“The communists Have Become The Bourgeoisie Now,” Shobha’s Fiery Campaign In Alappuzha

“The communists have become the bourgeoisie now,” Shobha’s fiery campaign in Alappuzha

In the 2024 LS elections, BJP is sparking curiosity around its foray and prospects in the deep south.

The central questions revolve around the BJP's potential to make substantial inroads into Tamil Nadu and Kerala and whether it will cross 20 per cent vote share in these states.

There is excitement and fervent speculation on prominent battles like Annamalai versus DMK in Coimbatore and Rajeev Chandrashekhar versus Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram.

The BJP's campaign strategy is interesting: articulate candidates with high recall value, cogently linking local issues with Modi government’s performance using a sleek and well-organised team.

This is particularly true of Shobha Surendran's  energetic campaign in Alappuzha in coastal Kerala which gives into BJP's rising momentum in the region.

• Surendran is in a triangular contest with the sitting Communist MP A M Ariff and K C Venugopal of the Congress, who won in 2009 and 2014.

• Surendran's outreach to the fishing and shrimp farming community, coir industry, promise to address coastal erosion and make the harbour along the Alappuzha coast a reality are all resonating with voters.

• Linking these issues to Modi government’s welfare initiatives – rations, water, cooking gas, toilets, medicines, a Jan Dhan bank account, and houses – seems to have struck a chord.

• This resonance is evident in growing support among the coastal community and successful outreach to the Christian community.

• In contrast, Surendran's opponents are grappling with corruption allegations helping BJP's anti-establishment appeal.

• In her past electoral outings, Surendran has successfully raised BJP’s vote share from single digits in 2014 to 25 per cent in 2019. This suggest a promising narrative for the BJP in 2024

Read this ground report by my colleague Venu Gopal Narayanan on how Shobha Surendran is giving a scare to Congress and Communist candidates in Alappuzha: https://swarajyamag.com/reports/interview-meet-sobha-surendran-bjp-candidate-taking-on-most-powerful-congress-general-secretary-in-ldf-fortress 

In Bihar, SP and MP respectively stand for "Sarpanch Pati" and "Mukhiya Pati", not Superintendent of Police or Member of Parliament

In Bihar, Women's Reservation Act has led to a unique challenge in the form of "Sarpanch Pati" and "Mukhiya Pati".

Origin:

• Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's move to reserve 50% of panchayat seats for women disrupted traditional power dynamics. 

• However, it inadvertently led to male family members, often termed as "Sarpanch Pati" and "Mukhiya Pati," taking control post-election, diluting the Act's intended empowerment.

Dominance in Governance:

• These male proxies, after their wives' electoral victories, wield authority in decision-making and governance, overshadowing the elected women including forging their signatures. 

• This trend is not limited to Bihar but across the states with reservations.

Bahubali Landscape:

• The bahubalis in Bihar found another use for "Sarpanch Pati" and "Mukhiya Pati" phenomenon – using their wives as proxies while they face criminal charges or languish in jails. 

• These include politicians like Pappu Yadav, Mohammed Shahabuddin, Munna Shukla, Anand Mohan, Suraj Mahto, Anant Singh, Ajay Singh, Awadhesh Mandal, Surajbhan Singh, and Chandan Singh.

Challenges and Emerging Voices:

• Despite this entrenched system, newer leaders like Shambhavi Choudhary of LJP and Ritu Jaiswal of RJD are breaking the mould, driving independent political ambitions and challenging traditional power structures.

Lalu Legacy?

• This trend isn't new though. Take the case of Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi, where the latter was used as a proxy for the former.

• However, most of the time questions around it are laughed over or dismissed

In Bengal's Cooch Behar, BJP’s Nisith Pramanik has brought together ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Allahu Akbar’

In Nisith Pramanik’s unique campaign in Cooch Behar, Muslims play an important role in his rallies and even in key positions in his campaign machinery.

• Pramanik, MoS under Home Minister Amit Shah, is popular among Muslims who seem comfortable carrying BJP flags and putting on Modi masks.

• Muslim leaders accompanying Pramanik in his roadshows and campaigns, make it a point to appeal to Muslim voters, about 29% of Cooch Behar’s electorate, to vote for the BJP candidate.

• Anowara Begum and her son Rizwan manage the crowds at Pramanik’s residence. Stressing that her services are voluntary, she says “we are helping out Nisith Pramanik because he has done a lot for us. We (Muslims) love him.”

• Shabbir Sheikh has taken a month’s leave to help out Pramanik’s campaign.

• Pramanik, whose appeal cuts across all sections of the population, switched from TMC to BJP in 2018. He won the seat for BJP in 2019. 

• This neglected region of Bengal began to see momentum of development and poverty alleviation various welfare and infrastructure projects after this victory.

Read this ground report by my colleague Jaideep Mazumdar on how Nisith Pramanik and his Muslim voters are taking on Trinamool in Cooch Behar: https://swarajyamag.com/west-bengal/ground-report-from-bengals-cooch-behar-bjps-nisith-pramanik-winning-over-muslims-to-retain-this-royal-seat