Journalism of Courage
Days after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) suffered its first major electoral defeat in West Bengal since the Assembly elections in 2021, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday set up a committee to look into the reasons for the party’s loss in the Sagardighi bypoll that has given the Congress and Left Front a boost ahead of the coming panchayat elections in which parties often form unofficial alliances against the ruling dispensation.
For the ruling party, the most concerning takeaway from the bye-election is the fall in vote share from 50.95 per cent in the 2021 Assembly polls to 34.94 per cent. That the vote share plummeted in an Assembly seat with almost 63 per cent of Muslims indicates that a major chunk of the minority community’s votes went against it.
A senior TMC leader said on the condition of anonymity, “A five-member committee has been formed to find out why the minority population is losing faith in us. We will try to find out if they have any grievances against us. The outcome will lead to introspection that will help us prepare the strategy for the panchayat polls.”
At the meeting on Monday, Banerjee directed five leaders, including ministers Siddiqullah Chowdhury and Sabina Yeasmin, and MLA Jakir Hossain, to submit a detailed report on the loss in Sagardighi. Sources said Banerjee expressed concern about losing minority votes to the Opposition.
The TMC had been winning Sagardighi in Murshidabad district since 2011 and in the last Assembly elections, it swept the district that the Congress once considered its stronghold. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the TMC’s vote share in the Sagardighi Assembly segment was 26.23 per cent and it jumped to 50.95 per cent in 2021.
But, following the death of Subrata Saha, which necessitated the bypoll, the Opposition sensed the TMC was vulnerable. In the bypoll, Left Front-supported Congress candidate Byron Biswas defeated TMC’s Debasish Banerjee by 22,986 votes.
Sources said the panchayat polls, likely to be held in April, would prove to be a tough test for the ruling party, which not only has to shake off the corruption charges against its leaders but also face people’s ire over the failure to pay Dearness Allowance to government employees, an issue that is fast gaining momentum.
Though the bypoll result won’t have much impact on the dynamics in the state legislature, where the TMC has an overwhelming majority, it is a confidence booster for Opposition parties ahead of the panchayat elections. The BJP, which failed to leave its mark in Sagardighi after its candidate received only about 13 per cent of votes, has called for an alliance of people at the grassroots irrespective of their political affiliations to defeat the TMC. However, the sentiment has not yet been reciprocated by Congress and the Left.
State BJP president Sukanta Majumdar on Monday said, “The way the state government is functioning, it is important that all must come together and fight against the ruling party. Officially, we cannot ally with either the Congress or the Left due to our different political ideologies. But if people at the grassroots decide to form an alliance against the ruling party then they are free to do it.”
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said, “To fight against this autocratic government, there is a need for people to come together. This was successful in Sagardighi and people also accepted that. The common man will definitely come together.”
Meanwhile, buoyed by the victory, state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said his party’s alliance with the Left would continue. “This will only intensify in the days to come. The result has shown that the TMC is no longer invincible. People have put their faith in us. They have rejected the TMC and the BJP. The Congress and Left will continue to fight for people,” he said.
The CPI(M) too echoed Chowdhury and asserted that in a democracy the people would have the last word. “All forces which are against both the TMC and the BJP will come together to defeat these forces. People in Bengal have awakened. They no longer want to tolerate the mountains of corruption,” said CPM state secretary Mohammad Salim.
Reacting to the statements, TMC state vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar said, “The Congress, the CPM, the BJP, and the ISF (Indian Secular Front) will come together to try and defeat our party. This has been going on for a very long time. We are aware of that. They are calling for people’s alliance. But will they do the same when it comes to national politics? Dilip Ghosh must clarify whether they still want a Congress-mukt Bharat. If that is the case, then why are they changing their stance now?”
— With inputs from Atri Mitra
