Can Himanta do justice to 'displaced Bengali Hindus' ??? Can Silchar break the jinx and get a ministerial berth in the new team in Dispur ?

Post-swearing in of a new ministry in West Bengal, the heat and dust of acrimonious politics must end. It's time for governance now. 

 

Automatically, the focus would shift to Assam where the oath taking is likely to take place on May 12th while election of new BJP legislature party leader will be held on May 11. There were two issues in debate earlier - how many seats the Lotus party would win and whether Himanta Biswa Sarma will come back as the Chief Minister. 

As of now both the issues have been seemingly resolved. We know, BJP won 82 seats and the NDA tally is 102. We also know, in all probability Himanta got the green signal and has started discussions in the inner circle on cabinet formation. Now, who all will be Ministers, Speaker and so on ?  

Both in West Bengal and Assam, while the BJP is in power 'officially and technically'; in political sense and in more ways than one - 'outsiders' are enjoying the juicy portfolios. The "original BJP" is the most extinct species. 

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was imported from AGP. Atul Bora must be regretting. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma - as is well known is from Congress stock. A number of ex Congress leaders have moved to the BJP and weakened the grand old party certainly. But the 'emergence' of these ex Congress turncoats have pushed the "origial BJP and RSS players" into the margins. 

This is not to find fault. Politics and Life go on like these.  Imagine a middleclass life; a son is made doctor and engineer by his struggling parents and there come times in lives when the 'outsider' daughter-in-law becomes the nucleus in that son's life. 

This blogger's own case is no exception. Both my parents are  gone and one can feel lonely but the life is on a guided a misguided track by the woman in my life. 

The father-in-law's daughter. 

The Hindi phrase is quite romantic - Sasur Ki Beti !!  

Now another vital issue with regard to cabinet formation in Assam. 

Will 'displaced Hindu Bengalis' get a better deal ? 

One line has gone viral in Silchar region from May 4 within hours the results started pouring in. 

Over the last 30 years, whether it was under AGP, Congress or BJP governments, Silchar as a constituency has been kept away from the Cabinet table.  

Dispur has been consistently inconsistent about doing justice to this vital township.   

I visited the Silchar and Cachar regions during January and even those days - "the neglect" of Bengali Hindus figured in our discussions.  

"Many politically aware citizens of Barak Valley now see this not merely as a question of political accommodation, but of fair representation and regional balance within Assam’s leadership structure. 

This concern becomes sharper when viewed against the legacy of towering Bengali Hindu voices like Late Kabindra Purkayastha and Late Bimolangshu Roy, who once gave Barak Valley strong ideological articulation within Assam’s political discourse," wrote Ayushmita Choudhury on Facebook.  

It may not be fair to speculate further. A cabinet formation is Chief Minister's prerogative and none from outside (especially a media man or a blogger based in Delhi) should join the debate. But as an old saying goes -- "There is no smoke without fire".

Well, one may take the liberty of adding -- it is a proverb meaning that if there are rumors, gossip, or signs of a problem, there is usually some truth behind them. 

Just as smoke indicates a fire, unpleasant accusations often have an underlying basis in reality, even if they are not entirely accurate. In politics it is all the more. 

 

Silchar elected BJP candidate Dr Rajdeep Roy this time. A former MP and in-charge of Tripura; he is a known political character from north east in the BJP circles in Delhi. We need not suggest more on these subjects.  

On a different place, we may point out that the Barak Valley, home to a large population of displaced Bengali Hindus who rebuilt their lives after Partition, has historically been one of the strongest pillars of support for the RSS, BJS and later the BJP. 

  

It is also true in Assam, the common Assamese are late entrants to the BJP/RSS idiom of politics. They have been committed Hindus but somehow, they stayed modestly isolated from the so-called Hindu chauvinism of Nagpur.

On the other hand, the Bengali Hindu community has played a defining role in the BJP’s gradual consolidation across the North-East.

Silchar has remained the ideological and organisational nerve centre of the Sanghparivar's political evolution.  

We may also suggest - Stronger your commitment and morals, ... harder your falls and the 'betrayals'. 

This is slightly distorted interpretation about morality and loyalty.

The BJP central leaders and also astute politicians such as Himanta and Dilip Saikia (state unit BJP president) know these facts pretty well. 

ends