BJP Needs To Get Its Act Together In Bengal Not Just For Its Own Sake, But That Of Bengali Hindus

There is no other way of saying this less bluntly: the BJP suffered an embarrassing drubbing at the hands of the Trinamool Congress in last week’s by-elections to six Assembly seats. 

Not only did the Trinamool relegate the BJP to a distant second in five seats--and a third in one--it even snatched a seat in North Bengal for the first time. 

The Trinamool negated all gains made by the BJP in the last Lok Sabha elections and won the six seats by huge margins. 

The state BJP president and junior Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar chose to play down the defeats by saying that the party’s focus is on the 2026 Assembly elections. Other party seniors fell back on the explanation that by-elections are general won by the party in power. 

But that cannot cover up the BJP’s failure to put up even a respectable show at the hustings. The RG Kar rape-murder, and the many charges of corruption and mis-governance against the Mamata Banerjee government, could not be leveraged by the BJP. 

Of the six Assembly segments where by-polls were held, the Trinamool won five in the 2021 Assembly elections. But in three of these seats--Naihati, Midnapore and Haroa--the BJP took a lead in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year. However, the Trinamool staged a comeback with a much bigger victory margin (over its 2021 performance) this time. 

The BJP had won the Madarihat Assembly seat in North Bengal in 2016 and 2021. From 1969 to 2016, the seat was held by the Revolutionary Socialist Party, a constituent of the Left Front. The Trinamool humbled the BJP by winning this seat by a margin of nearly 80,000 votes this time.

The reasons for the BJP’s dismal showing are many: a dispirited election campaign, disunity and serious dissensions in its leadership ranks, serious organisational deficiencies and failures and a growing lack of faith among the people of Bengal about its intent. 

Compounded with all the shortcomings and failures of the state unit of the BJP is the growing public perception in Bengal that the party’s central leadership is not very interested in winning the state. 

This perception has gained ground mainly because of the central leadership’s failure to resolve the leadership crisis in the state and curb dissension in the ranks, re-energize disgruntled party workers, revamp the organisation to make it effective, lay out a long-term vision for Bengal’s economic and cultural rejuvenation, inject strength into the party’s organisational muscle in Bengal and carry out other measures that can project the BJP as a much better alternative to the Trinamool Congress. 

There is also the widespread perception that the BJP leadership’s strident election-time criticism of the Mamata Banerjee government’s many failures and malfeasance is only for public consumption. 

The Union Government’s hands-off policy on serious law and order violations in the state as well as corruption by Trinamool functionaries is often cited as evidence of the BJP central leadership’s lack of intent to take Mamata Banerjee to task for all her acts of omission and commission. 

Why the BJP must reverse this perception

The BJP central leadership must do all it takes to reverse this perception that severely damages the prospects of its growth in the state. 

Now that the elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand are over, it is imperative for the BJP leadership to turn its attention to Bengal and demonstrate its intent, loudly and visibly, to challenge Mamata Banerjee in Bengal. 

This is necessary not just for the party’s own sake, but also for that of embattled Bengali Hindus who are facing a dire situation on both sides of the international border--in Bangladesh as well as Bengal. 

Saving Bengal's Hindus

The sorry plight of Hindus in Bangladesh is, by now, well known to the entire world. Facing attacks from Hinduphobic Muslim radicals in that country and persecution by the state machinery, Hindus in Bangladesh are faced with a severe existential crisis. 

The religious rights of Hindus are being curbed very subtly and intelligently. For instance, Hindu processions, rituals and festivals face growing curbs. News of attacks on Hindus by Muslims are suppressed and those who expose such news are prosecuted by the state machinery. 

As happens in Pakistan and Bangladesh, false allegations of blasphemy are levelled against Hindus by Muslims and then used as an excuse to attack Hindus. This has been happening with an alarmingly increasing frequency in rural and semi-urban areas and the administration is often accused by Hindus of siding with Muslims. 

The state machinery has been accused of successfully gagging the media, including social media. The ‘mainstream media’ has been completely subverted and co-opted by the ruling party through efficient use of threats and rewards. 

Strict supervision is exercised over social media and any negative portrayal of the state or exposure of ‘inconvenient’ news is suppressed with a heavy hand. 

That is why news of persecution of Hindus in Bengal, especially in the hinterlands, barely filters out of the state. 

Bengali Hindus are also being, slowly and systematically, displaced from lands they have been living in for generations in many areas, especially in the districts along the Indo-Bangla border. 

The next census will reveal the actual figures, but there is the widespread fear that Muslims account for well over 30 per cent of the state’s population, up from 20 per cent in 1951. This is not due to just the high birth rate among the Muslims, but also due to the unabated illegal influx of Muslims from Bangladesh as well as Rohingyas into Bengal. 

The exponential and unnatural growth of the Muslim population in Bengal is proof enough of this influx. In the decade between 1991 to 2001, the Muslim population in Bengal grew by 51.4 per cent and in the following decade, by 35.2 per cent. The next census will also bear evidence of this influx. 

The Trinamool Congress has often been accused of encouraging this influx for its political interests. 

The growth in the population of Muslims has led to the community getting a highly disproportionate share of political power, much to the detriment of Hindus. 

Muslims, as is well known, vote strategically and there is barely any division of Muslim votes. This makes the solid 30 per cent (or more) Muslim vote in Bengal critical to the Trinamool’s survival in power. And, thus, makes the Trinamool bend over backwards to appease Muslims, including fundamentalist Muslims who have strong links with radical and terror groups in Bangladesh. 

All this has meant the gradual marginalisation, including political marginalisation, of Hindus. Muslim appeasement has adversely affected the interests and rights of Hindus in Bengal. 

That is why it is necessary for the BJP to get its act together in Bengal. Only a strong, united and determined BJP can unite the Hindus of Bengal and unseat the Trinamool Congress from power. 

A BJP government which is not dependent on the en bloc votes of Muslims can safeguard the interests of the Bengali Hindus. 

Also, only a BJP government can put a stop to the large-scale illegal immigration of Bangladeshi Muslims and Rohingyas whose unwanted presence in the country poses a serious threat to India’s security and integrity. 

Hindus in Bangladesh have already been marginalised and a growing number of them have been leaving the country. That is why the population of Hindus in that country has fallen drastically from over 22 per cent in 1951 to less than 8 per cent two years ago. 

If the marginalisation of Hindus in Bengal also gathers momentum, Bengali Hindus will have to slowly migrate out of Bengal. 

And not in the not too distant future, the community will be left without a homeland. It is up to the BJP to forestall such a calamity.