(As West Bengal gears up for the Assembly polls, every Tuesday, The Indian Express’s Kolkata bureau chief Ravik Bhattacharya decodes the electoral trends, political signals, and campaign moves shaping the contest.)
In the melee that is the battle for Bengal, the offices of the Governor and, in a quite unprecedented manner, that of the President of India have been dragged into the middle of the high-voltage political battle between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP over the past week.
First, on March 5, Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose announced his resignation, taking even Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee by surprise, and was replaced by Tamil Nadu Governor and former Deputy National Security Advisor R N Ravi. Then, a couple of days later, during a visit to north Bengal, President Droupadi Murmu sounded emotional as she pointed out the absence of the CM or any of her ministers at her event, signalling a break in protocol, and questioned why the venue had been shifted.
This sparked a bitter exchange between the TMC and the BJP amid allegations that the highest Constitutional post had been dragged into politics ahead of the Assembly elections. The timing has also been questioned by the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
Both incidents occurred at a time when the TMC is on the warpath against the Election Commission, the autonomous, constitutional authority that is vested with the power of organising elections, over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that has left the fate of at least 60 lakh people hanging in the balance. The uncertainty surrounding these names under “adjudication” has already led the CPI(M) and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) to demand that Assembly elections be held after this adjudication process is over. However, even with 200 judicial officers from Odisha and Jharkhand being deployed, and only 6.5 lakh cases disposed of till now, at least a month or more will be needed to complete the process.
After Bose announced his sudden resignation and the government promptly replaced him with Ravi, Banerjee was swift to raise questions. “The reasons behind his resignation are not known to me at this moment. However, given the prevailing circumstances, I would not be surprised if the Governor has been subjected to some pressure from the Union Home Minister to serve certain political interests on the eve of the forthcoming state Assembly elections,” the CM alleged on social media.
A couple of days later, the TMC chief alleged from the stage of the dharna that Ravi was a “BJP cadre” and reiterated that Bose — who some in the BJP thought was not consistently strong enough in his dealings with the ruling party in the state — had been forced to resign. Like two of his immediate predecessors in Bengal, Ravi was known for his frequent run-ins with the M K Stalin-led DMK government in Tamil Nadu during his tenure, including stand-offs over withholding assent to Bills and staging walkouts from the Assembly over differences in the speech prepared by the government. Bengal BJP leaders hope that the new Governor will bring some of that fire in the state and keep Banerjee on her toes.
Then came the big controversy as President Murmu dropped a bombshell while attending a Santhali conference in Siliguri in north Bengal over the weekend. She alleged that tribals had been “stopped” from attending her event and later said she was sad at the alleged protocol contravention. “I am also Bengal’s daughter. Mamata Banerjee is my sister. She is my younger sister. I don’t know. Maybe she is angry with me. But it is okay. I wish her well,” the President said.
As the President’s words set off a political conflagration, with the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the office of the President had been insulted and the TMC government had “crossed all limits”, the ruling party in Bengal sensed a conspiracy. It found expression in the CM’s remarks when she advised the President not to “play politics on the BJP’s advice during elections”. “You did not speak about SIR. How many tribal names have been (removed) from the voter list? Kindly find out,” Mamata said.
When BJP MP Raju Bista said free and fair elections in the state would be possible only if President’s Rule were imposed, the TMC immediately jumped on the statement. “We have been warning Bengal that the BJPis desperate to impose President’s Rule as their final, frantic bid to steal power. And now their own MP, Raju Bista, has openly called for it,” the party posted on X along with the video clip of Bista.
“First they weaponized the Election Commission to launch the most ruthless voter purge in history, effectively paralysing the state administration ahead of elections,” the party said in a statement, adding, “When that failed to crush us, they unilaterally changed the Governor without consultation, hoping a new puppet in Raj Bhavan would strangle our spirit. That too fell flat. Bengal stood taller. Now, cornered and humiliated, with no path left through, President’s Rule is their last, gasping hope. Suspend the elected government, dissolve the Assembly, rule by diktat from Delhi; that is the autocratic fantasy they are openly salivating over.”
Then, from the dharna stage on Sunday, Mamata added her voice to these allegations, insinuating that a “blueprint” for imposing President’s Rule before the Assembly elections had been drawn up and the recent events pointed to that.
Not about the protocol
The allegation of protocol violation appeared to stick as on March 27, 2023, Banerjee and Ananda Bose had welcomed the President on her first visit to the state since assuming office. In four of the five subsequent times the President visited the state she was welcomed by Cabinet Ministers such as Firhad Hakim, Babul Supriyo, and Barbara Hansda. This time, the job was left to Siliguri Mayor Gautam Deb.
This row over the President’s statement and the TMC’s counter allegations of the Union government conspiring to impose President’s Rule have added a sharp edge to the already fraught political atmosphere in Bengal, where anything, no matter how small, appears to have the potential to blow up into something big.
With the BJP turning the President’s remarks into an issue of the honour of the tribal community, the TMC’s sharp response, to a large degree, could also have to do with the fact that north Bengal, where the BJP is fairly strong, in late February saw a big tribal protest. The protest march to the regional secretariat against the assault of a pregnant tribal woman last December — following which her newborn died — turned violent when the police attempted to stop the protesters.
However, President’s Rule, which will require the Union government to make a case for total breakdown of law and order, seems improbable at the moment, given that the elections are close by. The Bengal BJP is also divided on the issue, it is learnt, with a section arguing that it will only further fuel Mamata Banerjee who is the tallest mass leader in the state. Some, however, feel that imposing it could be the only way of loosening the TMC’s iron grip over the administration and the police in the few weeks left before the model code kicks in.
TMC leaders are now keeping a close watch on the next moves of the EC, whose full bench, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, is in the state and faced protests on Monday. The party appears divided on the President’s Rule, with one section of the view that it will benefit them and another apprehensive about losing control of the administration and the police if it is imposed. However, with the EC considering holding the polls in two or three phases, President’s Rule does not appear to be a serious option at the moment. For now, the ruling party also appears to be more concerned about the fallout of the President’s remarks on the tribal vote bank in the state.
