How far can BJP sway Bengal with hardline Hindutva and resources ?

Why is a political party that boasts of its dedicated cadre in such a clumsy, hysterical hurry to embrace defectors in Bengal? Why has it been co-opting the dissidents and the disgruntled from TMC, Left and the Congress? BJP used to take pride in its cadre-based organization. But there are two reasons which seem obvious.

First, BJP is unable to create an organizational structure on its own to muster required votes. The secular voters seem to be hesitant and only opportunists or the ones who have no options left seem to be joining the BJP in Bengal.

The second reason is the formidable political challenge posed by Mamata Banerjee. She and Bengal stand virtually alone in eastern India in opposition to the BJP and all that it stands for. She is an existential threat to the BJP and there is no surprise why BJP is going all out to ‘conquer’ Bengal. It certainly looks like a conquest and since all is fair in love and war, BJP has no difficulty embracing those it was bad mouthing till the other day, calling them corrupt.

The footprint of BJP over states has been shrinking since 2018. This was partially reversed by post-election toppling of governments in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh by coercing dissidents from other political parties to align with BJP. The same tactic BJP is applying even before the poll in West Bengal. This has nothing to do with BJP’s love for Bengal and its inhabitants or with its desire to make Bengal great again.

BJP’s desperate attempts to appropriate Bengali icons and exposing in the process its ignorance and dis connect with Bengal and Bengali culture have ‘put off ’ many Bengalis and not necessarily only the elites. Bengalis can be opinionated, argumentative and snobbish, even arrogant. But their ideas of religion and Hinduism are also at variance with the BJP. Bengalis eat non-vegetarian food during Nava Ratra and Durga Puja and they have had a long tradition of ecumenism.

An acquaintance from Murshidabad told me of an incident that is self-explanatory. In Mursidabad some time in November, there was a Hindu religious function being held opposite a mosque. Since the loud speaker of the mosque had developed snag, Muslims approached the Hindu organisers of the function and sought their permission to use their loudspeaker for the azaan, or the Muslim call to prayer. The request was conceded without any fuss and after the azaan, things continued uninterrupted.

Several days later the BJP held a rally at the same place. This time the speakers recalled the incident and insisted that if Muslims could have used the loudspeaker of Hindus for the azaan, then Hindus could also storm the mosque and use the loudspeaker there for reciting the Gita shlokas.

This is what BJP is doing to Bengal. And not everyone is happy. You do not read or hear of a ‘Gujarat Renaissance’ or a ‘Uttar Pradesh Renaissance’. But you do read about a ‘Bengal Renaissance’. To that extent Bengal’s mind and culture are different and more tolerant. That is why BJP’s ‘Hindutva’ is unlikely to move voters in Bengal.

(The author is a columnist and Kolkata history buff. He is also the author of ‘Without Prejudice’) (Views expressed are personal)