Swapan Dasgupta, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) challenger in Bengal’s holy Tarakeswar town, who has the backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, fears the state’s crippled economy will soon slip into rigor mortis if not lifted with serious planning.
According to Dasgupta, Sonar Bangla, or the El Dorado (the proverbial city of gold), can only happen if the right-wing party wins power and drives some serious investment which has not happened for long. “Bengal has lived with dissent and lived in denial for over four decades, and this needs to change, else this could become a serious problem,” Dasgupta told MoneyControl in an interview.
Sonar Bangla or the Land of Gold is the tagline for the BJP in the current, month-long elections unfolding in Bengal where the right wing is pitted against the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). Dasgupta, who recently resigned from his Rajya Sabha seat to contest the polls, says the fight in Bengal, sadly, is turning volatile, deeply personal.
Oxford-educated Dasgupta has often been ridiculed by the TMC for praying at Tarakeswar's 17th century temple of Lord Shiva, even in knee-deep waters of a huge pond close to the temple. Photographs of Dasgupta’s sandal paste smeared forehead have also been tweeted by the TMC. The TMC social media managers asked how an intellectual - normally an atheist - could seek help from the Gods for an election victory.
Dasgupta says not everyone in Bengal has a negative bent of mind and that he can handle such darts with ease. “Not everyone in Bengal is frustrated with the BJP and there is a deep sense of insecurity among many in the state with the ruling Trinamool Congress that has offered nothing for over a decade. The people, especially those in rural Bengal, know they need jobs, growth and a vibrant economy which only the BJP can offer.”
Modi and his cabinet ministers from Delhi along with local BJP leaders, film stars, and leaders who have defected from TMC, have rallied for Dasgupta. The BJP’s Hindu nationalism is pitted against TMC’s indigenous culture and tolerance of minorities in Bengal, a state of 90 million. The TMC campaign slogan is Bangla Nijer Meyekey Chai that translates into Bengal chooses its own daughter.
Dasgupta, considered a soft-spoken intellectual even by his rivals, says the TMC has tried hard to frame the BJP as a party of outsiders who do not understand Bengal’s rich culture. “But the reality is that the culture which the TMC is talking about just does not exist in Bengal which is plagued with unemployment and no growth. It will take us many months to get the state back to normalcy.”
“We must realise that there have been too many corruption scandals in Bengal. Senior TMC leaders have used extortion and violence to keep power. We will have to first weed out corruption, weed out politicisation of all institutes in Bengal.”
“This is the only state where for everything there is a commission, or cut money, which must be paid. Else nothing will work. As a result, many have left, many are leaving. Bengal, once a proud state of talent, is now known as a state which cannot keep its talent because it has become a state of no hope.”
Dasgupta said Bengal has, over the years turned into a politically sensitive border state because it is next to Bangladesh that is known for rampant smuggling and illegal immigration. He said BJP candidates for the state’s 294-seat local assembly were unable to campaign freely because of routine violence. “It is the only state where people are comfortable with corruption, silent on violence for decades. There is a palpable fear among many. The fear that they could be victimised by the TMC leaders and workers if they support the BJP.”
West Bengal, claim experts, is prone to election-related violence. Hundreds have been killed during previous elections when supporters of rival political parties clashed with one other.
“Yet they use the word dissent with a lot of pride. It actually means nothing, it actually slows down work, it pushes corporate captains to leave the state, factory owners to down shutters. Bengal is comfortable with no growth. This has been happening for years, many years. And yet they say BJP is disruptive, divisive and a fascist party.”
He said the TMC’s frustration was growing because the party realised its narrative is no longer working. “They are eating their own words. Mamata Banerjee once said Central forces are a must in Bengal because the Left Front had mastered the art of rigging and routinely captured polling booths because the state police remained silent spectators. Now, she has a problem with the same Central forces because her own party workers are unable to capture the polling booths. Hopefully, this will change now,” says Dasgupta. The BJP began actively expanding in West Bengal only after Modi became PM in 2014.
The TMC, which has denied the charges of attempting to capture polling booths, has blamed the BJP for pushing in forces from the Centre to intimidate the TMC party workers. Political cognoscenti in Bengal say that the TMC could be successful if it is able to convince the voters that the party (read TMC) is clean because the corrupt defectors are now with the BJP.
In theatres and coffee houses across Kolkata, artists have joined hands to say they can live with anyone, including a corrupt TMC but not the BJP because the party will get under the skin of people of this state and push the Hindutva agenda to kill Bengal’s secular identity. The movement has, undoubtedly, aided the TMC’s electioneering push.
Dasgupta says the BJP is being maligned for no fault of the party. The BJP is not even in power in the state which has been - claimed Dasgupta - routinely abused by the Left and the TMC. He said the Bengal chief minister could not control the abuse of power by her party workers, and is now happily passing the buck saying her bad apples are now with the party from the Centre.
“One hand cannot complete any work. It takes two to start work and finish it. The TMC’s energy is focused squarely on teaching us a lesson. Mamata Banerjee does not say what she will do if she retains power. She has nothing to offer because in the last ten years, she offered nothing to the state. She does not have a good economic story to tell in this election.”
Elections in West Bengal, one of the most populous Indian states, are being held in eight phases. A slice of voters in the state has heard out both the TMC and the BJP, and also the near negligible Left and Congress. Others are waiting for their days of voting.
The results will be declared on May 2, 2021.
Only then it will be clear whether Bengal will turn into an El Dorado by the brand of right-wing, religiously-tinted populism or remain as it is, footloose, proud and fancy free.
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