West Bengal Assembly Election 2021: How 'Ram' and Left are important factors in deciding CM Mamata Banerjee's fate

The Nandigram air reverberated with chants of "Jai Shri Ram" as Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday held a massive roadshow in support of party candidate Suvendhu Adhikari, who is pitted against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

As Shah and Adhikari atop a gaily festooned campaign vehicle with posters screaming "Banglay Ebar Asol Poriborton" choked the four-kilometre stretch on the same day when Banerjee, too, was scheduled for canvassing in Nandigram, where campaigning ended on Tuesday (March 30).

"It's BJP everywhere in West Bengal! I am sure that Nandigram will turn out to be the epicentre of Poriborton in Bengal. Have a look at these pictures from the streets of Nandigram," tweeted Shah hours later as he already embarked on two other roadshows in Debra in Paschim Medinipur and Panskura Paschim in Purba Medinipur. He shared a number of photographs that showed the crowd frenzy.

The "Jai Shri Ram" chant has been making quite a bit of noise when it comes to the politics of Bengal, however, there is another force that is working towards ousting the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government from West Bengal, i.e. the Left voters. 

The Left voters' shift has led to the BJP’s rise in West Bengal. The CPI (M)-led Left Front, which contested 41 out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal in 2019 had only 7.5 per cent of votes. Their number saw a significant decline from 10 years earlier. However, the Left voters could still play a role in shaping the outcome of the Assembly 
 Elections. 

There are many erstwhile Left voters, who will not vote for the TMC come what me. Most of them have shifted their loyalties to the BJP. As both the Congress and the Left fought separately in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, their cadres understood well that both the parties could not compete with TMC, hence, they sided with the BJP.

In the 2021 assembly elections, however,  the Congress and the Left parties are contesting together, but the attitude of the alliance leadership has disappointed the workers.

However, the alliance is left at the mercy of God as no national leader from the Congress or Left parties visited the state for campaigning.

Voting in Nandigram will take place in the second phase of the election on April 1, along with 29 other Assembly seats.

After the first phase of polling, which saw record turnout, Shah has claimed that the saffron party will win 26 seats out of 30 which went for polling on March 27.

"Based on discussion and feedback received from booth-level workers and leaders, I can confidently say that we are winning 26 of 30 seats which went in for a poll in the first phase in West Bengal," Shah had earlier said.

(With IANS inputs)