LS POLLS

Analysis | Schemes sweep over scams: What West Bengal poll verdict proves

If initiatives to buttress industrial development in the state were what stymied former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's progress as a political leader, it is the absence of the same that had become a slogan of dissidence against Mamata Banerjee's government that succeeded his.

Interestingly, Mamata's agitation against the land acquisition for a chemical hub (SEZ) and Tata Motors against the plant to manufacture Nano in Singur had cemented her position as an invincible firebrand of power politics. Mamata has been instrumental in upending the power dynamics of the Left and bringing the spotlight on the BJP.

While the Left was eventually reduced to a paltry presence in the state, the Congress continued to gain a stranglehold of the prestigious Behrampur seat in Murshidabad district. However, Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, who won from the Congress bastion five times, had to submit this time to the former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who contested as a Trinamool candidate.

Other prominent leaders who had to bite the dust included Arjun Singh (BJP), Nisith Pramanik (BJP), Mohammed Salim (CPM), Dilip Ghosh (BJP), SS Ahluwalia (BJP) and Locket Chatterjee (BJP). Mahua Moitra (TMC), representing Krishnanagar, shrugged off her initial setback and won with a lead of over 57,000. Rachana Banerjee from Hooghly, Kirti Azad from East Burdwan, and June Maliah from Medinipur were some of the high-profile names to taste success in this election.

The state, which went to the polls through all seven phases to decide the fate of its 42 seats, witnessed a spate of political drama before the elections. NDA's gain in 2019, despite the absence of known names or prominent faces, can never be deciphered as the front's achievement. It only reflected people's disappointment over a barrage of scams and irregularities that eroded the core value of the ruling party by which, it came to power in the state. The Saradha group financial scam, the school service recruitment scam, the PDS scam and so on had created disillusionment among people then.

The people's verdict presents a different story now as they seem to have overlooked scams. The news about disgruntled TMC workers waging a mutiny against the leaders in Barackpore and Dum Dum too didn't hold water as Partha Bhowmick and Sougata Ray registered comfortable wins.

The poll results are completely in contrast with the predictions in the exit polls as well. While BJP was predicted to win 25 seats, TMC was supposed to win less than 10 seats.

What went in favour of TMC?
The Lok Sabha poll verdict amplifies the slow but steady recognition by the rural populace in the state of the benefits of the multitudes of schemes, especially those aimed at empowering women. Lakhmir Bhandar, in which an applicant would get a monthly deposit of Rs 1,000 in her account, is one of 20 schemes that provided succour to people in lower strata of society. Apart from the woman-centric schemes like Rupashree Prakalpa Scheme, Kanyashree, Yubashree, the programme for the state government employees to construct their house called Akanksha, also helped TMC tremendously.

The impactful campaign by the TMC's youth icon Abhishek Bannerjee, the incumbent MP from Diamond Harbour and Mamata's nephew, also kept the young voters interested in the party.

Mamata was, undoubtedly, the most decisive factor in the election. With her unrelenting campaign, she promoted various government beneficiary schemes. What also helped her was general discord over the BJP government's implementation of the controversial Citizen's Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which directly impacted the state with porous borders with Bangladesh.

It's not that all the claims of achievements trumpeted by Mamata and co are true to the fullest, nor are they devoid of stains. They do reek of corruption and poor governance. But, a heap of initiatives beneficial to ordinary citizens outweighed the flaws. Apart from the communal card, the saffron combine had nothing much to offer. That's the reason why even the anti-incumbency factor couldn't swing the verdict against the ruling party. It's an absolute sweep of schemes over the scams.