A victory marred by unsavoury practices

Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s resounding victory in the by-election to the Bhabanipur seat was no surprise. The record margin of victory, which was twice the majority the winning TMC candidate had secured in the April-May elections, and the fact that Mamata Banerjee dominated every ward in the constituency speak of the decisiveness of the victory. The two rival candidates from the BJP and the CPM were far behind, and the latter polled just over 4,000 votes. The BJP, which was deflated and humbled in the last elections but is the main opposition party in the Assembly, had found it difficult to find a suitable candidate against Mamata and had settled for a greenhorn, Priyanka Tibrewal. It was a sign that the party had conceded defeat even before the campaign started. It did not even mount a proper campaign. The TMC won two other seats also where by-elections were held, with impressive margins, again asserting the party’s dominance in the state. The victories should also be seen in light of the fact that Bhabanipur has a high proportion of the non-Bengali population, which the BJP thinks supports it, and the other two seats are in Murshidabad district, where also the party is thought to have influence.

Considering that Mamata’s victory was never in doubt, some of the untoward incidents during the campaign and on polling day were unfortunate and avoidable. These incidents did not show the TMC cadres and their leader in a good light. There were complaints of clashes and attacks on BJP workers and threats and intimidations to keep voters away from polling stations. It has also been alleged that the names of many BJP supporters and sympathisers were missing from the records. Electoral misconduct and violence are not new to West Bengal or Bhabanipur, but at a time when Mamata claims to be fighting to preserve democracy against the BJP’s depredations, her party’s conduct does not inspire confidence. Political parties should ensure peaceful campaigns and polling, and ruling parties have a special responsibility for that. The TMC should not have given any cause for complaints against it in this respect.

Even when such charges are there, the results reinforce the TMC’s, especially Mamata Banerjee’s, pre-eminent position in Bengal politics and exposes the BJP’s claims and ambitions as exaggerated. It has also raised her political profile among the leaders of the parties that are opposed to the BJP at the national level. It is certain that she will have a major role in any opposition platform that may be formed against the BJP in the coming months.