‘The BJP has come up like a saviour of the Hindus of Bengal, whereas the TMC looks like that the party is promoting the minority community,’ said a TMC leader.
Pressure from within the party has forced Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take the “soft Hindutva” line to woo back Hindu voters of Bengal who are slowly drifting towards the BJP.
A senior TMC leader told The Sunday Guardian on the condition of anonymity that the party is losing its base among the Hindu voters in Bengal due to the general perception that it’s a “pro-minority” party. He said, “Reports from the ground level across Bengal suggest that Hindus are feeling alienated and are losing their connect with TMC as the party has postured itself, with its several policies, as appeasing the minority voters who constitute about 25%-30% of the electorate. Several reports have been given to the party chief about this situation.”
“Many district level TMC leaderd have been wanting that the party does something to correct the steps that it has been taking or else it would become difficult for the party to retain the huge number of seats that it is targeting for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Mamata government has started celebrating several Hindu festivals. Even the festivals which are not very popular in the state are given importance by the state government. Festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Janamasthami, Hanuman Jayanti, Ram Navami, etc are being celebrated by the TMC and several ministers of the state government like never before.
The TMC government, which received flak from the Calcutta High Court last year with regard to Durga Puja idol immersion, have this year announced that the state government will give Rs 28 crore to several Puja committees in the state of West Bengal.
According to TMC sources, the party supremo has also directed all its district units to go for Durga Puja inauguration ceremonies, one of the biggest festivities of the Bengalis, and help and support all the Durga Puja committees in all possible manner.
A district unit TMC leader said, “The party will support all Durga Puja committees in the state in all possible manner and all permissions will be given with ease. This decision was taken at the highest level and conveyed to all the district units.”
The Chief Minister, who was seen in several Iftaar parties during Ramzan, has also stopped going to such occasions to give out the message that the party is not pro-minority. On the contrary, the TMC had also organised a Brahman Sammelan in Birbhum district earlier this year to send out the message that the party supported Hindus.
Another senior TMC leader said, “The rising popularity of the BJP has to be countered. The BJP has come up like a saviour of the Hindus of Bengal, whereas the TMC looks like that the party is promoting the minority community. We need to have to maintain the vote share or else the majority chunk of the Hindu votes could drift towards the BJP.”