Bengal BJP’s failure to match Mamata’s stature led to defeat: RSS mouthpiece

The RSS mouthpiece said the popularity of Mamata was such that even grassroots level BJP cadres held her in high regard

The RSS has attributed BJP’s defeat in the West Bengal Assembly elections to the saffron party's inability to match the popularity of Trinamool Congress' (TMC) Mamata Banerjee and to the induction of a large number of leaders from the TMC without proper evaluation.

In the latest edition of its mouthpiece Organiser, the RSS stated that Mamata was “far superior in stature” to any state BJP leader. It also argued that the BJP’s inability to announce a Chief Ministerial candidate played a key role in the party’s failure to secure power in Bengal.

The article titled ‘Bengal Election Saga: A lot to Learn and Unlearn” stated that the popularity of Mamata in Bengal was such that even grassroots level BJP cadres had “high regards” for her as a politician.

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The article cited BJP’s inability to resonate with the “Bengali identity” as one of the key reasons behind its disappointing performance. It stated that the saffron party’s “poll pitch and strategy” failed to resonate with the Bengali masses.

It stated that the local BJP leadership did not have any “mass following” and despite his popularity among the “Hindu rural segment”, state BJP president Dilip Ghosh had “minimal impact” on the urban population in Bengal.

“Also, the two tall leaders Narendra Modi and Amit Shah could not convert their popularity into votes being of non-Bengali origin,” stated the article.

The RSS mouthpiece came down heavily on the BJP’s strategy of inducting a number of leaders from the TMC, its main adversary in Bengal. An article titled ‘Bad Experiments in Bengal” stated that “welcoming members of the adversary party, Trinamool” cost the BJP dearly.