Puja, football, Tollywood — BJP is beginning to grow roots in Mamata’s Bengal
Politics

Puja, football, Tollywood — BJP is beginning to grow roots in Mamata’s Bengal

To capture Bengal from Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool, BJP is actively courting the state’s iconic football clubs, film stars and Durga Puja committees.

   
West Bengal's BJP team with (L-R) Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Dilip Ghosh and Rahul Sinha. | ANI Photos

West Bengal's BJP team of (L-R) Mukul Roy, Kailash Vijayvargiya, Dilip Ghosh and Rahul Sinha. | ANI Photos

Kolkata: Emboldened by victory in nearly half the Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) is going all-out to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress. Be it the local film industry or sports clubs or Durga Puja, or even control of the lawyers’ body at the Calcutta High Court, an aggressive BJP is taking on the TMC in almost all conceivable constituencies.

On Monday, 22 July, the BJP, for the first time ever, gained a majority at the Calcutta High Court Bar Association polls. In another first, senior functionaries of two iconic football clubs of Kolkata agreed to meet BJP’s national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya following their letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting steps to revive the I-League. As far as Tollywood — the popular name for the film industry in West Bengal — and the annual Durga Puja events are concerned, the BJP is slowly but steadily making inroads there too.

All these societal structures of the state have traditionally been dominated by the ruling force. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or Left parties in their time kept away from direct control, but these clubs, puja committees or associations had a clear Left leaning.

However, as the red citadel collapsed in subsequent elections, allegiance as well as control shifted to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s TMC.

Now, the BJP is actively pushing for a control of these as it sets out to capture a state that is integral to its national plans.

Approaching the clubs

On 13 June 2017, the BJP wrote to two of the oldest football clubs in the country, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, stating that the party would be “proud” to be of “any help” to them. At the time, the clubs were struggling with two issues — to play at the Indian Super League (ISL), and the falling significance of the I-League. Neither of the two clubs responded then.

Earlier this month, six of the top I-League clubs, including Mohun Bagan and East Bengal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about their existential crisis, with the ISL evolving as one of the major tournaments in the country. Immediately afterwards, Kailash Vijayvargiya, under instructions from the PM, held a meeting with the clubs.

Significantly, the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club has ministers, two former TMC MPs and Mamata Banerjee’s brother as part of its top brass. One of these two former TMC MPs represented Mohan Bagan club at the meeting.

While political circles see this as a way of the BJP expanding its dominance over the two clubs that have close to 10,000 members and supporters running into lakhs, Mohun Bagan maintains that it is “only about football and there is no politics involved”.

Speaking to ThePrint, Vijayvargiya said, “We have spoken to both the clubs about the issues they have. We are trying to arrange a meeting between the Union sports minister and the clubs. All efforts to sort out their issues will be taken.”

Mohun Bagan’s finance secretary Debashish Dutta, however, denied any political influence on them by any party.

“Our only religion is football. Whatever we have done, it is to save the club. We did not write to any party president. We wrote to the prime minister of this country,” said Dutta.

He added, “Nobody asked us any question about this. We have our supporters and members cutting across the party line(s). If any day chief minister also calls us, we will explain our stand.”

Dutta said not only his club, but five other clubs too wrote to the PM in this regard.


Also read: All in a day — Trinamool mayor close to Mukul Roy resigns, 14 Bengali actors join BJP


 

Taking over Tollywood

In case of Tollywood, a clear division can be noticed across the artistes’ forum.

The West Bengal chief minister made her political inroads by calling popular actors and other tinsel town celebrities to her public meetings, rallies and even government programmes. The actors were even given preferential seating arrangements on the dais — seen sitting in front rows or next to Banerjee, or Banerjee would be pictured talking to them during rallies.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Banerjee fielded at least five Tollywood celebrities, and two in the 2016 assembly elections. This year, Banerjee fielded two young actors, Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty, in the general elections. Both won.

The BJP too played the celebrity card and brought in a few Tollywood veterans. But while the TMC’s gambit had paid off, the BJP did not find much success initially.

The ball started rolling in favour of Modi’s party once they inducted actors Locket Chatterjee and Roopa Ganguly. Chatterjee defected to the BJP from Trinamool in 2015.

While Chatterjee was popular in Bengal, Ganguly had a national appeal having portrayed Draupadi in B.R. Chopra’s television show from the late 1980s, Mahabharat. The former won in the Lok Sabha polls from Hooghly constituency while the latter was elected as an MP in Rajya Sabha.

Last week, at least 11 Tollywood actors joined the BJP at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Durga Puja panels are next

The other major West Bengal circuit where the BJP is trying to exert its dominance is the Durga Puja committees across the state. In Bengal, Durga Puja is not just a religious festival but a social one, and is often compared to the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro — the biggest carnival in the world.

Dominance over Durga Puja committees has been TMC’s forte. The ruling party’s top brass has openly flaunted its Durga Puja connect, and also claimed the festival “as its own”.

Almost all senior ministers, including Partha Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim, Arup Biswas and Subrata Mukherjee, are part of the top management of many big pujas in the city. For instance, several popular pujas in the city are colloquially referred to by the name of the minister or the TMC leader who is part of the organising committee.

A senior BJP leader, who didn’t wish to be named, told ThePrint that the party top brass has instructed its leaders to build public connect by being on Durga Puja panels. Almost 70 Puja committees of the West Bengal capital and suburbs are in touch with the BJP this year and among these are three well-known pujas of south Kolkata, added the leader.

However, TMC leaders are trying to put up a brave face on this kind of an aggression by the BJP.

State’s Education Minister and TMC secretary general Partha Chatterjee said, “BJP is mostly a party from the Hindi heartland. They do not understand the language and the culture of Bengalis. They have money and with money they are trying to make some inroads. But it will not bring them any long term benefit.

“People are with our leader Mamata Banerjee and they will be with her.”


Also read: BJP will treat Bengal’s 2020 civic polls as a mini general election: Mukul Roy