BJP’s Bengal roadmap: UCC to welfare pitch aimed at women — 5 major takeaways

These are the major takeaways:

* Infiltration, UCC, and ‘love jihad’

This has been one of the BJP’s key poll planks in the state. Amid continued polarisation over voter roll deletions, especially in border districts, the BJP has intensified its infiltration narrative. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC, the party alleges, facilitates the entry of undocumented immigrants from across the border.

In line with this, the BJP has promised to adopt a zero-tolerance policy on infiltration, saying it will implement the “Detect, Delete and Deport” model and take strict measures to prevent illegal infiltration and address “silent demographic invasion”. The BJP has said it will ensure land allocation for fencing along the India-Bangladesh border within 45 days of forming the government.

The BJP promised to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in Assam and has repeated that in Bengal too, promising to bring in a piece of legislation on it. The party has also promised strict laws against “love jihad” and “land jihad”, stating that its objective is to protect the state’s “social and territorial integrity”, and vowed to end “mafia rule”.

The BJP has already implemented UCC in Uttarakhand and passed the law in Gujarat, and this is a continuation of its strategy to bring it about across the country by implementing it state by state. With UCC and land and love “jihad” finding prominent space in its manifesto, the party has signalled to its core base its intention to tackle what it sees as TMC’s patronage of the minority community that, according to it, has led to demographic changes across the state, especially in the border areas.

* Welfare politics and focus on women 

With women backing the TMC to the hilt for well over a decade, the BJP has attempted to tackle this in the manifesto by promising to provide a monthly financial assistance of Rs 3,000 to women to ensure their financial independence. This is almost double the Rs 1,500 that women receive under the TMC government’s Lakshmir Bhandar scheme (it is Rs 1,700 for women from SC and ST communities).

The BJP has also promised to empower 75 lakh women as Lakhpati Didis, establish at least one women’s police station in every sub-division and a women’s helpdesk at every station, a monetary assistance of Rs 2,1000  and six nutritional kits to pregnant women from financially marginalised families and women-only “Durga Surokha” squads consisting of patrol teams of women officers to patrol busy city areas and public places. The BJP has said it will also establish two all-women battalions named after Matangini Hazra and Rani Rashmoni in the state reserve police force and provide 33% reservation for women in all state government jobs, including the police.

While the party has successfully received women’s backing in states such as Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra because of similar DBT schemes, in Bengal, women are one of the main engines of the TMC’s electoral dominance.

* Youth and jobs

The BJP has consistently targeted the Mamata Banerjee government over the lack of jobs for the youth. To address that, the party has promised a monthly assistance of  Rs 3,000 for unemployed youth (twice the amount the TMC has promised to pay) and speaks of providing 1 crore new jobs and self-employment opportunities in the next five years to prevent migration and brain drain.

To help candidates who have suffered because of paper leaks and exam cancellations, the party has promised to provide age relaxation of up to 5 years for them.

The party has said it will launch a credit card scheme to encourage start-ups. Under this initiative, 5 lakh youth will receive financial support of Rs 10 lakh each, comprising Rs 5 lakh as a grant and Rs 5 lakh as an interest-free loan to encourage entrepreneurship.

* Cultural politics

In the past, the BJP has stumbled while trying to tackle the TMC’s narrative that has painted it as a party of outsiders (bohiragatos)”. The party has assiduously combatted it this time, and this is reflected in its manifesto, too.

The party has said it will protect “Bengali ashmita (pride)” and, in that process, has reiterated that every individual has the right to freely practice their religion without any restriction, build a dedicated Vande Mataram museum highlighting its historical significance, and promote the legacy of Rabindranath Tagore by establishing Tagore-inspired cultural centres.

In a move that burnishes both its Bengali cultural credentials and ties in with its religious politics, the BJP has promised to build a Shaktipeeth circuit to connect all the Shaktipeeths, a Chaitanya Mahaprabhu spiritual circuit to honour the Bhakti Movement, and pursue the inclusion of festivals such as the Gangasagar Mela, the Mahesher Rath, Baruni Mela, and Bandna Parab in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

* Infrastructure 

As part of its vision to develop Bengal’s infrastructure, the party envisages its government building modern deep-sea ports in Tajpur and Kulpi to revitalise the state’s maritime trade and promote exports, and construct bridges over major rivers.

The BJP has also promised to build a National Highway connecting the Sundarbans directly to Darjeeling and to operationalise the Purulia, Malda, and Balurghat airports for better regional air connectivity. The BJP has also promised to develop four new cities in North Bengal to address “years of neglect”.