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Bengal is one of the few states where the BJP is waging a fierce battle against a strong regional party, the Trinamool Congress said, Sanjay Singh of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies said.
The BJP has fought the Congress in several states and even defeated it in most states, but faces strong opposition from the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal and is putting up a formidable battle, he said.
“I think it is neck and neck in Bengal. There was only a 3% difference between the BJP and the TMC in 2019. Even the difference between the number of seats the two won was not very big – the BJP won 18, while the Trinamool won 22.
“A minuscule change of 2% can have a huge impact. If the BJP manages to gain 2-3%, the Trinamool will end up losing almost seven seats. And if the opposite happens and the BJP loses around 4%, so be it. reduced to single digits in the state, let us see what happens,” he said.
Senior journalist and BJP leader Swapan Dasgupta echoed him and said, “Journalists love it when there is a neck-to-neck fight. Caste became a thing in the polls for the first time in 2019. Before this, the dominant narrative of the CPIM was class. – the working class, the struggling masses, etc. These were very important lessons. But when the BJP started winning North Bengal and the jungle mahals, the focus was put on Matuas for the first time. Since 1971, no national party has ever won a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha from Bengal.
Speaking about the violence in the state before, during and after most elections, Mr. Dasgupta said, “It is a great legacy left by the great communists. Political violence of this magnitude is not just something that the communists introduced, but the intellectuals of the communists glorified. Even the Trinamool was a victim of this during the time it fought the CPIM. Today, those rough and willing methods have unfortunately become the new norm in Bengal. This is something no matter which side you are on. There has to be some kind of unanimity that this violence has to stop.
Bengal is witnessing a dominating fight between the BJP and Trinamool on all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. However, the Congress and the Left are also fighting an existential battle in the state. Though the Trinamool, Congress and the Left are all part of the mega INDIA bloc – the opposition's alliance at the Center – no common ground could be reached in Bengal and the three are pitted against each other.
Bengal is voting in all seven phases of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The votes will be counted on June 4.