First, a direct appeal to the Muslim to vote en bloc for the TMC, and then asking her supporters to gherao the para-military forces during the polling day. More than the contents of such appeals, what has come up as a more important point is that these appeals are being issued by no one other than Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Now the Election Commission (EC) has taken up the matter of communal appeal by Didi, and according to sources, the Commission is taking the matter seriously. TMC leaders have expressed confidence that the Commission will not be able to take any ‘real’ step. But, in the past, the commission has debarred leaders from campaigning for a limited period for such ‘communal remarks’. If it takes similar steps against the CM, her party will be in trouble, for she is the only face of her party.
On 3rd April, while addressing a rally, Mamata Banerjee mentioned the Aikyashree scheme for the minorities, and then said, “I am requesting my minority brothers and sisters with folded hands don’t divide the minority votes after listening to the devil who had taken money from the BJP.” Without naming anyone, Mamata Banerjee was attacking Abbas Siddique of the Indian Secular Front (ISF), a partner of the Left-Congress combine.
As Abbas has become a force to reckon with among the minorities, the TMC is seeing red, and the CM is attacking Abbas in every meeting where the Muslims have a sizable presence. For the record, 30 per cent of Bengali voters are Muslims, and till the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they stood solidly by Didi in South Bengal where the community can influence the results in about fifty assembly constituencies. A split in the Muslim vote may see many of these constituencies slipping out of Didi’s hand.
While attacking Abbas, the CM crossed the line by naming the ‘minority’ community. In fact, a couple of minutes later she made an appeal to the ‘Hindu brothers’ too. According to the model code of conduct, such appeals by naming religious communities cannot be made.
Apart from the possibility of any punitive step by the EC, such direct appeal to the Muslims may hurt the TMC politically. A Muslim polarisation may help the BJP to attract the Hindu voters as ‘Hindus’.
Again, today the BJP moved the Election Commission (EC) against Mamata Banerjee’s appeal to her supporters to ‘gherao CRPF jawans’. She said, “The BJP’s CRPF is beating women, harassing and killing people. They are obstructing voters from entering polling booths and casting their votes. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has instructed them to do so.” Then she added, “Do not trust the (state) police because during the elections they have been influenced by the BJP. If needed, form groups and gherao them and keep them busy in talking, while others will quickly go and cast their votes.”
BJP said the statement was ‘anti-national’ and asked the EC to bar Banerjee from campaigning anymore.
(The author Diptendra Raychaudhuri is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. He has a wide range of experience in covering West Bengal politics and has authored several books)