Assembly by-polls in West Bengal litmus test for BJP, TMC

vember 25 by-polls to three Assembly seats in West Bengal will be first litmus test for TMC and BJP since Lok Sabha polls in State. by-elections will be an indication of which way political winds are blowing in State.

It will be first electoral contest between BJP and TMC since this year's parliamentary polls, in which saffron party bagged 18 of 42 Lok Sabha seats in state, four less than that of ruling Trinamool Congress. BJP is attempting to unseat Mamata Banerjee government from power in State.

by-polls are scheduled to be held in Kharagpur Sar seat in West Midnapore district, Karimpur in Nia and Kaliaganj in Uttar Dinajpur which are presently held by BJP, TMC and Congress respectively. Kaliaganj seat fell vacant after death of sitting Congress MLA Parmathanath Roy while Kharagpur's BJP MLA Dilip Ghosh won Medinipur Lok Sabha constituency. TMC's Karimpur MLA Mahua Moitra emerged victorious from Krishnnanagar Lok Sabha seat.

by-polls ahe of 2021 state Assembly election will have political ramifications in West Bengal as it will be held in backdrop of BJP's performance in recent Maharashtra and Haryana assembly polls and in show of proposed implementation of NRC and tabling of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament.

For BJP, challenge is to live up to its performance in parliamentary polls, whereas TMC will try to regain its lost political ground. by-polls will also decide if opposition Congress and CPI(M), which have come toger after three years, will remain relevant in state politics or become redundant.

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Congress bagged two seats and CPI(M) drew a blank in 2019 Lok Sabha polls in State.

As BJP increased its tally from two seats in 2014 to 18 seats in 2019 by bagging 40.5 per cent votes, TMC witnessed a massive slump in its number of seats down from 34 in 2014 to 22 this time.

"We are confident of winning all three assembly seats in by-polls. people of West Bengal have me up ir mind to defeat TMC in 2021 Assembly polls in state," West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh told PTI. According to a section of state BJP leers, party's failure to get majority in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls and a resurgent Congress in rrn state have t gone down well with its ranks in West Bengal.

"In Lok Sabha polls, we h swept Haryana and Maharashtra. But in less than six months, result of Assembly polls shows that although Narendra Modi as prime minister is unchallenged at national level, same cant be said for state leers when it comes to Assembly elections. So we are bit apprehensive that same trend may t continue in West Bengal," a senior state BJP leer said on condition of aynimity.

BJP also feels that by-polls in Karimpur and Kaliaganj seats, which have considerable Muslim and Dalit population, will be a litmus test for party, post publication of final National Register of Citizens (NRC) list in Assam.

Most of Dalits in two seats are refugees, and ir descendants, from erstwhile East Pakistan who fled to India during Partition and 1971 Banglesh Liberation War.

BJP is mooting to imnplement NRC in West Bengal after coming to power in state.

saffron party, which h gone to Lok Sabha elections with NRC, illegal infiltration from Banglesh and alleged Muslim appeasement by TMC government as its poll planks, is in backfoot since publication of final NRC list in Assam, where names of over 19 lakh people mostly Hindus h been omitted, a senior party leer said.

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" panic that followed NRC exercise in Assam has taken winds out of BJP's sails to some extent. So in order to counter narrative of TMC on NRC, we h come up with Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 in which we said, all Hindu refugees will be accorded citizenship. It has to be seen which narrative gets accepted in Karimpur and Kaliaganj," BJP leer said.

Trinamool Congress, through its mass outreach campaign 'Didi ke Bolo' (Tell Didi) over last three months, hopes that it has revived much of its lost ground and by-polls will reflect it.

" people of West Bengal in last five-six months have understood that BJP is a communal and divisive force. In by-polls, we will win all seats as people of state have faith in Mamata Banerjee."

"Apart from local issues and rural distress due to Centre's ecomic policies, TMC in its campaign for by-polls will highlight BJP's threat of imposing NRC in state which will turn legal citizens into refugees," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said.

With both parties fighting for ir political exsistence in Bengal, Congress and CPI(M)-led Left Front, have sealed seat justment for by-polls.

Congress will contest Kaliaganj and Kharagpur Sar seats, while Left Front will fight from Karimpur.

"We are hopeful that with both CPI(M) and Congress fighting toger, people will realize that Congress-CPI(M) alliance can be only alternative to TMC, as a communal force like BJP will never be accepted in state," Congress state president Somen Mitra said.

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