After the defeat in West Bengal, TMC workers are rapidly switching sides to BJP. Saffron flags have been installed on party offices overnight. This opportunistic defection presents a challenge to BJP’s own ideology.
(Article by Rajat Karmakar)
‘Dugdugdugdug, look Babu, look at the game.
The monkey will dance, the monkey will dance, money will fall from the sky…’
A similar political game is going on in West Bengal these days. There is competition with each other. Who can prove how soon by painting themselves saffron, ‘Guru, we are staunch BJP people!’
I am a resident of Tollygunge. There are many party offices of Trinamool Congress (TMC) near my house. Till yesterday evening, these offices were locked and the shutters were closed. Of those TMC supporters who used to sit here every day and watch news and matches on TV, only a few were seen, and that too disappointed. But by this morning the picture had completely changed! TMC flag, boards with pictures of Mamta-Abhishek-Arup, all missing. BJP flags have been installed at the party office overnight. All that remains is for the shutter to open. Seeing all this the local people are smiling. Some people are angry and saying, ‘Even a chameleon can come to take tuition from them.’
TMC and ideology…
I have read in many reports and heard in podcasts that most of the people in TMC are not for ideology. Many people used to call TMC in hushed tones as ‘Taka Mara Company’ (money making company). Now he is speaking openly. So the same people who used to spend money are now roaming around wearing saffron gulal! Those who used to run syndicates in every locality and used to torture people, will become Valmiki overnight by joining another party, what is the guarantee of this? So now this ‘unbidden water’ is ready to grow crops on the fertile land of BJP.
And why blame only small workers. It is widely reported that even before the election results came out, former minister and MLA Arup Biswas had held a meeting with Biplab Deb at the farmhouse of a local BJP leader in Sonarpur. Many other big names like Sujit Basu, Sabyasachi Dutta are also being heard in this list. The local people have even given a new name to Arup. Well, this name is not new. Ever since the Messi incident took place at Yuva Bharti Stadium, people started calling him ‘Messi-Arup’. Some people used to say jokingly, ‘TMC people in Tollygunge now get irritated just by seeing the blue-white jersey, which is the color of Messi’s number 10 jersey.’
names and infamies
Arup Biswas has not been seen in the area since the defeat. From Tollygunge’s Studio পাড়া (Studio Para) to the common people, no one speaks good about him. Those who spoke till now, spoke out of fear. There is no need to tell the reason. Arup’s name was linked to everything from sharing in donations to temples, occupying grounds and selling shops, to syndicates. People knew that there would be no use in complaining to the police. Everyone remained silent in front, but inside there was anger. The same anger has come out in voting.
Now we will have to wait for a few more days to know whether this scene is of Tollygunge only or of the entire state. But sorry TMC workers of Tollygunge, the processor of former TMC workers is very fast, this is clear. And why only this, rickshaw pullers, auto pullers, shopkeepers – all have removed TMC flags overnight and installed Lotus flags. Similarly, in 2011, opportunistic workers of the Left also joined TMC. Some out of fear of being beaten, some to avoid a police case, and mostly just to earn money. As said earlier, TMC does not work for any ideology. But BJP calls itself a disciplined and ideological party. If this ‘bin bulaya paani’ joins the party, can the top leadership of BJP guarantee that their ideology will not go down the drain?
free hand to loot
TMC probably made this mistake deliberately. In the last 15 years, Mamata Banerjee has had only one policy: Make me win in the elections, in return you have free rein to do anything. Meaning, ‘I and my party won, so you guys can do whatever you want, loot as you want, just deliver my share.’ Political analysts believe that a similar undisclosed agreement was at work. Now this ‘uninvited water’ has become a ‘saffron bearer’, partly due to the fear of being beaten and mostly because of the fear of losing its income, thus putting the chameleon to shame.
BJP supporters who raise slogans of Jai Shri Ram also know very well that Ravana had abducted Sita while wearing saffron clothes. Wearing saffron does not make everyone a renunciant. And even their staunchest supporters cannot say that these people have ever sacrificed anything. Therefore, sage beware! TMC itself is a living example of what can happen to the party due to uninvited water. Before that the left parties had also made the same mistake. And whenever a party has lost because of these defectors, it has lost completely. Couldn’t find way back.
Will BJP also repeat the same mistake?