Rising tensions in West Bengal

The attack on the motorcade of BJP president JP Nadda near Kolkata last week is the cause of the latest flare-up in the tense relations between the BJP and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress. The BJP has alleged that the attack was carried out by TMC workers but Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the incident was staged by the BJP. There have also been charges from the TMC side that the provocation came from the BJP convoy. Cases have been registered by the police against some TMC workers for the attack and against a BJP leader for provoking the attack. But investigations are immaterial because the incident and the attendant controversies have to be seen in the context of the politics that has been unfolding in West Bengal in the past few weeks and is set to continue in the coming months.

The fact that Bengal is heading for state assembly elections early next year is at the root of the increasing confrontation between the two sides. The BJP is aiming to replace the TMC in government after the assembly elections as the state is the most important trophy it is coveting in the eastern part of the country. It did well in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, winning 18 of the 42 seats, and has replaced the CPM and the Congress as the real opposition in the state. The party has been working to a plan, co-opting leaders from the TMC and other parties, raising issues like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state which has a large Muslim population and unleashing a high-pitched campaign across the state. The TMC has also activated itself, and the state may have already moved into the election campaign mode. Mamata Banerjee is not known to be one who gives up without a fight, and the result is the rising tensions and confrontation in the state.

The political confrontation has turned into a standoff between the Central and state governments. Governor Jagdeep Dhankar has taken a tough stance against the state government claiming that he had warned state officials about the possibility of the attack and reporting to the Ministry of Home Affairs that the security arrangements were inadequate. He has also issued public statements against the government. The MHA has, in an unprecedented action, summoned the chief secretary and the DG of Police and called three other IPS officers for Central deputation. The state government has said that it would reject the summons. The confrontation at the government and political levels may escalate in the coming days and it does not bode well or the state which has a history of political violence.