Getting a bloody nose from the Trinamool Congress in the just-concluded Assembly by-elections where challenger BJP lost all three seats to the Bengal ruling outfit the saffron outfit has decided to reevaluate its organisational base ahead of the next year’s civic polls and 2021 State elections.
While a sizeable number of party men raised questions on the efficacy of overplaying what they called a “politically counter-productive NRC issue” particularly against the backdrop of its “failed experimentation in Assam,” Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh on Sunday said his party would make a full review of the situation post by-elections. He would however not dwell on the NRC issue.
On the other hand showing clear indications of a divide in the party over the issue party general secretary
Rahul Sinha said in an apparent reference to State leader Chandra Bose that functionaries should instead of feeding the media with knee-jerk comments discuss issues on appropriate forums.
Bose, grand nephew of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had questioned the too much use of NRC issue in Bengal, “a State that should be handled differently considering its pro-Left, secular culture.”
Conceding that the BJP was still learning about the unique political culture of Bengal, Ghosh said “we are still learning and it will take some time to adjust to the political climate of this State,” adding his party would reevaluate the situation that led to the resounding defeat it had to face at the hands of the Trinamool Congress.
“We will have to go to the people, our voters in particular, our local leaders and all the stake holders and get their opinion about what they feel and why those who voted for the BJP in the parliamentary elections changed their minds,” Ghosh said refusing to immediately form an opinion about the results or immediately come to a conclusion holding “a particular issue” (read National Register for Citizens) responsible for the loss.
The BJP shed almost about 1.8 lakh votes in the three constituencies of Kaliaganj in North Dinajpur (North Bengal), Karimpur in Nadia and Kharagpur in West Midnapore districts in South Bengal.
What tended to intrigue the BJP leadership the most was the defeat at Kharagpur Sadar seat comprising nearly 70 percent non-Bengali (Hindu) votes known to be a traditional vote bank of the saffron outfit.
One section of the BJP holds the leadership responsible for too much using the NRC issue — that led to the party’s loss in the election —particularly after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to town showing how more than 11 lakh Hindu Bengalis were thrown out of the citizenship register causing a panic among the voters.
The other section of the BJP feels that the successful implementation of “Didi ke Bolo” scheme — suggested by election strategist Prashant Kishore— played a big role in restoring the image of the Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, with the TMC beginning to gain back its ground a large number of BJP and Congress supporters who had earlier left the ruling party started going back to the parent outfit. About 300 people in Malda left Congress and BJP and rejoined the TMC. Similar repatriation was witnessed in other places like Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly sources said.