Trinamul Congress on unsure footing in Jangalmahal

With 48 hours to go for the first phase of elections in West Bengal, Trinamul Congress supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee could find the going tricky in Jangalmahal, which goes to the polls on April 4. There are also reports of Maoists regrouping in the region.

Though the flyover collapse is not expected to have any electoral impact in this erstwhile Maoist-infested region, the Trinamul chief could possibly be worried as Jangalmahal has never been her comfort zone.

Jangalmahal, comprising of West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura, has 40 Assembly seats of the total 294 in Bengal.

Of these, 18 will go to the polls on Monday while the rest on April 11. Not taking any chances, Ms Banerjee held nearly 10 rallies in the area for the Assembly polls, compared to the two during the Lok Sabha elections in 2014.

Regardless of the Saradha scam, the Narada sting and the latest flyover collapse, “Didi” is still going strong in the state. The Left, which was reduced to 40 seats, is expected to improve its tally after it sacrificed its ideology and went for a class compromise by joining hands with the Congress.

As for the BJP, a senior party insider remarked, “If we win five seats, we will celebrate.” The BJP is, in fact, looking at the possibility of opening its account in West Bengal. Some saffron Bengal partymen have blamed the Centre for its “pathetic” plight. “The Centre has been giving mixed signals by cosying up to Mamata Banerjee. It also failed to take any action against the TMC in the Saradha scam,” he said. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rallies in Bengal, he quipped, “Empty rhetoric won’t help in elections.”

With the BJP not in the reckoning, the TMC will have to focus on the Left-Congress combo. During the 2011 Assembly polls, the combined voteshare of the Left-Congress stood at around 41 per cent, compared to the Trinamul’s 39 per cent. A Trinamul functionary countered the statistics by pointing out that during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, TMC’s voteshare was 40 per cent compared to the Left’s 20 per cent. CPI(M) boss Sitaram Yechury has tried to bridge this huge gap by striking an alliance with the Congress.

Polling in Jangalmahal will be watched closely as this could set the trend for the five-phased election. During the last Assembly polls, the Trinamul had bagged eight seats, Left Front won nine and the Congress obtained two in West Midnapore. In Purulia, of the nine seats, the TMC won five, the Congress and the Left Front two each.

A factor which will favour Ms Banerjee is the end of Maoist violence in the region. Reminding people of it, she recently warned: “Peace has returned. If you allow the CPI(M) to return to power, violence will again hit Jangalmahal.”