New Delhi/Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stepped up attack against Trinamool Congresssupremo Mamata Banerjee in what is seen as her 'weakest spot' - no industrialisation in Singur.
"Trinamool Congress is proud that they stalled industry in Singur...," the Prime Minister told a massive election rally at Tarekeshwar near Singur.
Adopting a new style in his campaign, Mr Modi exuded confidence of BJP forming government in West Bengalafter May 2 and counseled state government officials in locations where elections are already over to start preparing a list of farmer beneficiaries who will get the financial assistance from his party-led dispensation.
"If the BJP comes to power in Bengal, I shall come for the oath taking ceremony and ask the Chief Minister to give approval to the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi at the first cabinet meeting," the Prime Minister told an election rallyTarakeswar about 25 km from Singur in Hooghly district.
Notably, Singur, the epitome of Trinamool's anti-industry agitation falls under this district.
"Passing on the benefits to farmers will be the first job of our BJP government," he said. The Prime Minister was also critical of the manner Mamata Banerjee had opposed the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi which was launched byhis government in 2019.
"After May 2 we will not only have a double engine government, even the farmers will get double benefit," he said.
"'Didi (Mamata) did not approve the scheme. And so more than Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been sent to the accounts of 10 crore farmers, but the poor farmers in Bengal did not get it".
The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi is a flagship Central government scheme that gives Rs 6,000 annual subsidy to the registered beneficiary farmers in three installments of Rs 2,000 each.
On Mamata's Singur agitation which Trinamool presents as a rich legacy of her party, Mr Modi took a potshot:“They are proud that they stalled industry in Singur. How they betrayed Singur you know it better than me. After using Singur politically they abandoned this place. Singur farmers are languishing and suffering as no industry came up".
The Singur movement or row is related to Mamata's steadfast opposition to the Tata Nano project as theland acquisition for an automobile factory at Singur was opposed by Trinamool. Incidentally, when Ratan Tatadecided to shut the unit in Singur, Modi - then Gujarat Chief Minister - reportedly had sent an SMS to the Tata Group patriarch stating, "Welcome to Gujarat".
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| Glimpses of a BJP rally |
The Nano project was later set up in Sanand about 40 km away from Ahmedabad.
"Some years back I got the fortune and good luck of moving our car factory to Gujarat and soon again with leadership of Narendra Modi, Gujarat has become one of hubs of car manufacturing in India," the business honcho stated in 2017.
In his address on Saturday, April 3, Mr Modi said, "Once people from different parts of the country would come to work in the factories of Bengal. Now the youth of Bengal are going elsewhere.....The opportunities for doing business and generating employment is closed".
Kerala puzzle: Should Hindus back BJP or Marxists?
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| Blogger: Rural India |
New Delhi: The Congress has higher stakes and everything to feel bad about the possible 'feel bad' factor for the April 6 Kerala assembly polls.The BJP does not have much to lose. Obviously the competition is between Congress-Muslim League led UDF and the CPI-M led LDF.
However, the most optimistic line for the Lotus party in Kerala polls has come from 89-year-old E. Shreedharan.
The former Metro man said, "....at least the BJP will be the king maker; we can decide who will rule Kerala".
Community wise, the Nairs and a large section of the Ezhavas - influential caste groups have aligned with the BJP. These would harm the Congress but particularly the communists.
Over 12 lakh migrant 'foreign workers' are estimated to have returned to the state after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most have been rendered jobless and some could vote against the state incumbent Chief Minister. But will they bank on PM Modi and BJP or the Congress-Muslim League combine ?
Incidentally, no much ‘personalization’ of political cult is seen in Kerala. But like Mamata Banerjee is the de factoTrinamool Congress in West Bengal, in this southern state it is the CPI-M CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
For Rahul Gandhi, the April 6 battle in Kerala is crucial as the party's failure to come to power in Kerala would mean his shifting of constituency - after he was handed over defeat in Amethi - to Wayanad did not help the prospects of his party.
The Congress party has multiple problems. "....There is too much groupism in my party. Sometime more powerful than the party itself," said former Union Minister K V Thomas.There would be actually a huge impact if Congress vote share comes down substantially.
According to experts, return of the Marxists-led LDF in 2021 and the substantial decline of the Congress would open bigger avenues for the growth of the BJP. Hence, the pressure is equally telling on the communists.
"Returning to power is a must for the Left Front to regain its influence at the national level," said a document published by Kerala unit of the CPI-M. The desperation is serious as the communists have altogether lost their relevance in West Bengal. They are still a major opposition power but intensely marginalised in Tripura. Beyond these three states, the Marxists and their ilk have not been much influential other than striking political deals with power brokers, casteist players and 'corrupt' elements.
I had visited Tripura during the year-end and most Left supporters - some die hard ones - were vehemently arguing in favour of Mamata Banerjee provided the BJP and Narendra Modi are kept at bay. Desperation and frustration often go together.
In the ticket distribution, the LDF turned pragmatic; denied tickets to 'known' 33 leaders, including Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and also some Ministers. These have led to some dissidence too. In between, the CPI-M leadership made a compromise and gave up its neo-found 'idealism' of insulting Hindu sentiment. Chief Minister Vijayan himself made a u-turn on Sabarimala. The party also accommodated a known Chief Minister critic, K P Kunhammed Kutty, in Kuttiady.
Some 20 years back, the CPI-M has been the traditional Hindu party of Kerala. The Christians due to Kerala Congress (M) and Muslims egged by the Muslim League have generally stood with the Congress.
Now, the BJP showing its assertion, the Left feel threatened. Hence the million dollar question: Would Hindus back BJP or Communists ?
Of course, like all elections, the final outcome of the battle of circa 2021 in four states and UT of Puducherry would be pivotal to national politics and future of BJP and perhaps more particularly the leadership of PM Modi-Amit Shah-JP Nadda. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a crucial point during campaigning on April 2, Friday. He said by fielding former Metro man E Shreedharan, the saffron party has shown that it cares for educated people and professionals. Shreedharan is BJP nominee from Palakkad.
“I will certainly win....," Shreedharan has been saying rather effortlessly. His competition is from CPI-M nominee C.P Pramod. In 2016, the BJP came second here.
Other seats the BJP has set eyes on are Manjeswaram, Kazhakkoottam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malampuzha. In Nemom, the BJP is hoping to repeat its feat of 2016 as veteran O. Rajagopal had won the seat. It is certainly an important hub and is one of the seven state legislative assembly constituencies under the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency.
The Congress has fielded its senior leader K Muraleedharan in Nemom. In this segment, the BJP vote share has been growing constantly. In 2011, the saffron party's vote share jumped seven-fold to 37% from a modest 5 per cent in 2006.In 2016, BJP had 47% votes and thus O Rajagopal entered the assembly. The CPI-M says their vote share in Nemom has remained steady.
The BJP's vote share at the state level has been around 15. The saffron party now wants to increase the share of the votes. It could be a fantastic show, say BJP leaders, if the Lotus party can manage to poll a swing of 7 plus and poll at least 22-25 percent of votes. But even the worst of BJP critics already say, the saffron party may finish runners up in many constituencies.
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