West Bengal: CPI(M), a member of the INDIA Alliance, fields candidates to challenge TMC in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections

The central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has asked the West Bengal chapter to field candidates against their state rival Trinamool Congress, in contrast to other states where the INDIA alliance members are planning strategies to dethrone the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

What does CPI(M) indicate?

A senior CPI(M) politician reportedly told HT, “After a three-day meeting, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury briefed central committee members in Delhi that the situation on the ground in Bengal is quite different from that in other states. Although the opposition alliance’s only goal is to isolate the BJP, the CPI(M) Bengal branch cannot become an ally of TMC, its main rival, he said.

 

The binary is apparent, according to CPI(M) Bengal state secretary Md Salim. The BJP anticipates winning the anti-TMC votes. That is not acceptable. Congress should decide what to do about Bengal. We created our own.

 

The Trinamool Congress was a coalition partner with the Congress in 2011, however the national party left the government when they won the assembly elections and ousted the CPI(M) party. After CPI(M) began fielding candidates, there is speculation that Congress may use a similar approach this time.

 

As they aim to win 35 seats out of the 42 in this election, the BJP has a different challenge in Bengal than they do in other states.

 

What is being said by Congress?

“Going for an electoral alliance with TMC, against which we have run in all elections since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, will only help BJP, defeating the core purpose of INDIA; all anti-TMC votes may land in the BJP’s kitty,” a senior Congress leader told the media. The national leadership has also addressed this problem, the leader said. The leader said, “People who are against the TMC would not squander their votes on us if we align ourselves with the governing party. The BJP may emerge as the electorate’s obvious option now that it has been in control at the federal level since 2014, the Congress leader said.

 

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the president of the Bengal State Congress, said, “The BJP is free to make its calculations on loss and gain. As of right moment, we are a long way from any partnership. What use does speculation serve? Chowdhury has often charged that Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, has a “close understanding” with the BJP.

 

Even though he is not opposed to any alliances against the BJP, veteran TMC leader Saugata Roy asserted that the party does not need one to win the elections. He said, “BJP will find it tough to retain more than seven to eight seats, regardless of whether the INDIA alliance works out in Bengal or not. The findings from the panchayats revealed the truth. Mamata can win every seat by herself.

 

What claims the BJP?

“In the recent July 8 panchayat polls, TMC won around 57% of Bengal’s 73887 seats across all three tiers,” an unnamed Bengal BJP official informed HT. In 17 of Bengal’s 22 districts, the BJP won almost twice as many gram panchayat seats as the Left and Congress combined. The partnership with INDIA will support us more.

 

Samik Bhattacharya, the main spokesman for the BJP in Bengal, is optimistic that people would continue to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi even if the TMC teams up with the Congress.

 

History of West Bengal’s vote share

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP expanded its representation in the state from two in 2014 to 18. The TMC’s vote share dropped from 34 to 22, yet there were two seats added and two seats lost in the Congress. The CPI(M) no longer has a representation in West Bengal’s Lok Sabha after losing both seats.

 

The BJP’s total, however, has dropped to 16. Shatrughan Sinha regained his Asansol seat in a byelection for the TMC, and MP Arjun Singh entered the TMC in 2022 without giving up his position in the Lok Sabha. Babul Supriyo left his seat in the Lok Sabha to join the TMC in 2021.

 

In 2019, the TMC received 43% of the vote, while the BJP received 40%.