Days after the 2019 Lok Sabha election results were declared, cadres of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) captured over 160 Trinamool Congress (TMC) party offices across several districts of West Bengal.
The development would seem unusual considering the performance of the CPI(M) in the general election. In a first since its formation in 1964, the CPI(M) has failed to win a single seat from West Bengal. Not only did the Left Front draw a blank in the state, it also lost its deposit in 40 of the 41 seats it contested.
In the violent politics of West Bengal, it has become common practice for winning party cadres to break the locks and barge into a rival party’s office. After that, they hoist their party flag, put up photos of their party stalwarts and change the locks. In most cases, these offices have been built illegally, and have no documents, so the take-over cannot be contested.
This is part of the culture of ‘revenge politics’, which can include attacking the workers of a defeated party. In 2011, after the TMC stormed into power, defeating the Left Front’s uninterrupted 34 years of rule, its cadre reportedly took over one thousand party office belonging to Left parties.
In the current situation, however, it’s not the winning party that is taking over the offices. Majority of the TMC party offices that the Left captured are located in constituencies where the BJP has won. Most of these places belonged to Left parties before 2011.
This has been observed in Dinhata, Bhetaguri in Cooch Behar, Dewandighi, Bhedia in Burdwan, Mahesh in Hooghly, Habra and Duttapukur in North 24 Parganas.
According to Babu Mukherjee, a CPI(M) worker from Duttapukur, “Since the election results have come out, Trinamool’s situation has become bad and we are taking advantage of this.” When asked whether the BJP was helping them in capturing party offices, Mukherjee said, “Not directly. But local BJP leaders are backing us from behind. They (the BJP) told us that if anything happens, we are with you.”
Bengali news portal The Wall has reported that local BJP leaders and workers – while celebrating the saffron party’s performance – captured some TMC offices and handed them over to the local CPI(M) leadership.
CPI(M) leader Tirthankar Roy, who contested from Serampore, told The Wire he wasn’t aware of any such cases in his area. When quizzed about the party office in Mahesh area, Roy said, “Party office in Mahesh was never acquired by the TMC. On the night of results (May 23), the TMC locked up the party office and put up their flags there. Next evening, we broke the lock in the presence of Left workers and the police.”
Also read: The Blame for CPI(M)’s Glide Into Irrelevance Rests Solely on the Politburo
News reports claim that the erstwhile base of the CPI(M) has been a major force behind BJP’s electoral success in West Bengal. A large section of Left supporters voted for the BJP in these elections – just to teach Mamata Banerjee a lesson.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Credit: PTI
CPI(M) leaders have, however, questioned those news reports. Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “Both the BJP and the Trinamool are jointly spreading a canard and the media is lapping it up to create a binary narrative in Bengal by saying that the CPI(M) and the Left are promoting the BJP.”
The truth was established on May 23, when Left Front’s vote share reduced to 7% from 29.9% in 2014 and the saffron party’s vote share swelled to 40.25% from 16.8% in 2014.
CPI(M) youth leader from Medinipur, Sujit Jana said, “We wanted to defeat Mamata first. We know that only the BJP can defeat Trinamool, so everyone at the CPI(M) voted for the BJP.”
While speaking to The Wire, Jana initially denied that the BJP helped the Left in capturing TMC party office, dubbing it a “political situation” working in their favour. However, he later admitted: “BJP’s win made the TMC weak and it has given us oxygen to fight.”
Another CPI(M) member from Nadia, Dipak Roy, said: “After the BJP’s good performance in West Bengal, Trinamool has come on the back foot. Morally, they have lost ground in Bengal. Hence, we are taking advantage of the situations.”
Also read: Three Factors That Led to the BJP’s Impressive Gains in West Bengal
When asked whether they have been getting support from the BJP, Roy explained, “Our people voted for the BJP. They attended CPI(M) rallies and meeting – but voted for the BJP. Now when we are overtaking TMC party offices, it’s obvious those people won’t oppose us.”
Speaking to The Wire, CPI(M) MLA and senior party leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “The party officially has not taken any decision to acquire our party offices which were taken over by the TMC goons. Some news reports suggest this is happening in various areas. However, the number given by the media is much less.”
Trinamool leaders, on the other hand, said, “We repeatedly said, CPI(M) was working hand in gloves with the BJP during the election. The recent incidents just prove what we claimed.” Speaking at a public meeting in Medinipur, transport minister of West Bengal, Suvendu Adhikari said: “If they (CPI(M)) are capturing TMC party office, we know very well how to recapture them.”
Taking a completely opposite stance, political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty said, “It’s Trinamool which is willingly giving back the custody of party offices to CPI(M), which they had captured after coming to power.”
On questioning the reason behind such a move by the TMC, Chakraborty said, “The TMC very well knows that the BJP will capture party offices in the areas where they won. So for them (TMC), it’s better to give back party offices to CPI(M) rather than have the BJP capture them from the TMC and make it their own.”
Himadri Ghosh is a Kolkata-based journalist.