That Mamata Banerjee is facing the pressure from the BJP and rattled by the saffron party’s recent epic triumph in Bihar is evident by the series of hostile statements she has been making about SIR and minority rights’ issues in Bengal.
Since independence, the land of Rabindranath Tagore has been ruled by the Communists with an iron fist for decades.
While the Congress was the main Opposition, the BJP hardly had a presence here. However, it was the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Mamata Banerjee that dismantled the Communists and she has been in power ever since.
The Congress vanished from the scene and it was the BJP that emerged as the Chief Opposition Party.
In the last two elections, the BJP put up a strong fight but could not wrest Bengal from TMC.
Conditions on ground are ripe for a BJP electoral victory but the Party does not have that single charismatic leader who can turn the tide comprehensively in its favour.
Even the best horse cannot win the Derby unless it has a good jockey to help it navigate the field.
One might argue that the BJP coasted to victory in places like Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh without naming the Chief Ministerial candidate. But they are States in the Hindi heartland where ideology gains precedence over everything else.
In Bengal, if the BJP is to win then it has to make the public mindset think in terms of ideology which is easier said than done.
Mamata Banerjee has given the BJP enough ammunition in the past as well but crossing the finishing line is a gigantic task for the BJP given the well-entrenched grassroots level organizational strength of the TMC.
Eventually, it comes down to this: Mamata Banerjee versus the BJP unless the latter can find someone who can match the charisma of the Chief Minister failing which they will have to rely on ideology primarily coupled with anti-incumbency and the Modi magic.
