New Delhi, March 25 (IANS) In West Bengal, where Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on April 23 and 29, there is a rush to “collect the spoils” from a direct political battle between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the principal opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — the minority mandate.

Historically, this mandate has largely gone in favour of the party or bloc that has ruled the state — from the Congress to the Left Front and now, Trinamool Congress – but lately, there has been an attempt at breaking that hold.

This time, the ruling Trinamool Congress has fielded 47 minority faces among its 291 candidates.

There is no provision in the law against a party picking up some extra votes to turn prospective king- or queen-maker, or collect enough mandates for the Election Commission to elevate its national recognition.

But in a state like West Bengal, where the sundry ‘bhadralok’ (people) prided themselves on “secular” and “objective” views, such attempts threaten a divide beyond politics.

Yet, successive state governments have been alleged to have extended the ambit of secularism to what is usually termed as minority appeasement.

Incumbent Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been on record, calling such voters as “milch cows” in political parlance.

This vote bank has powered the Trinamool Congress’ rise and subsequent presence in governance for 15 years.

That confidence may now face a threat, with smaller Muslim outfits, a resurgent Congress, and voters’ dissatisfaction likely to test the ruling Trinamool Congress’ electoral fortunes.

The state has nearly a Muslim population of 30 per cent, with some districts hosting population over half comprising the minority community, thus holding sway in about 115 among the state Assembly’s 294 seats.

Thus, the rush for the spoils, apprehending anti-incumbency sentiments may well be in play.

In January 2021, ahead of the then Assembly election, Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, a cleric from Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district, officially registered the Indian Secular Front (ISF).

It had then contested the Assembly election in 38 seats in alliance with the Left Front and the Congress.

The bloc nominated ISF candidates in seats where Muslim votes were anticipated to be decisive, even at the cost of smaller Left constituents.

The fledgling party managed a single seat from Bhangar, while its allies drew a blank.

This time, the ISF has managed to get about nine seats less, but Left ally like the Forward Bloc intends to contest in a few of these seats, leading to more “friendly fights” this time.

The Congress will this time go alone to the hustings, primarily eyeing a few seats, mostly in the minority-dominated districts of Malda and Murshidabad.

Incidentally, this region is expected to witness a multi-cornered contest with the recently-launched Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) of the Babri Masjid replica builder Humayun Kabir allying with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

This new combine, too, is eyeing the Muslim vote bank, mainly to garner enough seats to evolve as a voice in post-poll government formation.

The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has been waiting in the wings for some time to test the electoral waters but refrained in 2021, with the ISF reportedly having ruled out an alliance.

In a region that re-invented the Awadhi version into its own style of “Kolkata biriyani”, a Hyderabadi variety would have needed some local ingredients for the Bengali palate, which Owaisi realised.

He found that in Humayun Kabir, the latter being a seasoned politician, who has been active in the state.

Though the AIMIM had made its foray in the last state panchayat polls, it will feature for the first time in state Assembly elections, hoping to emulate its performance in neighbouring Bihar, where it won five of the 28 seats it contested last year.

–IANS

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