Interviewtimes 
While BJP is one up on the TMC in the perception battle, the regional bloc’s redoubtable grassroots structure makes it more winnable
The electoral battlelines are drawn. The poll bugle is beginning to reach its full crescendo. It’s a bipolar contest between the ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) and the BJP though some poll analysts are rooting for the Left-Congress to offer a semblance of competition. On the one hand, you have the incumbent Mamata Banerjee government, riding on its plethora of people centric schemes, a robust grassroots organization and proven performance on the ground seeking to woo voters again for a majority mandate. On the other hand, you have a daring challenger- the BJP, the largest global party, looking to build an anti-incumbency narrative and conflate it with the promise of an empowered Bengal. Below, we give you a lowdown on how the odds are stacked and how the two political parties size up against each other:-
· Choice of Winnable candidates
On this count, the BJP seems to have gone ahead on slipshod management. Just look at how they have nominated four sitting MPs- three from Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha for the West Bengal assembly elections. In the list of parachute MPs is the incumbent Union minister Babul Supriyo who is fielded from the Tollygunge constituency. Supriyo is pitted against Anoop Biswas, the sitting TMC MLA from the seat, a three-time triumphant candidate and a close aide of CM Mamata Banerjee. You realize how an incumbent minister is on the verge of being made a sacrificial lamb. Then, journalist turned Rajya Sabha MP has also been obliged with a party ticket. His winnability is suspect due to his complete lack of connect with the mass voters. More, the BJP has not shown enough confidence to announce the names of all 294 candidates at one go for the polls with barely a month to go. This has given ample fodder to vocal TMC leaders like Mohua Moitra to take potshots at the BJP. “They don’t have candidates for all seats and they claim to make a sweep in elections”, Mohua remarked wryly. This strategic blundering only points to the lack of winnable talent in the BJP camp. To amplify challenges for the BJP, the party workers are brewing resentment over political defectors (from TMC & CPM) given tickets to contest the polls.
· Grassroots level Organization Structure
Here, its advantage TMC! By virtue of being a regional political grouping and its stable regime, the TMC has built strong inroads into the Bengal hinterland. Mamata’s enduring charisma and her leadership resonating loud with the hoi polloi is unsettling the poll math of rival BJP. To offset the lacuna, the BJP has been poaching popular leaders from the opposite camps like TMC and CPM. Moreover, the party has been roping in its own leaders from other states to strengthen booth level micro electoral management. While BJP’s Amit Shah may be sending out a hyperbole in the party cadre with his claim of winning 200 of the 294 seats in the West Bengal assembly, local leaders and grassroots level workers realize it’s only a pipedream.
· Competition in Competitive Populism
Both the TMC and BJP seem to outdo each other in this game of dishing out political goodies. The BJP has promised Rs 18,000 as farm income and a new wave of investments and growth for West Bengal if voted to power. The party has also declared that a BJP government in West Bengal would rush in investments and create jobs. To counter this, Mamata Banerjee has been in overdrive announcing new schemes, but also repeatedly telling voters that she has rolled out benefits for the girl child, farmers, women and created a universal health card for all citizens. The BJP has tried to apply brakes on the Mamata juggernaut by staging Parivartan Raths or Yatras across the poll bound state.
On the whole, it’s going to be a trickier, more difficult choice for the voters who steps out to cast their franchise in the heat of elections. The days are passé when election outcomes were predicated on the voter’s choice of ideologies offered by political parties. Ideological differences are fuzzing out and a tangled narrative is ruling the electioneering trail. An opinion poll predicts the TMC cruising to a comfortable simple majority in the ensuing elections. The poll by Times Now-C Voter forecasts major gains for the BJP but not enough to unseat the Mamata regime. Over to the voters to judge if a ‘Poriborton’ is sweeping.
