Rapidly changing political dynamics in Bengal in the run-up to the 2016 assembly polls was ably demonstrated in the aggressive tone of the BJP leaders, who chose to tread the muddy and slippery village roads under incessant rain on last Saturday to reassure a band of 200-odd supporters.
If one believes the reports of news media, one will become aware of many facts of the political war being fought on the rural hinterlands in Bengal with gun and bullets.Sandeshkhali is one such area where it isn't the first time that gunfire erupted in this cash rich wetlands of Bengal, neither will it be the last.
But what makes the political violence in Sandeshkhali different is that allegiance to Trinamool is not the only safety shield.The BJP delegation -which included national vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, party state president Rahul Sinha, and MPs S S Ahluwalia, Babul Supriyo and Meenakshi Lekhi has acted swiftly and decisively after 13 of its supporters were shot and injured in Sandeshkhali's Bermojur Gram Panchayat-2 by alleged Trinamool gunmen on May 27 for celebrating the swearing-in of the Narendra Modi government.
This delegation also met the victims at SSKM Hospital in Kolkata and submitted a memorandum to chief secretary Sanjay Mitra at Nabanna.As reported violent trouble has started in Sandeshkhali -some 70km from Kolkata -after two booths gave BJP a 400-vote lead over Trinamool in the Lok Sabha polls. On Saturday , the local school was packed -with women outnumbering men. Although everyone was drenched in the downpour, no one budged.
BJP has always had a base here since 1989, consolidating along religious lines in Muslim dominated Basirhat Lok Sabha seat. Mostly tribal Hindus were attacked by a Trinamool gang, allegedly led by Shahjahan Sk, as police watched haplessly on the morning of May 27. Mostly tribal Hindus were attacked by a Trinamool gang, allegedly led by Shahjahan Sk, as police watched haplessly on the morning of May 27.
The BJP leaders in the delegation looked horrified as Uma and Chaya Sardar narrated how 20-30 armed men unleashed terror in the village. They said that police stood and watched as tribal men and women were singled out for attack. The leaders were shown a used cartridge casing lefty behind by the attackers. Villagers allege that police have not yet come to investigate and only three of the 17 people named in the FIR have been arrested.
BJP's national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, a Supreme Court lawyer and New Delhi MP , looked stunned. “Why hasn't Shahjahan Sk been arrested? Why hasn't the law on SC-STs been invoked here?
Is this how the Mamata Banerjee government treats backward classes? If the Commission here doesn't investigate it, we will go to the national commission,“ Lekhi said in Hindi and English, taking pictures of the bullet casing on her iPad and iPhone. The villagers may not have understood her completely but they caught the drift. Whenever Lekhi mentioned Shahjahan's name, she got a rousing applause.
BJP national vice-president Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi was more direct: “Is sarkar ko sab hisab kitab dena hoga (this government has to account for everything). Goonda gardi won't be tolerated. We will report this to the Centre. This government has no right to shield the accused.“
While Darjeeling MP Ahluwalia harped on the slack police investigation, Asansol MP Babul Supriyo asked villages to be alert for retaliatory attacks. It was Rahul Sinha who did the explaining to the crowd. “Things are changing. A single attack has prompted BJP to rush its senior leaders to hear you out. We will not let this happen.
CHANGING BENGAL sees trouble in future for the ruling party in their attempt to retain their vote bank in the next few elections, if they fail to gauge the mood and for that they must introspect few of their policies, keeping in mind the sweep BJP has made, when the opponents were bluntly attacking them on communal lines, but in result the blames were squarely defeated.
Though TMC Basirhat MP Idris Ali and minister Jyotipriyo Mullick held a meeting with Trinamool party national secretary Mukul Roy to judge the situation, but Trinamool leaders only decided to bide for time. TMC Basirhat MP Idris Ali said, “We will not step into any BJP provocation and inflame passions there. People will understand the futility of BJP's politics in due course,“ . It is worth mentioning here that most UP leaders argued similarly.
Wise political leaders must thoroughly read the fine prints of the result of last election and must learn lessons from the results . People's mindset is changing fast and nobody should ignore that, and along with this the leaders must remember one true fact that all those who have voted or not voted for one or other party are equally valid residents of the state , and it is the duty of the governing leaders to take care of them .