With the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections set to be held on June 1, it appears that local issues took precedence over national matters during the campaigns for the 42 seats in West Bengal. Although the electorate is voting to elect the government at the Centre, the focus of all political parties in the fray is still on state-centric issues. For instance, the BJP has focused on issues like corruption cases against the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders, charges of sexual harassment of women at Sandeshkhali and misuse of funds released under centrally-sponsored projects. Interestingly, this line of campaigning has not just been followed by prominent BJP leaders in the state, but even by the party’s national leadership.
The campaign speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were full of references to state-specific issues. For instance, in the campaigns for the last two phases, Modi focused on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s observations, accusing a section of the monks of Bharat Sevashram Sangha, Ramakrishna Mission and ISKCON of acting on behalf of the BJP. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress leaders, especially Mamata and the party’s General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee devoted most of the time in either defending the allegations made by the BJP or in explaining how the saffron party has deprived the state government of its legitimate dues under different centrally-sponsored schemes.
One interesting similarity in the campaigns of the BJP and the Trinamool Congress has been their take on the CPI(M) and the Congress. Both BJP and Trinamool Congress have accused the CPI(M) and the Congress of having a covert understanding with their political rival in the state. This slur war was kicked off by Mamata when she started describing CPI(M) and the West Bengal unit of the Congress as clandestine partners of the BJP in the state. Soon the BJP leadership, including Modi launched a counter-campaign describing CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress as “enemies in Bengal but partners in Delhi.” Surprisingly, even the Congress-Left Front alliance has focused on state-specific issues while campaigning.
The alliance leaders have mainly talked about three issues, namely cases of corruption, clandestine understanding between BJP and Trinamool Congress and attempts to polarise voters in the state on religious lines by the BJP and Trinamool Congress. An interesting factor in the Trinamool Congress’ campaign has been the constantly-shifting stand of Banerjee on the INDIA bloc. After claiming that the INDIA bloc will end the tally with over 300 seats, with the BJP stopping at a little over 200, Mamata said that she would give outside support to any probable Union government formed by the Opposition alliance. Within days she shifted her stand and claimed that she is very much a part of the INDIA bloc and will take the lead role in any probable Opposition-led government at the Centre.
