What one finds unacceptable is the Centre’s failure to throw the rule book before the state government.
The political stance of the Narendra Modi-led BJP can be summed up in a single phrase, “Congress Mukt Bharat.” Even after thrashing the three-party coalition in the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Prime Minister in his victory speech at the party headquarters in Delhi focused on the loss of Congress there. Also the loss in Jharkhand seemed to have been overlooked by the ruling BJP. Evidently where Congress is weak, BJP is not much concerned. Perhaps that could be the reason why the party is not attentive to its predicament in West Bengal where not only the BJP lost all six Assembly by-polls but also seemed to have meekly surrendered to the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress. And why bother since the state unit of Congress in West Bengal is effectively non-existent!
A political party which uses the word nationalism as a sort of punctuation does not find the state of West Bengal as unsafe for the nation. It is curious to say the least. West Bengal offers an open door to infiltrators of all shapes and sizes. The huge influx of Rohingyas, people disowned by Myanmar and made stateless, into India has largely been facilitated by tacit welcome by the state administration. Rohingyas have the reputation of lawlessness, a factor that caused their eviction by Myanmar. The apparent blind eye offered by India’s alert Home Minister Amit Shah to such porous border is perplexing to an average citizen.
More so since Bangladesh, even before the present turmoil, had seen infiltration of hard-core fundamentalists who found life difficult under the then Sheikh Hasina government. There had been several instances of arms smuggling, ammunition making and illegal activities by such intruders. West Bengal offers a friendly environment of providing identity cards like Aadhaar cards to such infiltrators. This happens under the watchful but apparently closed eyes of the Union Government.
The deep rooted corruption unravelled during the last three years are languishing at various stages of inaction by the Central investigative agencies, CBI and ED. Various cases brought before the High Court are glaring examples of how corrupt an administration can be. The height of such wanton disregard for rule of law was perhaps the planned murder of a young doctor in the state-run RG Kar Hospital and subsequent destruction of evidence. While by now the administration of West Bengal’s utter disregard for any civilised process fails to shock anyone, what one finds unacceptable is the Centre’s failure to throw the rule book before the state government.
The Governor of a state is assigned the task of ensuring that constitutional provisions are followed there. The one in West Bengal is busy in more exciting tasks like placing his own statue in the Governor’s House. In any case by sending him as the state’s Governor, the Centre illustrates its coldness to the state and its people.
Even more curious is the fact that despite BJP emerging as the only opposition political party with some base in West Bengal, the party is run dumbly. It does not have a full time state president, with MoS Sukanta Majumdar filling up the chair he occupied before 2024 election. Majumdar is seen more on social media than leading any party event in the state. The recent by-election of six Assembly seats in West Bengal did not see any campaign by the BJP leadership. It seemed the party was bent on offering walkover to TMC which promptly claimed that the by-election win illustrated that the recent furore over the murder of the young doctor was a non-issue. Even the Left, which apparently led the movement, were marginalised in all the seats. But Left is a spent force in the state, Congress is just a signboard while BJP is viewed as the party in waiting for the next Assembly elections. The way the party is run it seems the waiting will be never ending.
The few central observers BJP has sent to oversee the affairs of the state are out of their depth on the political character of the state. They are utterly incompetent in communicating with Bengal. What is more, any communication must match the action on ground. The failure or at best lackadaisical manner of investigation by the Central agencies took away any hope of an ordinary citizen of the state that the national government, the ultimate protector of the Constitution, would safeguard their life and livelihood. The BJP has failed them miserably.
Such indifferent handling of the affairs of a border state by the Modi government gave rise to a “setting theory” in West Bengal. A popular feeling there is that “Didi-Modi” play a fixed match. Modi will not harm TMC since in case there is shortage of number in the Lok Sabha “Didi” will bail the government out. The way the Centre has been running its administration and the central BJP is running the state unit the feeling does not look preposterous.
What could be the reason for the BJP’s lack of interest in West Bengal? It is improbable that the Centre is not aware of the long term impact of a faulty state on the nation. More so since now Bangladesh has clearly adopted a fundamentalist path, belligerent to India. Only the Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has been active in keeping the BJP flag hoisted, but he is a one-man force with no support from the “world’s largest political party”. People of West Bengal are eagerly waiting for someone to lead them and drive away the thoroughly rotten and unredeemable state administration, sadly BJP and the Central government so far have failed them. With a “Congress Mukt West Bengal”, BJP is enjoying its role as the largest opposition in the state to the frustration of the state’s people.
* Sugato Hazra is founder of Poliminds Consult, a content agency for aspiring and practising politicians.