Mission 2019: BJP now eyes Forward Bloc and RSP leaders of Bengal

With the Lok Sabha polls only a few months away, the BJP has sharpened its focus on north Bengal where it hopes to make a dent in the ruling Trinamool Congress’s fortunes.

With this focus, the party has decided to target leaders of two Left parties — All India Forward Bloc (FB) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) — who have quit active politics over the past few years but did not join Mamata Banerjee’s party. Once the list of these leaders is drawn up, BJP leaders will approach them individually.

Of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in Bengal — the third highest in the country — eight north Bengal districts account for eight seats. FB and RSP used to have a substantial presence and network in six of these constituencies. These are Raigunj in North Dinajpur district, Balurghat in South Dinajpur district, Cooch Behar in Cooch Behar district, Jalpaiguri in Jalpaiguri district, Alipurduar in Alipurduar district, and Darjeeling where BJP’s SS Ahluwalia is the incumbent.

The strategy was decided upon after the two-day visit of BJP president Amit Shah in West Bengal on June 27-28. Shah wants to win at least 22 of the 42 seats in Bengal. (It currently has two.)

According to BJP’s national secretary Rahul Sinha, in the districts of north Bengal, many leaders and activists of RSP and FB have become inactive due to two reasons — high-handedness of Left leaders and their flawed policies, and atrocities by the ruling Trinamoool supporters.

“While some of them have joined Trinamool out of fear or greed, there are many leaders of both RSP and FB who have become inactive. They would never join the ruling party. But they understand the Left Front and CPI(M) do not have the organisational strength to protect them. We have to persuade them that only BJP can provide them safety and shelter,” said Sinha.

BJP presidents in these district units have been asked to prepare a list of such inactive RSP and FB leaders.

BJP’s district president in Cooch Behar, Nikhil Ranjan Dey, said since FB still has considerable influence among the different professional associations in the district such as lawyers, writers, artists and teachers, BJP would be happy to welcome them.

Trinamool MLA from Dinhata constituency in Cooh Behar, Udayan Guha argued no matter how hard BJP tries, they will not be successful, since the people have witnessed the development work undertaken by Trinamool. “They may try their best but they will be unsuccessful,” he said.

Left Front convener in Cooch Behar district, Tarini Kanta Roy, said that BJP is trying to contact Left Front activists in north Bengal through fake promises.

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