After a year of inactivity, the Bengal unit of the BJP was back on the streets through the Nabanna Abhiyan. In what is being touted as one of the biggest campaigns in recent times, sources believe that this Abhiyan could be the campaign that revives the BJP in West Bengal.
This development comes after the central leadership of the BJP has turned its attention once again to the Bengal state unit, eyeing a victory in the impending 2024 elections in the state. Recent raids by central investigative agencies like CBI and ED on the Trinamool Congress leaders are an attempt to do the same.
While this may look like a sudden turn of events, ground-level leaders of the BJP state unit convey how they have been working consistently on the ground to strengthen the cadre, especially the younger lot of leaders.
Amit Shah’s Intervention
Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited West Bengal in May this year and assured the state BJP leaders as well as the cadre that he would now be directly monitoring the state unit. Insiders believe that this has enthused the West Bengal BJP, which had earlier been feeling “neglected.”
A party leader also said that the appointment of Sunil Bansal, who is thought to be the most powerful General Secretary and is in charge of West Bengal, is just the cherry on top that was needed to give the state unit the confidence it needed before important elections in 2024.
He added, “The widely shared picture of cash recovery in ED raids has given much confidence to the party cadre. They have now started to believe that the Centre is paying heed to our complaints about the rampant corruption in TMC. The floundering prospects of the Bengal BJP have found their mojo back. ”
A New Campaign – Nabanna Abhiyan
On Tuesday morning, the West Bengal unit of the BJP started a march to the Secretariat, under the leadership of Sunil Bansal, but was stopped by police. The police also detained around a thousand party workers and several dignitaries, like Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, Hooghly MP Locket Chatterjee, Haldia MLA Tapasi Mondol, and Sunamukhi legislator Dibakar Gharami.
While many political observers believe that the party has finally awakened from its year-long slumber, others believe that it hasn’t been a “one-day miracle.”
Sources state that the appointment of Organisation Secretary Amitava Chakraborty back in October 2020 helped build a strong young cadre across the state. With his experience in the RSS-affiliated ABVP, Chakraborty has helped increase the number of poor people who can get help from the central government’s sponsored welfare schemes.
A BJP leader in West Bengal added, “He has been silently working behind the scenes. A major disadvantage for the BJP was the lack of support among intellectuals and educated youth. The appointment of Sukanta Majumdar as the new state president has helped on that front. Now people have started taking the party seriously.”
Other important appointments in the state unit include former Bihar minister Mangal Pandey as the state’s in-charge for the BJP. The party’s IT cell chief, Amit Malviya, has also been working closely with the state unit since November 2020.
The Road Ahead
This continues to be the BJP’s top priority for the 2020 elections. The party will need a formidable number of Lok Sabha seats from states like West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Telangana to maintain its dominance in national politics. The prospects of this becoming even more important to compensate for the prospective losses in Bihar after JDU’s exit from the NDA are high.
Although the BJP put up a tough fight against the TMC in the assembly elections of 2021 and emerged as the main opposition party, it was hit by a series of defections, which effectively stalled the progress of the state unit. Factional feuds in the open, a by-election debacle, the hesitance of the central leadership, and the TMC’s violent politics all contributed to the BJP state unit’s decline.
Shah’s recent visit has infused hope among the disillusioned Bengal BJP cadre and has helped allay apprehensions of the leaders. However, despite encouraging signs of mobilization in the Nabanna Abhiyan, the road ahead is still tough. As a national office-bearer summarised, “The main task now will be to ensure that all leaders—hardliners or moderates—need to work in tandem with the cadre.” And mind you, it isn’t easy!
