Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari’s meeting with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has raised eyebrows. Adhikari, who defeated Mamata Banerjee by a wafer-thin margin in Nandigram, was appointed as the BJP’s leader of opposition in West Bengal. Importantly, around 51 BJP legislators accompanied him to Raj Bhawan for the meeting, with 25 missing from the capture. Since Mukul Roy’s departure from the BJP’s rented and leased leaders, workers and cadres of the party are fraught with the possibility of aligning with a party that lacks a strong base and constituency.
Simply put, why would they risk sitting in the opposition when the ruling TMC can lend them more than what actually meets their eyes? Rajib Banerjee, former Trinamool leader who lost the Domjur constituency, recently paid a visit to TMCs Kunal Ghosh. Speculations are rife that his re-entry is but a formality as many are eagerly and anxiously buying time to make a comeback to their parent party.
By-elections to a few seats are due in the coming months, offering Trinamool an upper hand in projecting its grassroots governance agenda, ensuring the amelioration of the deprived and distressed sections of the population. The Left party and Congress may win a few seats, but for the BJP grappling with a churn, braving a storm looks both competitive and challenging.
Beginning from a scratch, by entertaining those making a ghar wapsi to Trinamool would be ideally suitable for a party wanting to make inroads in a state crucial for its political capital and currency. At first, the whole leadership question will have to be attempted with an assurance to reconfigure and recraft the party organisation.
I am not a pessimist but practically speaking, I don’t see it coming for the party anytime sooner because under the centralised, compartmentalised and bureaucratised BJP, matters have taken an ugly turn. I don’t think if there will be any respite as Mamata didi is experienced and equipped with dedicatedly benefitting from the situation under her charge. The autonomy of constitutional bodies stand compromised with its masters making a mockery.