Ram Navami in Bengal: A saffron wave is coming and Mamata needs to recalibrate her 'pro-Muslim' image

Which is the most famous religious festival in Bengal? Most Indians wouldn’t bat an eyelid before answering Durga Puja (Pujo as the Bengalis call it), the five-day festivity where the entire state including the capital Kolkata becomes an open art museum. Colourful pandals with innovative themes, glossy chandeliers and lightning, dirt-cheap food and an-all embracing attitude attract millions to visit the state. The religious angle of the festival often takes a backseat with the cultural ethos of ‘intellectual Bengalis’ coming to the fore. Some of the most prominent Muslim-majority areas of Kolkata like Park Circus, Mohd Ali Park, Khideerpore host massive Durga pandals. Even the Communists, ostensibly atheists, have embraced the festival, putting  stalls on roadsides to promote books written by Leftist ideologues.

Thus, many in the state were up for a rude shock when they saw huge rallies organised by the RSS and its sister organisations across major cities of Bengal to mark Ram Navami celebration. The rallies often highlighted by ostentatious display of swords including by BJP state President Dilip Ghosh represents a stark change in Bengal’s socio-cultural  ethos, a phenomenon largely missed/underplayed by the intelligentsia till now. The proud, unabashed assertion of Hindu identity is more in line with what we have seen in the Hindi heartland and Western India so far. The land of the Vaishnavas known for their embracing form of Hinduism may finally be ready to stop being coy and adopt a more hardline nature of the religion, where Hindutva is the dominating theme.

Now, what has religion to do with politics? Perhaps everything in 2017 India, where the 'Shamshan' and 'Kabristan' model of developmental politics dominates headlines. While Bengal survived the Narendra Modi wave in 2014, the Sangh’s growing assertive nature in the state is hard to miss. The number of sakhas have increased manifold, and is providing a feeder-line to BJP,  who so far has been heavily handicapped by the lack of able leadership and decent organisation in the state. The BJP’s vote bank decreased from 17% to 10.7% in 2016 - a sharp fall. Yet, the party believes it has a real chance of emerging as the main challenger to Mamata Banerjee in the state.

There are several reasons for this new-found optimism. Firstly, the opposition space in  the state is up for grabs. The Left and Congress both are perhaps at a historical low. Infighting in Congress and lack of coherent planning and strong youth leadership in CPI(M) means the parties are a seating duck in face of TMC’s aggressive politics. It has poached several district-level leaders of the opposition to take control of panchayats and municipalities. Thus, its only natural that the ordinary workers who oppose TMC will find a refuge in BJP.

Secondly, the TMC government in its bid to grab the 30% Muslim vote have at times breached its propriety. The role of the state is to ensure development for all, not to become cheerleaders of a particular religion. Actions like monthly salaries for imams, blanket opposition to proposals to abolish triple talaq and trying to stop Ram Navami celebrations by not granting clearances has only strengthened BJP's hand. They have been able to drive home the point that the Mamata govt is only looking to safeguard the interest of minorities with scant respect for people belonging to the majority religion.

The chasm that existed between the two communities have increased, as evidenced by skirmishes in places like Kaliachak, Dhulagarh, etc.. 

 The state government rather than dealing with these issues proactively tried to put a lid on them, which is virtually impossible to do in today's age of social media. What it needed was to crackdown on mischief makers and reach out to local community leaders to broker peace. By dragging its feet, it let the problem to fester, making it larger as the time passed. All in all, a series of missteps by the Mamata government has ensured that BJP has got a foothold in the state, a base from where they can work on, leading up to the Panchayat polls in 2018. 

Yet, all is not lost for Mamata Banerjee. She remains the most popular leader and TMC is the dominant party, by a distance. What it needs is to truly govern in an impartial way, ensuring that the rule of the law is maintained. In short, she just needs to follow the constitution. The upper-caste Hindus continue to dominate in every social indicator, hog the posts of eminence in governance and society. Government schemes like Kanyashree, Sabuj Sathi, Yuvasree, Sasthasathi, the cheap rice for poor are being given to all cutting across religious lines. Thus on ground, it will be hard for BJP to convince voters that fruits of development in Bengal is given in a partisan manner. TMC leaders like Subrata Mukherjee, Partha Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee, Firad Hakim are promoters of some of the biggest Puja pandals. Yet, the party has been positioned as 'anti-Hindu', a fact which doesn't pass critical muster but is still gaining some traction.

Under pressure from RSS, TMC even took part in  Ram Navami celebrations in Howrah, Hoogly, Siliguri. In Birbhum, Anubrata Mondal countered Ram Navami festivities by celebrating Hanuman Puja.  Perhaps at a time when the polity of the country has taken a definite rightward turn, it is time for Mamata Banerjee to reorient her policies. In politics, perception matters and currently Didi  is losing against BJP and RSS' social media power. On Thursday, Whatsapp groups were abuzz with posts about a riot-like situation in several parts of Kolkata, and the Kolkata Police moved fast to scotch the rumours. It's evident that Mamata Banerjee needs to be on top of her game to counter the narrative. The TMC  needs to do active course correction to change the perception that the Bengal government is truly committed to welfare for all. Otherwise, the great wall of resistance that Bengal has put in front of BJP might crumble.