Saffron surge makes a dent in Basu’s own red turf

The popular response the rath yatra evoked in rural Bengal overawed the Left cadres, more particularly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist). It has sent clear message to the Left. To put it in Bhattacharya’s words: It would be dangerous to write off the BJP in the State.

Taking into consideration the fact the BJP doesn’t have any elected representative either in the Assembly or the Parliament from the State, the huge turnouts the rath inspired even in remote villages overwhelmed not only the “gratified local BJP leaders but also hard-boiled party president LK Advani”, it is said.

The response, though pooh-poohed later by CPM mouth piece Ganashakti in its self-assured style as a political non-event and “onlookers craze”, does not necessarily represent the unanimous view of the party cadres who began to see the BJP as an emerging force “at least for the time being”.

Incidentally, the BJP without an elected member, “still happens to be the third largest political party in the State with a very strong central organisation, and any political campaign to counter the BJP “should be worked out very seriously even in a State like West Bengal,” disclosed a leader from a Left Front (LF) constituent.

“And we are gathering information from our district-level sources,” he disclosed on condition of anonymity.

However, a top State leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI) spoke in more specific terms. “Considering the fact that Advani’s rath was a well-planned political campaign, we should have launched a more vigorous ideological campaign to counter it,” he told The Indian Express.

The State Congress, locked in a perpetual factional infighting between the groups led by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Soumen Mitra and Mamata Banerjee feels it is difficult to judge the real impact of the rath yatra in terms of creating a specific vote-bank for the BJP.

And quick to put the blame on the LF, PCC members said “if there is some gain for a communal party it was because the CPM wants to let loose the BJP on the Congress so that the only Opposition party in the State melts away”.

However, political observers feel since there is no immediate threat of election, it would be difficult for the BJP to fathom to what extent the party had gained in terms of creating a vote-bank.