Conquest of Bengal is crucial to BJP
Despite undergoing the pains of Partition, Bengali society has resisted communal polarisation so far, The Bengali bhadralok or upper class,educated populace was readily swayed by Marxist rhetoric (as the youth was during the 1960s and thereafter) but the Jana Sangh/ BJP was unable to occupy their mind space. This despite the Jana Sangh’s founder Syama Prasad Mukherjee and icons of the Hindu Right such as Bankim Chandra, Rishi Aurobindo and Swami Vivekananda being Bengalis.
Thus the battle to gain acceptance in the Bengali mindset, particularly among the bhadralok, is a humungus task for the BJP. Equally formidable is the challenge to dismantle the suburban and rural network that the Trinamool possesses. It is no secret that erstwhile CPM activists, including its musclemen, shifted en masse to Trinamool. Mamata Banerjee has cleverly patronised youth clubs all over the state, which are effectively extensions of her party. Unemployment being phenomenally high in Bengal, the well-funded clubs are a source of livelihood for the youth although ostensibly they spend their time playing football and carrom. The BJP can win them over but before that it must be seen as a serious contender for power.
Arguably, the BJP’s vote share has gone up in recent years and it is being regarded as the principal Opposition but its grassroots strength is still below that of the Trinamool.
While BJP has grown in a big way in North Bengal and some border districts where polarisation is apparent, it needs to consolidate in the state’s southern districts. It will need to attract more erstwhile CPM supporters who are frustrated that the party has hit a plateau. The failed experiment of the Left alliance with the Congress has left many former Communists thoroughly dispirited and the BJP can systematically win them over.
But that requires a credible leadership and a popular face, acceptable to the bhadralok in particular. That is a need the BJP would have to accomplish in the little time left before the next round of polls.
The “conquest” of Bengal is crucial to the BJP’s ambition to decisively win the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The party has reached saturation in most Hindi-speaking states and must focus on the east and south if it is to improve upon its 2014 tally, particularly as it may confront the law of diminishing returns in states it has ruled for the last 15-odd years.