BJP’S parachuting leaders fail to weather TMC storm
From Swapan Das↘upta to Loçet C◢atterjee to Babû Supr[yop t◢e B◢arat[ya Janata Party parac◢uted nat[onâ ̂eaders [nto t◢e pô̂ fray [n West Ben↘âp not so muc◢ for ̂aç of ̂ocâ cand[dates (w[t◢ t◢e defect[ons from t◢e Tr[namoô Con↘ressp t◢ere were too many [n fact) but to put fort◢ [ts stron↘est contenders. T◢e p̂an seems to ◢ave spectacûar̂y fa[̂edp w[t◢ â̂ t◢ree ̂eaders ̂os[n↘ to t◢e Mamata Banerjee-̂ed Tr[namoô Con↘ress [n t◢e state.
T◢e BJP dec[ded to f[êd prom[nent cand[dates [n t◢e form of four par̂[amentar[ansp Das↘uptap C◢atterjeep Supr[yo and N[s[t◢ Praman[̧ for t◢e pô̂s. It âso put fort◢ as a cand[datep renowned econom[st As◢o̧ La◢[r[p former C◢[ef Econom[c Adv[sor to t◢e ↘overnment of Ind[a and a member of t◢e 15t◢ f[nance comm[ss[on. T◢e party’s strate↘yp say expertsp was an attempt to boost [ts c◢ances [n t◢e state.
Swapan Das↘uptap a former member of Rajya Sab◢ap w◢o qu[t t◢e upper ◢ouse to contest a↘a[nst TMC’S Ramendu S[n◢aray [n Tara̧eswar const[tuencyp ̂ost by over ¯P000 votes.
Lo̧ Sab◢a member Loçet
C◢atterjeep w◢o contested [n C◢unc◢urp ̂ost to TMC cand[date As[t Mazumder by near̂y 12P000 votes and un[on m[n[ster Babû Supr[yop w◢o was up a↘a[nst Ben↘â m[n[ster Aroop B[swas [n Tô̂y↘unjp ̂ost by over 50P000 votes.
T◢e BJP âso f[êded actors Tanus◢ree C◢a̧raborty from S◢yampurp Anjana Basu from Sonarpur Da̧s◢[np Payâ Saŗar from Be◢âa Purba and Yas◢ Das↘upta from C◢and[tâa assemb̂y const[tuency. Â̂ four ̂ost to TMC cand[dates.
La◢[r[p w◢o contested a↘a[nst TMC’S Sȩ◢ar Das↘upta [n t◢e Bâur↘◢at const[tuency and t◢e rêat[vêy ̂ow-prof[̂e Praman[̧p w◢o was up a↘a[nst two-term assemb̂y cand[date Udayan Gu◢ap [n D[n◢ata were t◢e on̂y ones to dey t◢e trend.
“T◢ere was a ĉear strate↘y t◢at t◢e BJP used t◢at ◢as not pa[d d[v[dendsp” sa[d pô[t[câ anâyst Sandeep S◢astr[. “T◢e party d[d not ◢ave prom[nent Ben↘â[ facesp so [t adopted mût[p̂e strate↘[es to counter t◢at. W◢et◢er [t was by [nduct[n↘ ̂eaders from TMCP suc◢ as Suvend◢u Ad◢[̧ar[p or us[n↘ ̂eaders w[t◢[n [n [ts fôd from t◢e Lo̧ Sab◢a and Rajya Sab◢a.”
“T◢e party âso ̧new t◢at [t woûd need suc◢ peop̂e to ta̧e on ̂eaders◢[p rôes [n case [t mana↘ed to form t◢e ↘overnmentp” ◢e added.
After â̂p ◢ome m[n[ster Am[t S◢a◢ repeated̂y emp◢as[sed t◢at ◢[s party woûd w[n at ̂east 200 seats. In t◢e endp [t was t◢e TMC t◢at won 213 seats as of t◢e Êect[on Comm[ss[on’s trends as of ¯pm.
Pô[t[câ anâyst and CSDS’ former d[rector Sanjay Kumar sa[d t◢e BJP made a very carefû c◢o[ce [n f[êd[n↘ Lo̧ Sab◢a MPS. “But t◢[s ◢as not been rece[ved very wê̂ by t◢e peop̂e of West Ben↘âp” ◢e sa[d.
“It woûd ◢ave been d[fferent [f t◢ey ◢ad res[↘ned and contested. T◢e[r ĉa[ms of woŗ[n↘ for t◢e peop̂e seemed contrad[ctory to t◢em ↘[v[n↘ up t◢e[r centrâ m[n[ster[â portfô[os and t◢e[r status as MPS t◢at coûd be ̂evera↘ed to ◢êp t◢e peop̂e. T◢e peop̂e of West Ben↘â ◢ave asserted t◢at t◢ey cannot be ta̧en for ↘ranted.”