CPM-BJP: On killing spree in Kerala, hand-in-glove in W Bengal
While the southern bastion of Kerala witnessed a political double murder, the warring CPM-BJP have decided to join hands in West Bengal.
Kolkata: At a time when the BJP and the CPM are engaged in a bloody war of extermination in Kerala, the arch rivals have joined hands at the grassroots level in West Bengal to defeat the Trinamool Congress in the upcoming panchayat polls.
On Tuesday, the CPM and the BJP lost one worker each in a matter of hours in Mahe as revenge killings reared its ugly head.
The unholy 'alliance,' anathema till recently for the deeply dogmatic parties, has put both the parties in the dock. The alliance has taken shape in Nadia district in West Bengal.
The parties have been trying to justify the events as 'isolated incidents' ever since reports of the strange tie-up came out.
However, notwithstanding the barrage of justifications both the CPM and the BJP have been coming up with, the 'Nadia model' makes the fierce ideological battle the two parties project elsewhere in the country look a farce. That the development comes close on the heels of the CPM's party congress that declared the BJP its the principal enemy makes it more absurd.
Maintaining that it was not a 'formal seat sharing arrangement,' a district-level CPM leader said the party had to opt for seat adjustment in many places as several villagers wanted a one-to-one fight against the TMC.
The CPM, with an ideology diametrically opposed to that of the BJP, never loses an opportunity to describe the saffron party as a 'divisive force.' The BJP's north Nadia district unit president termed the development an 'isolated incident.'
The quantum of attack, both physical and verbal, unleashed by the parties on each other in the past makes one squirm seeing the 'isolated incident' in Nadia. In Kerala, at least 25 political murders have taken place after the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government came to power in 2016. Most of these murders were results of direct confrontation between the CPM and the BJP, especially in the northern district of Kannur where both the parties have reportedly established their party villages.
The unusual bloodbath in Kannur has been a hot topic of debate for national TV channels, especially after the current government assumed office in Kerala.
Both the BJP and the CPM have been trying to play the victim card, calling the other a constant perpetrator of violence. The BJP even fielded its top leaders including party chief Amit Shah and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath in a show of strength during a statewide march during which Shah said it was the Communist party that gave birth to political violence.
BJP's aggressive campaign against the CPM on a national level had even triggered talks of the ruling party at the Centre imposing president's rule in the state. The CPM was not behind in countering the attack. It even paraded the kin of the victim of RSS/BJP terror in front of the Raj Bhavan on one occasion.
The rivalry between the two parties is not confined to Kerala alone. It was highly evident in Tripura recently after the BJP eregistered a stunning victory over the CPM there. Sporadic violence was reported from the state with CPM accusing the BJP of unleashing terror in the hangover of election victory.
The proposal by a section of the CPM to go for tactical alliance with the Congress to defeat the BJP had created a hullabaloo among party ranks recently. Those who stitched up a tactical alliance with the BJP for whatever existential reasons in Bengal should have remembered at least all those ruckus.
The bonhomie first came to light in the last week of April when both the parties organised a joint protest rally in Karimpur-Ranaghat area of Nadia district against the alleged violence of the TMC during the panchayat poll process. Cadre of both parties carried their respective flags during the protest programme.
CPM Nadia district secretary and state committee member Sumit De agreed that there had been adjustments at the grassroots level in many seats as several villagers were in favour of a one-to-one fight. It has nothing to do with the party's policy, he added.
"Yes, there have been adjustments at the grassroots level. In many seats as the villagers had wanted one-to-one fight, we had to respect it and act accordingly. But it is not that there have been several rounds of discussions between parties and it is a formal seat sharing adjustment," De told PTI.
Senior CPM leader and state committee member Rama Biswas, who was present at the joint rally of the two parties, said a rally had been taken out by villagers against the violence of the TMC.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh too admitted that supporters of the BJP and the CPM were present at the rally. "I have received information that we had called a rally against the violence by the TMC. CPM workers also came and joined our protest rally as they too were attacked," Ghosh told PTI.
A senior state BJP leader, who did not wish to be named, said that in areas where the BJP could not field a candidate 'it has given enough hints to the voters and party cadres to counter the TMC which has unleashed violence.'
BJP north Nadia district president Mahadeb Sarkar said, "In some seats where we could not field candidates, our workers at the grassroots level have extended support to independent candidates."
"In most cases, these independent candidates are actually CPM workers," he said. In several grams panchayat seats of Nadia-Karimpur area, BJP candidates were asked to withdraw their nominations so that the CPM could fight against the TMC and vice-versa, a district BJP leader said.
In those seats, the party (either CPM or BJP) which has not fielded any candidate is campaigning for the other one to defeat the TMC, the BJP leader of Nadia's Karimpur area, who did not wish to be named, said.
CPM central committee leader Sujan Chakraborty said few 'isolated incidents' should not to used to judge the CPM's political line against BJP. "We are the only party in India which has the most clear approach against BJP and its communal policies. We are not like the TMC which is not serious about fighting BJP. Our policies should not be judged based on isolated incidents. In panchayat poll such isolated incidents do happen. You will find it in other parties also," Chakraborty said.
The TMC claimed that the political development in Nadia only proves that the BJP and the CPM are having a 'tacit understanding in Bengal.' "We are not surprised at this development as we were aware of such developments in various districts. Only the TMC is serious about fighting the BJP and its anti-people policies," TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said.
According to West Bengal SEC (State Election Commission) sources, of the 48,650 seats in 3,358 gram panchayats, 16,814 were uncontested and of the 9,217 seats in 341 panchayat samitis, 3,059 were uncontested. In the 20 zilla parishads, 203 of the 825 seats were uncontested, they said.