Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: ‘Modi ji rattled… No Pulwama or Balakot, Ram Mandir having no effect… it is not a cakewalk this time’

In an interview, Chowdhury, whose seat votes in the fourth phase on May 13, talks to The Indian Express about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Left-Congress alliance in Bengal, the TMC, and his party’s strategy. Excerpts:

After three phases of polling, what is your assessment of the national political scene?

The national political scene is changing fast. Rest assured that the diminishing returns of the Modi effect have already set in across the country. Day after day, phase after phase, Modi’s fate is being challenged. He cannot say it is a cakewalk this time.

Already, Modi ji is rattled by the challenge the Opposition has put forth. So, nobody can say what is going to happen. There is no Pulwama, no ultra-nationalism, and people’s mood is not like it was after Balakot. Ram Mandir, which Modi expected would be a big issue, is having no effect on the ground, even in the Hindi belt.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury campaigning in Baharampur. (Express Photo: Chayan Majumdar)

Across India, Modi’s aura, the euphoria, and jingoism are withering away. I am no psephologist but I can see that Modiji is not as comfortable as he was earlier.

How are your campaign and your alliance with the Left in West Bengal going?

Neither the Congress nor the Left ever indulged in communal or sectarian politics. On this, there was never a fundamental ideological difference between us. Leftist thought exists within Congress’s ideology, and history suggests the two can hold hands.

In Bengal, the situation warranted that we have a pragmatic alliance. Not a political alliance per se, but seat adjustment, to keep ourselves politically relevant and to emerge afresh. So far, we are progressing well. There will be surprises waiting for you.

Both Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee have blamed you for the failure of the INDIA bloc to take off in West Bengal…

I have been fighting Mamata Banerjee’s politics of violence which is intended to decimate the Congress in Bengal. For the last couple of years, we have been fighting for our existence. For my party to survive in Bengal, I had to take up cudgels against her. My stand has not changed.

I have just one question for her: what triggered her exit from the INDIA bloc? She had even claimed that she conceived the name INDIA. If Adhir was the trigger, why then did she agree to join the alliance in the first place? My stand is clear. I am waging a war against Mamata Banerjee, in fair weather and foul. But now, to save face, she is blaming me. You be the judge.

What is the Congress’s strategy in West Bengal?

We are highlighting the miserable failure of the Modi government that is running the country. And people are acknowledging and accepting our argument. Secondly, we are exploiting the anti-incumbency of the TMC state government, which is a popular sentiment. TMC has become synonymous with corruption.

Adhir has been winning from Baharampur since 1999. (Express Photo: Chayan Majumdar)

But the Congress joined hands with TMC in 2011 to oust the Left in West Bengal?

That was the need of the hour. The CPI(M) of 2011 is the polar opposite of the CPI(M) now. Those so-called harmads (miscreants) who were nurtured by the CPI(M), as was alleged by Mamata Banerjee at that time, have now become the damaad (son-in-law) of the TMC.

You first contested and won Baharampur in 1999. How are things different in 2024?

The Left parties are highly regimented. So, given the Congress’s poor political and organisational infrastructure, it was a stupendous task for me to contest the elections and win as a novice (in 1999), defeating the Left.

But now, the situation is diametrically opposite. The entire political scene has been lumpenised. This is a new phenomenon in West Bengal, along with atrocities, violence, etc. We dealt with atrocities and violence during the Left regime too but now the mode has changed. In those days, some political space existed for us to manoeuvre, but that’s all gone.

What do you have to say about your opponent Yusuf Pathan?

Anybody who is entitled to vote and above 24 years of age can fight anywhere in the country. He isn’t the issue. My fight is against Mamata Banerjee and the BJP juggernaut.

Are you confident about getting minority votes?

Minority votes have started to switch over to the Congress and the Left. But, minorities still cast votes strategically. If they think the TMC can win a seat by defeating the BJP, they will give their votes to them. But my gut feeling is that wherever the Congress and Left have any prospect of winning, the entire minority vote could switch over.