among the urban Bengali voters.

Although BJP and TMC kept blaming each other for the incident the educated Bengali voters perhaps decided to vote against the saffron party. It seems plausible if one looks at the results of the three urban constituencies which went to polls in the last phase such as Kolkata Uttar (North), Kolkata Dakshin (South) and Jadavpur.

The most significant among these is the Kolkata Uttar constituency where Vidyasagar’s statue was vandalised. Here TMC candidate Sudip Bandyopadhyay who has been winning the seat since 2009 not only retained it but also increased his vote share. From 36.30 % in 2014 Lok Sabha elections his vote share jumped up to 49.96 %. The Bengali sentiment over Vidyasagar turned out to be so strong that even BJP’s intense campaigning over Bandyopadhyay’s alleged involvement and subsequent arrest in relation to the chit fund scam proved futile.

BJP was also trounced in the Kolkata Dakshin (South) constituency where TMC candidate Mala Roy got 47.5 % votes compared to BJP’s Chandra Kumar Bose who got 34.64% votes.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wasted no time in attacking BJP over the incident and accused them of insulting the Bengali culture. Even as she got barely two days to drive through her point into voter’s minds before the Election Commission cut short the campaigning in Bengal Banerjee’s strategy paid a dividend for her party.

BJP met similar disappointment in Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency, where TMC’s celebrity candidate Mimi Chakraborty (47.91%) defeated the saffron party’s Anupam Hazra (27.37%) with a margin of 295239 votes. Although the constituency is a mixture of urban and rural Assembly segments those belonging to the former category such as Jadavpur and Tollygunge are known for educated Bengali voters.

TMC candidate Sougata Ray also emerged victorious from the Dum Dum constituency albeit with a smaller margin.

The saffron party also failed to win in semi-urban seats in the last phase such as Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jaynagar, Mathurapur, and Diamond Harbour.