The West Bengal Assembly polls, which are set to give the BJP its first government in the state, have some similarities with the 2011 polls, when Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) first came to power dethroning the Buddhadeb Bhattacharya-led Left regime. However, there are some divergences too.
The most obvious similarity is that both elections saw a long stint of a party rule reversed – if the BJP unseated Banerjee after 15 years, the TMC on its part had in 2011 ended 34 years of Left rule in the state. Both verdicts were clear – the BJP crossed 200 seats in Bengal this time, and the TMC and the Congress in alliance had crossed 225 seats in 2011. If the TMC has fallen below 100 this time, the Left Front had fallen below 65 seats in 2011.
Yet another similarity is that governance and law and order were issues at the forefront in both the elections. This time, the R G Kar Hospital rape and murder case was a major issue, and the BJP also fielded the victim’s mother Ratna Debnath from Panihati. Debnath was well-placed to win her election by late evening. Allegations of violence by TMC workers in the Bengal hinterland and corruption charges against TMC ministers were also flying thick and fast before the elections.
Vikas Pathak
