Kolkata, March 5: BJP state President Sukanta Majumdar on Saturday claimed the TMC has unleashed an “unofficial emergency ” in the state, where working for BJP was “nothing short of a crime.”
He also alleged the ruling Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) had entered into a “secret pact” in the recently held civic polls where BJP could not win in any of the 108 municipalities.
The ruling TMC reacted to the charges claiming that these were “wild allegations” made by a party which did not enjoy the confidence of the electorate.
After a `Chintan Baithak’ (Introspection meet) of the saffron party’s Bengal unit here on Saturday at the National Library auditorium, Majumdar alleged CPI(M) and TMC had “entered into a secret understanding for the local body polls.”
Majumdar tried to explain the “pact” by claiming the two parties fought the election in such a manner as to be able to divide up wards among them to the detriment of other political parties.
Earlier after the 2019 general elections, there were similar accusations by others that CPI(M) ensured its supporters voted for the BJP in many constituencies after the saffron party won an unprecedented 18 seats in West Bengal.
In the recently held civic elections, TMC won 102 out of the 108 municipalities, while CPI(M) and a new Darjeeling-based party, Hamro Party, won one each and four urban bodies saw a hung house. TMC with 63.45 per cent of the total votes polled came out as the undisputed leader, with CPI(M) a distant second with 14.13 per cent of votes. BJP came third with 12.57 per cent votes.
Analysts believe the CPI(M) is witnessing a mini-revival on the back of groundwork done by its student and youth wings, while a demoralised BJP has simply continued to lose ground since the assembly elections last year which the TMC had swept.
Veteran BJP leader Tathagata Roy tweeted in Bengali, “After the debacle in assembly polls, instead of accepting defeat, BJP had spoken of its tally increasing from 3 to 77. This ostrich like behaviour has resulted in near decimation of the party in municipal elections.” He had gone on to decry the `Chintan Baithak’ as too late in the day. Majumdar, who addressed party functionaries from all over the state during the `Chintan Baithak’, however claimed the recently concluded municipal polls in the state were “farcical” and only BJP had put up a spirited fight.
In his speech to BJP workers, the party unit chief charged, “In Bengal an unofficial emergency situation prevails.”
“One is not targeted in the same way for being part of CPI(M), Congress or others, the way one is singled out for being part of BJP,” the BJP MP from Balurghat alleged.
He claimed that police remains inactive when his party’s `karyakartas’ (workers) “are beaten up or even murdered by Trinamool goons.”
“We will certainly come out of this situation as we enjoy the trust and confidence of people,” Majumdar said.
TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh reacting to the BJP’s charges, averred “Sukanta Majumdar knows very well his party doesn’t enjoy the confidence or support of the people of Bengal.” He claimed the BJP leadership “wanted to deflect attention from their failure by making wild allegations.”
The meeting took place after among others, senior BJP leader and MP Locket Chatterjee called for introspection following the party’s debacle in the municipal polls and a drop in its vote share.
Significantly, BJP’s Leader of Opposition in Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari did not attend the `Chintan Baithak’, which another party leader explained away by stating he was busy with organisational work. (PTI)
