By Tirthankar Mitra
Trinamool Congress leaders were irate on hearing Union home minister Amit Shah’s call to his party activists to ensure victory from 35 constituencies in Lok Sabha elections next year and usher in a BJP government in 2025. But had these Trinamool leaders taken a little pause and watched Shah’s subsequent words, the anger of their reactions would have been replaced by contempt.
During his recent tour of West Bengal, Shah expressed his dissatisfaction at the organisational muddle of the BJP state unit. In no uncertain terms, he had asked the state leadership to pull up its socks. Organisation man that Shah is, it was not a pep talk on his part. Even during his short trip, he had zeroed in on the lacuna of the state saffron unit. Shah had asked the local leaders to set up booth level committees. Ahead of the panchayat polls, the party’s outreach programme was also asked to be ramped up.
Sound organisational exercises though both are, such programmes should have been launched much earlier. Absence of booth level committees are an indication of grassroot organisation’s weakness as these units are micro level platforms to launch agitation against the ruling dispensation as well as to counter the propaganda of the ruling party.
Asking for ramping up of the party’s outreach programme is a pointer to BJP’s lack of connect to the state’s populace. No matter how high pitched is the praise for the success of BJP government’s development programme, asking to ramp up the outreach programme boils down to losing touch with the populace.
Well aware of the nuts and bolts of the party structure that Shah is, he has cottoned onto the twin drawbacks of the state unit in no time. Shah’s words can also be interpreted as backhanded reprimands to some of the state BJP leaders.
For it was up to these leaders to put in place a tight organisation structure of the state unit. Its loopholes being identified and asked to be plugged by none other than the Union home minister ,is a pointer to organisational honchos of the state saffron unit were sleeping on their job.
Another pointer to the slipshod running of the state BJP organisation is Shah coming all the way from the national Capital to single out the high point of the outreach programme. He said at a organisational meeting that in the outreach programme “the corruption under the TMC government” should be highlighted.
Not a day passes when one state BJP leader or the other is seen venting his criticism of the ruling dispensation of the state in the television news channels. Yet it took Shah to earmark the topic which is to be the spearhead of the outreach campaign.
Shah’s prescription of campaign game plan to his state party leaders indicate their half hearted preparation for the coming rural polls. It’s results would indicate which way the wind is blowing for the next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
State BJP’s preparation for the next year’s parliamentary elections is nothing to write home about yet. Winning 35 seats on the basis of such campaign preparation is farfetched prediction to say the least.
What was Shah’s provocation to give such a call? Apparently, he was relying on the age old saying that he who aims at the sky shoots higher than he who aims at the tree. If the results of 2019 Lok Sabha polls are anything to go by, there are 18 seats in BJP’s kitty. Given the haphazard state of party organisation, the saffron camp activists would be hard put to retain them let alone adding to the tally. Shah’s call is aimed to make the leaders as well as the rank and file put in best effort. Only then can a semblance of a political struggle be waged against the Trinamool.
The pitiable state of the state party organisation is clear to Shah. His call is aimed to revive the state unit and throw a smoke screen around it for sometime lest the Trinamool Congress zeroes in on to its weakness.
Given the angry reaction of the ruling dispensation, Shah’s game plan has worked. For it sought that Trinamool Congress would overestimate BJP’s political strength and stature. The flab in the state saffron camp organisation is visible to Shah. But he managed to portray it as muscle. Mamata Banerjee has asked the Trinamool workers to work hard for winning all the 42 seats from Bengal meaning defeating the BJP in its present 18 seats. Whatever be the final outcome in 2024 polls, one thing is clear, Shah has to eat his words once again just like he faced after the 2021 assembly elections. At that time, TMC got 213 seats defying Shah’s constant clamour during the campaign that the BJP will get 200 seats throwing out the Mamata government. (IPA Service)
Anxieties Galore As India Becomes Largest Populated Country 