Now that ‘the hurly burly is done and the battle lost and won’, let us try to understand why and how Fort Bengal collapsed before the Bharatiya Janata Party. There is unconcealed jubilation among a large swathe of the people — from the richer merchants to the solidly Bengali bhadralok, down (surprisingly) even to those who benefited most from Mamata Banerjee’s doles. Such excitement, political bitterness and the desperate urge to change were last seen in Bengal in 1977 in the election after the Emergency; as a junior Assistant Returning Officer, one had a trying time to ensure counting without boisterousness.
This time, no one, except some diehard supporters of the Trinamool Congress, could deny the all-round angst against the regime and the underlying yearning for change. Many sought to ascribe it to the BJP’s powerful (and expensive) campaign, the one-sided media, and the sudden assertiveness of the rich and the middle classes. A lot of hot air enveloped social media and tea shops as well. Yes, there was also a deep inner feeling among many that Bengalis would never vote, come what may, for a party that is stamped as Hindi-Hindu. But the fact is that it has happened.
The two cannonballs that knocked off Mamata Banerjee are corruption and joblessness. Her imaginative subsidies and doles could sustain millions for a decade and more, but not forever. The tired, unemployed or underpaid young man who delivers for Swiggy or earns pennies through Rapido bikes certainly does not like the three-storey building that his local TMC leader, once a resident of a tiny, leaky shack, has moved into. The local police and the municipal authorities fawn upon these leaders even though they packed and blocked every square foot of public thoroughfare with hawkers. Goons knocked, demanding ‘fees’ if one repaired or expanded one’s building. A slick ‘payment per square foot’ system forced every promoter to pay political leaders — not at one level but at several.
No major industry invested in the state that had heckled the Tatas out and ‘Bengal Means Business’ morphed into an annual charade for photo-ops and brazenly misleading propaganda. The rift with reality became worse with every passing year, and as a parliamentarian, one was castigated for raising issues like corruption — till one quit.
But the angst is, at best, the breeze behind the sails. The frigate that won the war was an out-of-the-box Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, a methodology not covered under the existing Act and Rules. It appears to have been contrived by ruthless corporate lawyers and strategists who were paid obscenely high fees to guarantee takeovers. Having conducted two parliamentary elections in the past and several roll revisions as well, one can state with confidence that the SIR is neither a bureaucratic nor an electoral product. Its fault-seeking, terror-inducing methodology and voter-eliminating viciousness appear to be a craftily-constructed game plan that was made elsewhere that a user-friendly chief election commissioner was then tasked to execute. It tailored voters’ lists to favour some and artfully eliminated others. The total mass disenfranchisement in West Bengal was 90 lakh voters, more than half of which are debatable.
Surprisingly, the Supreme Court found all this to be acceptable and took an unprecedented decision that has had 70 years of success. It removed the executive in disposing claims and objections and entrusted it to judicial authorities. But on poll day, at least 27 lakh voters, a humungous number, stood disenfranchised. The Election Commission of India does transfer some ‘biased’ state officers, mainly in Opposition-ruled states. But this time, the CEC transferred more officials than those in all preceding elections put together. Over 2.5 lakh Central armed forces were also brought in — they did ensure a free and death-free polling. Central observers and micro observers were planted in hundreds as never before.
It would be unfair to credit the BJP’s spectacular victory to only these factors because decades of dedicated campaign by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh also did wonders. We will not discuss the mountains of cash that were so visible in every aspect. Mamata Banerjee has systematically decimated other secular parties; so people chose the only opponent available. It’s now pointless raising issues like BJP’s anti-Muslim stance and the party being culturally incompatible after her regime itself brought matters to such a stage. What people are dying to see are industries, jobs and a working relationship with the Centre.
Jawhar Sircar is a retired civil servant and was a member of the Rajya Sabha