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Journalism of Courage
The first phase of the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal is crucial for the BJP as the party looks to exceed its tally of 18 seats out of the state’s 42, which it garnered in the 2019 elections.
The three constituencies in North Bengal going to the polls on April 19 – Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri – were all won by the BJP in 2019.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been ruling the state since 2011, has been going all out to wrest these seats from the BJP to make inroads into its main Opposition’s stronghold in the state.
Among the issues raised by the contenders in their campaigns are the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), whose rules were framed just before the Lok Sabha elections were announced, and concerns over political violence. The Election Commission (EC) has proposed to deploy 272 central armed police force (CAPF) battalions in the first phase to ensure that the central security personnel could man every booth.
With both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mamata campaigning vigorously across North Bengal, the polling in the three seats is expected to set the tone for the other six phases in the state.
For the TMC, both Mamata and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee have addressed multiple rallies in the three constituencies, with the party supremo leading the charge against the BJP while alleging that “it has done nothing for the people of North Bengal”.
Spearheading the BJP’s campaign, PM Modi too visited North Bengal more than once and highlighted corruption allegations and the Sandeshkhali cases to target the TMC.
In the initial phases of the polls, the issues of North Bengal identity politics and of the tea belt are expected to dominate the political discourse.
In the three first-phase seats, both the BJP and the TMC have fielded Rajbongshi or Adivasi candidates to represent significant local caste groups.
The BJP has repeated Union minister Nishith Pramanik in Cooch Behar and Jayanta Roy in Jalpaiguri, while replacing sitting Alipurduar MP John Barla with two-time Madarihat MLA and legislative party chief whip Manoj Tigga. After Barla rebelled, the central leadership intervened quickly, and he returned to the campaign trail to support Tigga.
North Bengal turned into a BJP stronghold when the party, riding a ‘Modi wave’, won seven of the eight seats there in 2019, with only Malda South going to the Congress, as the TMC was routed north of the Ganges. Even though the TMC recorded a landslide victory in the 2021 state elections, the BJP’s winning spree in North Bengal has continued unabated.
Notably, the BJP had won six out of the seven Assembly segments under the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha constituency, with the exception of Rajganj, in the 2019 polls. However, by 2021, the TMC had wrested control over five of the Jalpaiguri seats in the state Assembly polls.
The district was hit by an unexpected cyclone that killed five and left hundreds injured just after the Lok Sabha poll dates were announced. Mamata rushed to the site of devastation within hours, pledging that the administration would stand by the affected people.
However, even before her visit was officially announced, the BJP IT Cell chief and Bengal co-in-charge, Amit Malviya, slammed the CM of being allegedly indifferent towards North Bengal. Hitting back, Abhishek said that the scale of the disaster was so significant because the Centre was allegedly not paying the state its dues under the PM Awas Yojana-Grameen (PMAY-G). He claimed that if the affected persons had been living in concrete houses, they wouldn’t have lost everything in just a few minutes.
On Alipurduar, TMC leader Sourav Chakraborty told The Indian Express, “This is the first time since 2014 that the entire party is united in the constituency. All district leaders have jumped in. Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee have given ample time here. The TMC government has also declared many development projects for North Bengal. This time, we will win.”
BJP candidate Tigga, however, said, “People of North Bengal have understood that if India develops, their lives too will improve. I’m sure they will strengthen Modi ji’s hand again.”
Nishith Pramanik. BJP
Jagadish Chandra Burma Basunia. TMC
Nitish Chandra Roy. FB
Pia Roy Chowdhury. CONG
BJP. 7,28,834
TMC. 6,76,339
LEFT (FB) 46,648
CONG. 28,087
BJP. 7,96,933
TMC. 6,98,829
LEFT (FB) + CONG 58,031
Manoj Tigga. BJP
Prakash Chik Baraik. TMC
Mili Oraon. RSP
BJP. 7,50,804
TMC. 5,06,815
LEFT (RSP). 54,010
BJP. 7,25,347
TMC. 5,81,415
LEFT (RSP). 68,645
Constituency: Jalpaiguri
Jayanta Roy. BJP
Nitmal Chandra Roy. TMC
Debraj Butman. CPI(M)
BJP. 7,60,145
TMC. 5,76,141
LEFT (RSP). 76,166
BJP. 7,33,130
TMC. 6,81,777
LEFT (RSP). 91,983
