Ground report: BJP struggles to benefit from graft charges against TMC

Tribune News Service

Shubhadeep Choudhury

Kolkata, May 4

A heap of currency notes kept on the floor of the residence of a starlet in Kolkata is one of the lingering images that has stuck with the people as an instance of corruption that the TMC-led government of West Bengal has allegedly taken advantage of the people’s desperation for jobs.

Mamata’s party better organised

There is no doubt that compared to its rival parties, including the BJP, the TMC has a superior organisational depth in West Bengal. Sobhanlal Bhattacharya, political analyst

The recovery of the money, amounting to a total of Rs 51 crore, was made by the Enforcement Directorate from two flats of Arpita Mukherjee, a Bengali film actress, a close friend of the former West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.

The money recovered was apparently the proceeds from a recruitment scam to give government jobs to teachers and other staff in the education department. Chatterjee, now lodged in Kolkata’s Alipur prison, is a member of the growing tribe of TMC leaders facing corruption charges, most of whom are either in jail or out on bail.

“There is no doubt that despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee trying her best to maintain composure, it is becoming increasingly difficult to take her seriously because of the corruption charges against her partymen,” P Choudhury, a journalist with a Kolkata-headquartered daily, said.

While Banerjee’s nephew and political successor Abhishek Banerjee is facing the accusation of illegal mining of coal and smuggling of cattle, other TMC leaders are facing probe in connection with chit fund scams. “The TMC has now become synonymous with corruption. But the question is who is going to take advantage of the TMC’s fall from grace,” Sobhanlal Bhattacharya, a Kolkata-based political analyst, said. In the 2021 Assembly elections in the state, a lot of hype was created regarding the chances of BJP. When the votes were counted after the election, the BJP emerged as the second largest party after the TMC in Bengal.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been extensively campaigning in West Bengal this time as well, the BJP has not been able to create as much “excitement” as it did in 2021. The Congress and CPIM-led Left Front, who have a seat sharing arrangement in the state, are the other important players in the electoral fray. While the Congress had won two seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the state, the Left Front had drawn a blank. Both partners are hopeful of bettering their performance this time.

The TMC had won 22 and BJP 18 of the state’s 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The question uppermost in everyone’s mind is: Will the BJP’s seat share go up? Bhattacharya believes the BJP’s number will go down in 2024. “There is no doubt that compared to its rivals, the TMC has superior organisational depth in the state,” he said.

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