Political Sangeet resonate in state ,known for Rabindra Sangeet

  

Politics in Bengali speaking West Bengal is witnessing shrewd games ahead of the State Assembly polls due in a few months. Common refrain among voters is to retain  the incumbent government headed by  Trinamool  Congress (TC) chief Mamata Bannerjee,but mind boggling politics in the place like WB can’t  be defined in so easy terms.

 Voters are highly sensitive and enlightened as well.For every penny spent , they are particular and a recent visit to the state revealed that they are cut up with shooting prices of eatables –mainly yellow mustard oil. A state government driver told me that the oil was getting costly  unnecessarily and asked who should be blamed, and then answering himself –“definitely not Didi(Mamata) but the center ,which,he said, could not check spiraling prices of Arahar dal even now “. He proudly pointed from the speeding vehicle towards the new building where CM works and said she was working very hard to bring the state  back on rails. Like many others echoed similar sentiments. Despite such sentiments,undercurrent of politics needs précised dissection while nets are cast by all stake holders.

 It will be her first election as Chief Minister and her party’s performance in the local polls was fairly good ,giving an inkling of the public mood.

Congress which has tasted success in coalition politics in neighboring state of Bihar recently is keeping its card close to its chest amid speculations that the  Grand Old Party (GOP) ,after having a massive drubbing in the General elections 2014 at the hands of the Narendra Modi led BJP,may go to either way –joining hands with Mamata or with Left parties.

Former WB Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharcharjee   ,at a rally in Singur,openly asked Congress to join hands with them to throw away Mamata Rule. CPM polit buro  took strong note of such an offer from public platform and issued a statement that the CPM will not deviate from its political tactical line  adopted at its Vishakhapatnam Congress  and it has not called for such a move.

CPM is faced with a piquant situation so is Congress  as both them are arch rivals in other poll bound state – Kerala.CPM will be firing all cylinders to de throw Congress ,and if they speak in two languages against Congress – it will be loser. The same formula of dilemma applies to Congress too. The import of the political message –whether spoken in Bengali or Malayalam- will be deciphered in both the states –having higher literacy rates than other parts of the country. The PT-L  adopted unanimously  by the CPM Congress ,say leaders, can not be violated by any one ,so there can not be an alliance with Congress.

During the party’s plenum too, some leaders spoke of an alliance with Congress ,but some of the influential and senior leaders both in the politburo and the central committee are opposed to any alliance with Congress.

66 year Surya Kant Misra ,CPM state leader,is quite  enthused to resurrect the outfit and he points of massive rally held recently in Kolkata during plenum.  All his calculations  will depend on  the line taken by 92 year old CPM leader V.S Achuthanandan in Kerala.  It is to been seen who will lead party polls there Pinarayi Vijayan. Tusssel  between the two leaders is always topic of discussions while leaders maintain that the CPM is not a bourgeois party which decides leader ahead of polls. The Left democratic front (LDF ) is bracing up in Kerala as  there is no confusion of allies but WB is a tough nut to crack

Congress is watching the situation from close quarters and is in touch with state unit, which, according to sources, is not in favor of a truck with TC. Interestingly , Congress is neither rejecting not accepting left’s  offer at this stage,in an obvious  bid to use this an handle of bargain of seats with TC .

The TC in all possibilities, will not like to take on united opposition of Left parties, Congress and other players,so interesting days are ahead for nerve breaking deals.

At a recent swearing in ceremony of Nitish Kumar led government in Bihar,many saw  Congress Vice Presicdent Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Bannerjee having discussions . Though no details of talks was made public ,but Mamata’s Visit to  Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s residence on latter’s birth day again added grist to speculative mills. Ms. Mamata also did not mince  words to deplore developments in the National Herald case last month.

The BJP is playing its card carefully and is trying to highlight that the state had suffered a lot during last four decades – 34 years – Misrule of CPM and its allies and Five years of Mamata who is there since 2011. The BJP had pockted a voite share of 17 per cent in the Lok Sabha  elections against its eager meagre four cent votes in 2011 assembly polls. It wants to highlight terror link, unemployment and law and order issues against the TC rule. Currently in 294 member state WB Assembly,TC has 191 members, BJP one and Congress 35.

 In Kerala,  Congress has 39 members in 41 member Assembly . BJP, enthused by 
 seats in local polls,has vitalised its party appartus  in the state and made Kummanam Rajasehran (63) , knwon face of RSS and he is RSS pracharak and Hardliner, as the party chief there.