Past a drawback, Babul Supriyo tries to recast himself in new light

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This is a potential pitfall for the TMC candidate in Ballygunge where more than 30 per cent of the electorate is Muslim. Among the neighbourhoods in this south Kolkata constituency is Park Circus where protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) took place in late 2019 and early 2020 on the lines of the Shaheen Bagh protest in New Delhi. At the time, Supriyo had said, “NRC and CAA both should be implemented in West Bengal because Bangladeshis should not be allowed to enter the state.”

With the Opposition, among others, reminding Supriyo of such comments, the TMC leader is on a drive to reach out to Muslims and dissociate himself from his time in the BJP. He is attending iftar parties along with Kolkata Mayor and state minister Firhad Hakim.

“A fake communal stamp was imposed over my image,” Supriyo told reporters on Thursday at an iftar party. “But it is not true. Earlier, I could only meet 70 per cent of the population, now I am free to meet the 100 per cent. I am among the few singers who performed shows in Pakistan.”

The former Union minister’s candidature, however, has not gone down well with several people, including a section of his party. A TMC leader expressed doubts about Supriyo’s ability to get the minority community’s votes. The former Ballygunge MLA was senior minister Subrata Mukherjee, who died last November, the party functionary pointed out.

“Subrata Mukherjee was a popular face in Bengal politics who was an old-school Congress leader with a secular image. But, Babul Supriyo has a BJP and communal background which is damaging his and TMC’s image in this by-poll,” said the TMC leader.

But Kolkata Mayor and senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim dismissed such concerns. “West Bengal has a secular tradition maintained by both Hindus and Muslims. That will be maintained in this by-poll too. Here, people will not vote for Babul Supriyo. They will vote for Mamata Banerjee to make her more powerful in national politics.”

At a party event on Thursday, party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee also backed Supriyo, saying he had joined “Jai Bangla” politics after quitting “Jai Sri Ram”.

Earlier this week, Supriyo defended himself against the accusations of communalism saying he had to toe the BJP’s “communal line” when he was in the party and was forced to support BJP leaders’ “hate speeches”.

With the lingering focus on his time as the BJP MP, the TMC candidate was set to campaign in Park Circus and its neighbouring areas on Wednesday. But Supriyo gave it a miss and instead some of the party’s star MLAs such as director Raj Chakraborty and actor June Maliah campaigned for him.

This did not go down well with locals. “Why is the candidate not campaigning here? What is stopping him from coming here? It is because he has a past that the people have not forgotten,” said Atif Mohammad who owns a shop on Beniapukur Road.

A local resident, who did not wish to be named, said, “We have nothing against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. But Babul Supriyo played communal politics when he was with the BJP. Now he has joined the TMC. Therefore, the people are in two minds about him.”

The TMC, however, thinks its organisational superiority over the Opposition parties will see it sail through the election. “The actual game starts two days before the polls and during that time one needs huge organisational strength. We are way ahead on that point,” said a senior leader.

Senior ruling party leader Baiswanar Chattopadhyay, who is Supriyo’s election agent, said, “Mamata Banerjee made Babul the candidate and the minorities know that. Mamata Banerjee is the only leader fighting against the BJP. So, there is no question of a split in the TMC’s minority vote bank. Some parties are trying to propagate that the minorities are angry with the TMC but they will not be successful.”

In the election, Supriyo is up against the BJP’s Keya Ghosh and the CPI(M)’s Saira Shah Halim, who is the niece of actor Naseeruddin Shah and the daughter-in-law of former West Bengal Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim.

The Left is hoping for minority votes to swing its way because of Supriyo’s candidature. “In this constituency, out of the Kolkata municipal corporation’s seven wards, minority voters have a dominant presence in four. And minority voters will not forgive Supriyo for what he did in Asansol,” a senior CPI(M) leader told The Indian Express.

Halim is also banking on Supriyo’s past to help her get votes. At a campaign event on Wednesday, she said, “I visited all the wards of the constituency. People are not ready to accept Babul. Not only because he was in the BJP and is anti-minority, but also because he is not accepted by the bhadralok Bengalis.”

The same day, Ghosh, the BJP candidate, said on the campaign trail, “I do not want to categorise the voters into minority or majority. I am reaching out to all of them. We believe in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mantra of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Biswas’. I don’t know whether Babul Supriyo is a heavyweight candidate but he surely is not a challenge before our party.”