Suvendu's 'No Vote to Mamata' slogan raises questions on whether it'll work

By Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri
Kolkata, April 2 The West Bengal BJP, especially the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Suvendu Adhikari, has of late shifted the line of campaign against the ruling Trinamool Congress.

Rather than 'Vote for BJP', the leader of the opposition has started focusing more on the changed rhetoric of 'No Vote to Mamata'. Through this new tagline coinage, in his own words, he is trying to spread a message that voters irrespective of their political belief should refrain from extending support to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress instead of thinking of who will be her alternative.

"I am not speaking of a grand alliance. I appeal to the leadership of both Congress and CPI(M) that they should tell people not to vote for Mamata Banerjee or Trinamool Congress at any cost. Once the people of West Bengal are convinced in this matter, let them decide whom they will vote for as an alternative," the Leader of the Opposition has clearly said.

However, veteran CPI(M) leader and the Left Front chairman Biman Bose does not agree with this logic by Adhikari. "Probably, he is forgetting that just as we are against Trinamool Congress, we are also against the BJP-RSS combine. So, our motto is to combat both these forces in West Bengal," Bose said.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leadership, however, feels that this strategy of Adhikari will not work out in West Bengal for two reasons.

The first reason, according to them, is that the people of West Bengal, who have tested the fruits of tremendous development activities under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, cannot even think of any other alternative other than TMC chief.

The second reason, according to them, nationally a feeling has started developing among people about 'No Vote to BJP', which means that people will vote for BJP's strongest opponents in the respective states. And since in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress is the one and only alternative to BJP, the voters will surely shower their blessings again for Mamata Banerjee.

However, political observers find a strange semblance between Adhikari's current 'No Vote to Mamata', with the line that the chief minister adopted directly against CPI(M) before 2011 state assembly polls and against BJP before the last assembly polls in 2021.

Before the 2011 West Bengal assembly elections, which marked the end of the 34-year Left Front rule in the state, Mamata Banerjee, as the then principal opposition leader in the state made a similar tagline coinage against CPI(M) as she coined the slogan 'Lal Hatao, Desh Bachao' (Wipe out red and save country). That slogan urging people to reject CPI(M) at any cost without thinking of the alternative worked wonders and Trinamool Congress being the strongest opponent to Left Front then emerged as the new ruler in the state.

Again, before the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls, when the saffron wave was very strong in the state, Trinamool Congress through its confident intellectuals, social activists and celebrities started a so-called non- political rhetoric of 'No Vote to BJP'. Again, the rhetoric worked wonders for Trinamool Congress being the strongest opponent to BJP in the state at that point of time.

Now, the question that is floating around in the corridors of power in West Bengal is why Adhikari is using the same strategy against Mamata Banerjee, which she adopted against CPI(M) in 2011 and against BJP in 2021.

According to veteran political observer and columnist Amal Sarkar, it is not just Adhikari who has adopted this changed rhetoric strategy.

"The new strategy adopted by Adhikari is actually a counter to Mamata Banerjee's changed strategy in the recent past, where she has again started attacking CPI(M) equally like BJP. And what is she attacking CPI(M) about? They are the same allegations of corruption during the 34-year Left Front rule from 1977 and 2011. Her strategy is clear, which is to project BJP and CPI(M) as equal villains and thus prevent polarisation of opposition votes against Trinamool Congress," Sarkar explained.

On the other hand, he explained, Adhikari being an erstwhile trusted lieutenant of Mamata Banerjee for a long time and quite aware of her style of shifting political rhetoric, has coined this counter-rhetoric of 'No Vote to Mamata'.

"The logic of the Leader of the Opposition behind this changed strategy is same as that of Mamata Banerjee which is once people get convinced that Trinamool Congress has to be replaced at any cost, they will automatically go for the strongest alternative which officially as on date is BJP in West Bengal," Sarkar added.

Political commentator Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay feels that probably the forthcoming polls for the three-tier Panchayat system in West Bengal scheduled this year will give some indications on how far this changed camping strategy of the Leader of the Opposition will work out.