How TMC’S Basirhat candidate captures its Bengal poll strategy

THE CHOICE OF CANDIDATE IS BEING SEEN AS MAMATA BANERJEE’S ATTEMPT TO DILUTE, IF NOT UNDO, THE COMMUNAL POLARISATION WHICH NOW CHARACTERISES BASIRHAT

one among the major party candidates to have also contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, stands to gain the most from this backlash. The Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Pallab Sengupta, is known more for his ties with the international communist movement than the politics in Bashirhat, probably even West Bengal.

The choice of Nusrat Jahan reflects a complete U-turn from the kind of Muslim politics the TMC practised in Basirhat in the 2014 elections. Idris Ali, who won this seat in 2014 for the TMC, played a key role in organising Muslim protests against Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen in Kolkata.

Nasreen tweeted after Ali became an MP, “Idris Ali, the Muslim fanatic who caused riots in Kolkata, now an elected member of the Indian parliament. What a sad news!”

The choice of candidate is being seen as Mamata Banerjee’s attempt to dilute, if not completely undo, the communal polarisation which now characterises Basirhat. She can pull off such things without much difficulty given the iron grip she has over the party.

Basirhat is a classic example of how the Trinamool Congress is using an iron fist in a velvet glove strategy to counter a rising BJP in the state.

By fielding Nusrat Jahan, the party is actually challenging conservative Muslim politics, even willing to risk losing some votes to the Congress, which, in the case of a close contest with the BJP, could matter a lot. The velvet glove of Nusrat Jahan’s candidature, however, hides the iron fist of the muscle power the TMC has employed in these elections.

Whether the BJP polling agents will be able to stay for the entire poling duration in Baduria is not certain, we are told. Add to this the widespread support Mamata Banerjee still enjoys among large sections of the state, and it could be enough to see her through what is going to be her toughest election in West Bengal ever since she dealt the first body blow to the Left in the panchayat elections of 2008.