The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
In Asansol, BJP may have hit ‘home’ run with Bengal face Ahluwalia
THE BJP has turned to its longtime West Bengal staple — S S Ahluwalia — from before the party emerged as a serious contender on the state scene, for the Asansol Lok Sabha seat. Its first choice, Bhojpuri singer-star Pawan Singh, pulled out following a controversy over his career choices, and the party couldn’t have gone for a safer option than Ahluwalia, a native from Asansol.
Before the BJP settled on him, the name of former Asansol mayor and ex-trinamool Congress leader Jitendra Kumar Tiwari also did the rounds, but the latter was probably too much in the heat following TMC allegations that he had met an NIA officer to “influence” cases against its leaders.
No sooner had his name been announced than the Sikh leader underlined what made him special. “Ami Bangla-e bhabi, chinta kori, aar likhi English-e, boli Hindi-te (I think in Bengali, write in English, speak in Hindi),” Ahluwalia said.
Ah luw ali a had started his political career with the Congress, getting elected to the Rajya Sabha twice from Bihar, during which time he handled many portfolios in the Narasimha Rao government. But towards the end of the 1990s, as the BJP'S star rose at the Centre, Ahluwalia joined the party. After Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, and the BJP came to power in the state, he was sent by the BJP twice again to the Upper House from Jharkhand.
For the first time in May 2014, Ahluwalia fought an election to the Lok Sabha, getting elected from the Darjeeling seat in West Bengal, defeating football star Bhaichung Bhutia fielded by the TMC. Ahluwalia won due to the support of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, receiving 42.80% of the votes.
In 2019, Ahluwalia again won, this time from Durgapurburdwan, though by a slim margin of 2,439 votes, against sitting MP Mamtaz Sanghamita of the TMC. This election was when the BJP streaked to 18 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal, stunning the TMC and other parties.
In his 34-year parliamentary career, Ahluwalia has managed to remain in the spotlight for his voluble participation in the House, earning him distinction as a member of the "shouting brigade", first for the Congress and then the BJP.
Ahluwalia, 73, says Asansol has always been close to his heart, home to both his school, St Joseph's Higher Secondary, and college, Bidhan Chandra College. "I even pursued my LLB from Calcutta University afterwards while living in Asansol," he told the media, after getting the Asansol ticket.
Located in Paschim Bardhaman district near the state's border with Jharkhand, Asansol, West Bengal's second largest city, is an industrial and trading centre with coal mines, steel plants and railway engine factories in its vicinity. Many of its voters and residents are migrants from Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Around 45% of the voters are Hindi speakers, of whom around 10% are Sikhs.
Since 2014, the BJP has dominated the seat. However, in 2021, its sitting MP Babul Supriyo migrated to the TMC. Later, the TMC'S Shatrughan Sinha won the bypoll for the seat in 2022. The TMC has again fielded Sinha, aiming to capture some of the “non-bengali” votes.
"Everyone recognises Shatrughan Sinha. He is a favourite among Biharis, speaks Hindi well. The TMC has made an intelligent choice," says Arvind Tiwari, a school teacher in Asansol.
But the BJP'S move too is clever as the TMC'S attack against it has been that it is a "bohiragoto (outsider)”, with most of its central leaders who campaign in Bengal Hindi speakers. Now, the TMC can no more wield the plank as apart from Sinha, it has also fielded Yusuf Pathan this time, who too is not a native of Bengal.
Ahluwalia consequently is playing his “bhumiputra (son of the soil)” card aggressively. "It's not a fight between two personalities, but one between two ideologies. I am a bhumiputra who has finally got an opportunity to fight from my birthplace after 34 years in Parliament, for which I'm grateful," he has said.
Gopal Singh, who owns a small business in Asansol, said, "Ahluwalia is an experienced politician. He is also a Hindispeaking leader who can give a tough fight to Shatrughan Sinha. He is fluent in Bengal, Hindi... and is also Asansol-born, so people will easily connect with him. He knows the place well."