With BJP Fully Capitalising On It, Sandeshkhali Could Become Mamata’s Achilles’ Heel In Bengal

The Lok Sabha election 2024 date is approaching fast and the BJP in Bengal is going all out to capitalise on the Sandeshkhali incident. The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress seems to have realised that the Sandeshkhali protests spearheaded by women of the region could well prove to be the party’s Achilles’s heel.

BJP Hits Out At Basirhat MP Nusrat Jahan Over Sandeshkhali Protests

Actor-turned-politician and TMC MP Nusrat Jahan faces a tough task ahead as the Sandeshkhali area is part of her Lok Sabha constituency — Basirhat. Nusrat Jahan, already facing an Enforcement Directorate probe for alleged involvement in a real estate fraud, has been targeted by the BJP for “prioritising” Valentine’s Day celebrations with husband Yash Dasgupta.

Priorities matter:

In Sandeshkhali, women are protesting for their respect. Meanwhile, the TMC MP of Basirhat is celebrating Valentine’s Day. #ShameOnMamata #SandeshKhaliHorror pic.twitter.com/bQ4weZFH51

— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) February 14, 2024

Nusrat and Yash had earlier shared a post, celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Fighting the 2021 Bengal Assembly Election on a BJP ticket, Yash Dasgupta had lost to TMC’s Swati Khandoker.

After weeks of intense protests, Nusrat Jahan broke her silence on February 25 when a report in a Bengali newspaper quoted locals as accusing the first-time MP of failing to visit them in the wake of the violence. Nusrat Jahan said: “… With the Sandeshkhali incident raging, Our Hon CM has already send Help.. and necessary steps are being taken for the welfare of the people… I have genuinely served the people in my constituency, in times of joy, in times of trouble.. I act in accordance with the guidelines of my party.. and I believe we must have faith in the state govt and administration,what is wrong shall always be condemned… [sic]”

It is heart wrenching waking up to such allegations. As a woman, as a public representative I have always followed my parties guidelines and served the people. With the Sandeshkhali incident raging, Our Hon CM has already send Help.. and necessary steps are being taken for the… pic.twitter.com/KrqOeSvWU0

— Nussrat Jahan (@nusratchirps) February 25, 2024

What Happened In Sandeshkhali?

The Sandeshkhali protests flared up a few weeks after the prime accused in the case, Sheikh Shahjahan, went “missing”. The protesters, almost entirely composed of women, alleged that Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides Shiba Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar, who are also members of the TMC, would call the women to the party office and harass them. They also alleged that their husbands would be made to work for the party without pay. The trio was also accused of usurping lands and converting them to fisheries.

The protests turned violent as the protesters laid siege to and vandalised party offices and TMC leaders’ houses.

Sandeshkhali: BJP Seeks To Woo Women Voters

The Sandeshkhali assembly constituency, a CPI(M) bastion for over six decades, has been favouring the TMC since 2016, with Sukumar Mahata wresting the seat from CPM and then getting re-elected in 2021. The Basirhat Lok Sabha constituency, under which the Sandeshkhali region comes, on the other hand, has been with the TMC since 2009. Basirhat, too, had also been a CPI(M) bastion for over three decades.

With 8.14 lakh voters, the women of the constituency comprise a sizeable portion of the electorate. In 2019, 6.79 lakh women turned up to vote, which was 83.49% of the women electorate. Overall, 47.4% of the total electorate in 2019 comprised women voters. Basirhat constituency, which borders Bangladesh, had 16.7 lakh electors in 2019, as per the Election Commission.

In Bengal, however, of the 5.7 crore voters, 2.8 crore were women in 2019, which was over 49%. Thus, both BJP and TMC are vying for the bigger pie of women’s votes in Basirhat and the state.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was on his visit to Bengal, took a dig at the TMC over its slogan of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush (Mother, Land, People)’. He invoked 17th-century social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy and said that the nation would decide the fate of those who are involved in the “atrocities against the Maa, Mati, Manush” of Bengal. “The TMC government has put all its strength into saving the culprits of Sandeshkhali, but the mothers and sisters across the country, including Bengal, are never going to forgive it,” said PM Modi. “Maa boneder shonge otyachaar kore TMC ghor paap korechhe [TMC has sinned by committing atrocities on Bengal’s mothers and sisters],” PM Modi said in Bengali.

TMC सरकार ने संदेशखाली के गुनहगार को बचाने में पूरी शक्ति झोंक दी है, लेकिन बंगाल सहित देशभर की माताएं-बहनें उसे कभी माफ नहीं करने वाली हैं। pic.twitter.com/CwKjt0GkmJ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 6, 2024

PM Modi also highlighted the efforts of the Centre to empower women.

अपने हुनर और नए-नए प्रयासों से आज पश्चिम बंगाल सहित देशभर के महिला स्वयं सहायता समूह, ‘राष्ट्र सहायता समूह’ के रूप में अपनी नई पहचान बना रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/zuNqeNFpD7

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 6, 2024

TMC In Damage Control Mode After Sandeshkhali Violence

The Trinamool Congress, which initially denied involvement in the Sandeshkhali incident, realised that the event, which the BJP had capitalised on with multiple dharnas and visits, could spell doom for the party in South Bengal. Soon, Shahjahan was arrested by the Bengal Police and was handed over to the CBI on March 6. His questioning by the central agency began on March 7. 

The women-led protests that refused to die down pushed the TMC to highlight women-focused initiatives. “On March 6, CM Mamata Banerjee announced a hike for ASHA and Anganwadi workers’ salaries “despite the imposed financial constraints”.

Smt. @MamataOfficial‘s steadfast support for women shines once more!

Starting this April, ASHA & Anganwadi workers will receive a well-deserved raise of ₹750, while ICDS helpers will receive an additional ₹500 for their invaluable service to the community.#ThankYouDidi for… pic.twitter.com/w80lKOKqrV

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 6, 2024

At the same time, the TMC attacked PM Modi, accusing him of insulting “Maa Sarada”, a revered figure for Bengalis across the world. “Today we heard PM Modi sing praises of Bengal’s women icons like Ma Sarada Devi. We have a simple question: Did he take note of BJP’s DEROGATORY CARICATURE of Ma Sarada Devi. Did he admonish the state leadership for their blasphemous conduct or issue an apology on their behalf? So, why this pre-poll pretense? Is that how gullible you think the people of Bengal are,” TMC leader and Bengal minister Shashi Panja said in a video on Wednesday.

Today we heard PM @narendramodi sing praises of Bengal’s women icons like Ma Sarada Devi.

We have a simple question: Did he take note of @BJP4Bengal‘s DEROGATORY CARICATURE of Ma Sarada Devi. Did he admonish the state leadership for their blasphemous conduct or issue an apology… pic.twitter.com/OIi2gLbE8f

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 6, 2024

Mamata Banerjee, along with her nephew and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, also participated in a foot march from College Square to Dharmatala in Kolkata to mark Women’s Day.

While the BJP included 28 women in its first list of 195 candidates for Lok Sabha polls, the TMC called it a “jumla“.

In today’s list of Lok Sabha candidates declared by BJP –

ONLY 28 out of 195 candidates are women.

That’s a shameful 14%.

Modi is going around the country claiming “Naari Shakti” as his campaign.

What stopped the BJP from giving 33% seats to women candidates in the upcoming…

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) March 2, 2024

PM Modi lectures on “Nari Shakti” while his own “Modi ka Parivar” includes the likes of Brij Bhushan Sharan who still is, btw, a sitting Lok Sabha MP despite protests from our champion women wrestlers.

Typical Modi – hollow slogans & perpetual “jumlas”. https://t.co/fw7sucG597

— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) March 6, 2024

The TMC also did a direct comparison of its own ticket allocation to women with that of the BJP’s in 2019.

What some mainstream media won’t tell you. In the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, of total tickets @BJP4India gave tickets to only 12.6% women. @AITCofficial gave tickets to 37 % women, much higher than 33% reservation. Walking the talk on woman power in Bengal, the state with India’s only… pic.twitter.com/b2Jwnw4WZA

— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) March 6, 2024

It is clear that as the Lok Sabha elections approach, both the BJP and the TMC are trying to grab the lion’s share of the women’s vote in Bengal.

BJP, TMC’s Performance In 2019

The BJP gained massive traction in Bengal in 2019, winning 22 seats — up by 20 since the 2014 polls. The TMC, on the other hand, managed to win 22 seats, which was 12 less than its 2014 tally. The Congress was down to just 2 seats, while the CPI(M) drew a blank in 2019.

Interestingly, while Raju Bista won by the highest margin of more than 4.13 lakh votes, Nusrat Jahan came in second on the Basirhat seat in terms of the winning margin.