West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is planning to bring forward the Assembly elections scheduled to take place next year, sources in Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress say. The report is also corroborated by some hectic activities taking place inside the Government where all the key departments have been asked to hasten up the preparation of reports on various developmental schemes that had been undertaken by the Chief Minister for the past four years.
The Government is also drawing forward the Budget-on-Account Session in the Assembly by about a month apparently to afford itself sufficient time for preparations. The Chief Minister wants the polls to take place sometime in December, six months before its scheduled date. “Though it all depends upon the Election Commission of India as to when it wants to hold elections, no House can remain dissolved for more than six months. If the Chief Minister decides to dissolve the House sometime in November, there will be no technical problem in holding the elections in the interim period of six months” said a senior party leader and a Minister.
The reason why the Chief Minister wants to draw forward the elections is the thumping victory that the Trinamool got in the recent civic elections where about 40 per cent voters exercised their franchise. It has proved that left and the BJP — the two big political groups — were still not in a position to challenge Banerjee’s organisational supremacy, experts say. “Though we have factored in the large-scale violence in the elections, you cannot deny the fact that the Trinamool could mobilise its armed gangs throughout the State, particularly in south Bengal almost without resistance,” a former Trinamool MlA said.
“Mamata’s organisational prowess could have been neutralised had the CBI taken strong measures in the Saradha case” says Biswanath Mukherjee, a political analyst, adding that the rowdy elements, who were backing her, would then start leaving her. Besides, a strong “CBI action would alienate her minority voters while the majority vote bank would have witnessed a right-wing tilt but for the peculiar chemistry in Rajya Sabha where the Centre has to rely on the Trinamool to see its Bills passed” says the analyst.
Already the CBI’s soft pedaling of the Saradha case has seen disappointed saffron voters move back towards the left it is said. “This can be proved by a 9-10 per cent drop in the BJP’s vote share in Kolkata and elsewhere,” says Congress’ Abdul Mannan. “People are watching things keenly. They want their money back. They will not tolerate any political adjustment,” Mannan added.
Clever enough to read the strength and weaknesses of her rivals, Banerjee was planning to arrange her cards well in time by bringing the elections ahead. “We are not thinking in those terms. We are working towards strengthening our organisation so that we do not have to depend on the Central forces for elections. If the combined opposition can stop poll violence and booth-capturing and throw out Trinamool from north Bengal, why cannot they do it in the southIJ” CPI(M) leader Suryakanto Mishra wonders. Congress’ OP Mishra says, “Central forces or not, the grassroots workers of all the parties have started to regroup and they will certainly enter into tactical alliances to defeat the dictatorial forces as was seen in the civic elections.”