Takeaway From Uluberia Bypoll Result: BJP Has A Long And Tough Battle Ahead In Bengal

The results of the bypolls in the Uluberia Lok Sabha constituency in Bengal hold some important lessons for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. With the Trinamool candidate Sajda Ahmed (widow of the last MP Sultan Ahmed whose death necessitated the bypolls) trouncing the BJP's Anupam Mallick by more than four lakh votes, it is quite apparent that the BJP still has a long way to go to pose a serious challenge to the Trinamool.

There have been allegations of rigging against the Trinamool in the bypolls. That is nothing new and in Bengal, rigging is a stark reality. The Congress used to rig the polls till the mid-1970s, the CPI(M) perfected it to a fine art and the Trinamool is simply following suit. An early indication of who will face defeat in any election in Bengal has always been provided by who levels the allegations of rigging; the ultimate victor never makes such allegations.

The BJP has to focus on building its organisational muscle to counter the Trinamool's formidable election machinery if it is to win elections in Bengal. There is no point in expecting the Election Commission to conduct completely free and fair polls and even deployment of Central forces has, as experience has shown, not made much difference on the ground for many reasons.

The massive mandate that the Trinamool candidate got also shows that Hindu votes are still divided. The BJP was banking on a consolidation of Hindu votes in Uluberia and that clearly hasn't happened. On the other hand, the Muslims (who form 40 per cent of the electorate) have mostly rallied behind the Trinamool even though, apart from the Trinamool, the CPI(M) and the Congress had also fielded Muslim candidates. The BJP thus has to do much more in Bengal to consolidate the Hindu votes.

The BJP in Bengal also has to put its own house in order. It has to end the infighting that plagues its state unit and find a face that finds acceptance among the people of the state. Unfortunately, the BJP in Bengal has not been able to produce a charismatic leader. And with the top leadership engaged in petty squabbles, the party cadres in the state are also an unenthused lot.

A very important task before the BJP in Bengal is to chart out an alternative agenda for the state. Blind opposition to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will not do and harping on her blatant minority-appeasement won't do - the BJP has to present an alternative vision for Bengal. It has to tell the people of the state what it will do, if elected to power, to take Bengal out of the financial mess it is in now, what it will do to bring in investments and provide employment and what it will do to improve the quality of life of the people of the state. It has to list out concrete action plan and not make vague promises. It has to emerge as a strong and credible alternative to the Trinamool. And it has considerable way to go in this.