Ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mamata risks alienating minority votes
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader and president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Siddiqullah Chowdhury, who was inducted in the Mamata Banerjee cabinet to keep fundamentalist forces in good humour and on a tight leash, is an angry man these days.
He has sternly and publicly reminded Mamata about the Jamiat’s role in the Nandigram land movement, something no one in her cabinet has dared to do. This was enough to make Mamata rush for damage control and asked him to sort out issues within the party, instead of going to people and giving an ultimatum.
But why is Siddiqullah angry? The primary reason is the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government’s sudden focus on wooing Hindu voters.
Mamata’s desperate attempt to play the Hindu card to appropriate the BJP’s hegemony over Hindutva this year has not gone down well with a few minority community leaders. Though there were no public outbursts, there were frequent communal flare-ups in the state.
After the 2017 Basirhat riots, Mamata warned the fundamentalists (read minority community) not to mistake her silence for weakness. It was an admission fundamentalists had taken advantage of the foothold she had provided them.
Basirhat and areas bordering North 24 Parganas were witnessing massive polarisation of Hindu votes and the BJP was reaping the benefits. Under pressure, TMC leader Haji Nurul, a former Basirhat MP who was accused of inciting the 2010 Deganga riots, was made to give up his winning seat and move to Murshidabad. Nurul lost and was rehabilitated as an MLA from Haroa in North 24 Parganas in 2016.
Mamata was balancing her act to be the people’s CM and trump the BJP in its own game. West Bengal is a secular state and Bengalis listen to their political instincts, not religion. An en bloc polarisation of Hindu votes is never possible. On realising that, Mamata had partially adopted Hindutva to avoid a virtual split on the basis of religion.
The moment she realised a campaign was going on to highlight her inclination towards the minority, she began quoting Sanskrit shlokas and Gayatri Mantra, claiming she grew up in a Brahmin family.
Such overtures were met with disapproval from Muslims. A veiled threat that it just took 7 per cent of Muslim votes to swing in favour of the Trinamool to overthrow 34 years of Left rule was voiced. And it wouldn’t take long with the incumbent government if demands of the Muslim community were not met.
But what shocked the minority community was Mamata’s announcement that her party would celebrate Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti this year. Last year, the BJP’s Ram Navami celebration had given them mileage among non-Bengali voters. By the time TMC jumped in, the game was over.
This year, all senior TMC leaders took to the streets and ensured a show of strength with the party’s twin flower symbol. The saffron party, with its muscle-flexing and sword-brandishing procession, paled in comparison.
According to a TMC leader, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was seething at the way the TMC was imitating the BJP. Siddiqullah was forced to convey to his party authorities that the minority community was getting divided thanks to the latest stand of the ruling party. Siddiqullah failed to create ripples.
He was waiting for the party to give tickets to 34 of his associates in the village council polls. He was unsuccessful in drawing the attention of the supremo. The only option was to take drastic steps, one being the grim reminder of when the party, along with other groups/outfits, stood by the lone Lok Sabha MP in her battle against the Left Front.
Efforts are on to reason with Siddiqullah and give him sops, but his candidates can’t be accommodated. He might sit back till the panchayat is on, but he won’t be meek. Siddiqullah holds a certain clout, a hypnotic effect, the kind radicals and fundamentalists have on people, and it cannot be written off.
(Courtesy of Mail Today)