By Tirthankar Mitra
Rajbanshis are in the news for the wrong reasons. Ahead of the rural polls in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress and BJP have stepped up their outreach in Kaliagunj after two lives both from Rajbanshi community were snuffed out, a teenage girl was allegedly gangraped and then killed and a youth fell to a bullet allegedly fired from the gun of a policeman.
A portion of Kaliagunj police station was set on fire after a protest procession taken out by Rajbanshi SC-ST Coordination Committee. Mritunjoy Barman was later allegedly killed in police firing after a scuffle when police went to arrest his cousin Bishnu Barman, a BJP panchayat member.
In the wake of the two deaths, Trinamool leaders in seem to be the target of ire of the Rajbanshi community. To call a spade by no other name, the TMC has reasons to worry as BJP is digging its heels in what had already been their sphere of influence even as the panchayat elections are inching closer and the next year’s Lok Sabha polls are in its heels.
Rajbanshis or Koch-Rajbanshis account for 30 per cent of the electorate of north Bengal. Numbering over 30 lakhs in this state their votes can make or mar the political fortunes of candidates contesting in 15 Assembly constituencies in Coochbehar and Jalpaiguri.
The Rajbanshi populace inhabits Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Murshidabad and Malda. The anger over the two untimely passings which were not from natural causes can sway the minds of the Rajbanshi voters away from the scene of violence is another worry to the TMC leadership.
The community categorised as scheduled castes in the state have been professing it’s support for the BJP since 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Riding the crest of Rajbanshi support wave, 7 candidates of the saffron camp emerged victorious in the 2019 parliamentary elections from north Bengal.
Though the TMC recovered much of its lost ground in 2021 Assembly polls, Rajbanshi voters’ support saw BJP candidates winning in 30 out of 54 seats from this area. Once steadfast in their support to the Left, the Rajbanshis voted for the TMC in 2011 and since 2019 their support for the BJP has ensured more than a foothold for the saffron camp in the state.
A veritable tug of war for Rajbanshi votes started between TMC and BJP long before 2021 Lok Sabha elections. Keen to regain Rajbanshi support base, chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced the formation of three new police battalions before the 2021 elections.
It included “Narayani battalion” of Coochbehar, a longstanding demand of the Rajbanshis. Not to be outdone, BJP-led NDA government awarded Padmasree to retired teacher Dharma Narayan Barma, a Rajbanshi scholar with his proficiency in Kamtapuri history.
There is a long track record of dispensations of trying to cosy up to the Rajbanshis. In 2012, Coochbehar Panchanan Barma University was set up by the TMC government.
February 14, the birth anniversary of Barma, a 19th century Rajbanshi leader and a social reformer was declared a holiday by the state government. During her north Bengal tour on February last year, the chief minister attended an event hosted by Ananta Rai faction of Greater Coochbehar People’s Movement.
Incidentally, GCPA has been demanding a separate Coochbehar state comprising parts of north Bengal. It was a canny move on Banerjee’s part as the other faction of the GCPA led by Bangshibadan Barman has his loyalties with the ruling dispensation of the state.
In the backdrop of the significance of the Rajbanshi votes, the BJP has been demanding a CBI investigation into the girl’s death. Caught in the wrong foot, the TMC is accusing the saffron camp of trying to polarise the voters.
But the voters have indeed been polarised before any attempt made by BJP to do so. Two deaths in the Rajbanshi community have ensured it.
The protests in which Opposition parties of the state are throwing in their weight are fallouts of the state administration’s failure to address Rajbanshis problems. On the other hand, an inept handling of the situation is fuelling it.BJP is in the prowl for any issue to create tensions in the districts in North Bengal.
The girl’s death being reported to be passed off as suicide worsened matters. Four policemen being suspended for dragging away her lifeless form have put some salve on Rajbanshi mindset.
But the decision of the deceased girl’s family to bury her mortal remains so that can be exhumed for the next round of investigation is a pointer to a shift of the Rajbanshis trust from the TMC government. Not performing the last rites is a fallout of the floating the suicide by poisoning.
Moreover, the death of the youth allegedly by a police bullet and subsequent silence on the government’s part cannot be stated to be signs of pouring oil on troubled waters. The Trinamool is on thin ice.
The TMC dispensation is beset with this law and order problem at a crucial time. TMC strongman Abhishek Banerjee is touring the state to create a new wave for TMC, all such incidents are dampening those efforts to project TMC as a party which is trying to come out clean. As the Lok Sabha polls are approaching more such incidents are expected. (IPA Service)
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