The BJP on Saturday announced a list of 56 candidates for the first two phases of the Bengal polls, predictably fielding Trinamul turncoat Suvendu Adhikari against chief minister Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram.
The party left a 57th seat — Baghmundi in Purulia — for its Jharkhand ally, the All Jharkhand Students Union. Sixty constituencies are to vote on March 27 and April 1.
The BJP list, released after a delay of at least two days, contained no big surprises but for the language the party chose to announce the names in at a time it is fighting a perceived “cultural disconnect” with Bengal.
The BJP list, announced by general secretary Arun Singh in New Delhi, was printed in English and Hindi but not in Bengali. Trinamul too had published its list in English and Hindi but Mamata Banerjee had made the announcement in Bengali. The Left opted only for Bengali while releasing its list.
The matter would not have drawn much attention had a section of BJP leaders in Bengal not commented about it. “How many people in rural Bengal understand English or Hindi?” a BJP leader asked.
Apart from fielding defected MLAs such as Adhikari, Tapasi Mondal (from the Left) and Sudip Mukherjee (from the Congress), the BJP has mostly rewarded long-time workers. Former India medium-pacer Ashoke Dinda is the lone celebrity on the list.
Shortly before his name was announced, former minister Adhikari -- who had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J.P. Nadda to let him contest from Nandigram -- thanked the Election Commission for the way it had drawn up the poll schedule for Bengal.
Mamata has publicly accused the commission of catering to the BJP’s interests in Bengal.
Throughout Saturday, the BJP remained busy communicating with most of the 28 outgoing Trinamul MLAs whom Mamata had dropped from her candidate list on Friday, hoping to engineer last-minute defections. The BJP has not named its candidates for the remaining six phases, which account for 234 seats.
Satgachhia MLA Sonali Guha, once considered close to Mamata, Shibpur MLA Jatu Lahiri and former Bhangar MLA Arabul Islam have publicly indicated the possibility of switching sides.
Various places across the state have witnessed demonstrations and clashes stemming from some Trinamul leaders’ and workers’ displeasure at the candidate list.
Earlier in the day, former Trinamul Rajya Sabha member Dinesh Trivedi joined the BJP at its national headquarters.
“It’s a golden moment for me; I was waiting for this,” said Trivedi, who has had three terms in the Rajya Sabha and two in the Lok Sabha when he was backed by either the Congress or Trinamul.
