Whenever Mamata Banerjee came out on a movement, she won, what did BJP learn from the past?

In West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has taken to the streets against the final voter list of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Election Commission. Mamata Banerjee continued her protest for the second consecutive day on Saturday. She is sitting at the protest site, stopping, interacting with people and participating in public meetings.

Mamata Banerjee started the protest on Friday at Kolkata’s Metro channel, from where her caravan is continuously moving forward. They allege that the voters of West Bengal are being deprived of their voting rights before the assembly elections.

Mamata Banerjee argues that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission, together, are snatching away people’s right to vote. Mamta Banerjee is claiming that living people are being shown dead. She has taken to the streets from Delhi to Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee’s electoral history shows that whenever Mamata Banerjee has taken to the streets, the problems of the opposition have increased.

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Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister, West Bengal:-
Their intention is to divide Bengal. BJP is conspiring to snatch votes by dividing Bengal. They are harassing Bengali speaking people in other states and conspiring to deprive the people of West Bengal of their voting rights.

Why are you protesting?

Mamata Banerjee argues that the voter list is influenced by the collusion of the Election Commission and BJP. Those who are not BJP voters, their names have been struck off, Muslim voters have been declared Bangladeshis, eligible voters have been declared dead cows, families living in an area for years have been declared outsiders or considered doubtful voters. Tension regarding SIR is at its peak in West Bengal. Even before the Election Commission bench is about to visit West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has come out on the streets.

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What issues are there objections to?

The SIR process in West Bengal started in November. Since the start of the process, names of about 63.66 people have been removed from the voter list. Names of about 8.3 percent voters have been removed. The voter base has been reduced from around 7.66 crores to a little more than 7.04 crores. More than 60.06 lakh voters have been considered doubtful. They will be considered voters only after legal investigation.

When did the protests bring victory to Mamata Banerjee?

Mamata Banerjee is a leader who emerged from the Nandigram and Singur movements. When the whole world was emphasizing on industrial liberalisation, the leftist government, contrary to its prevailing ideology, was emphasizing on industries, then Mamata Banerjee stood against the government from 2006 to 2008. The government had to bow down and the 35 year old Left Front government was uprooted.

The biggest strength of Mamata Banerjee’s politics has been her movement image. She comes out on the streets, communicates directly with the public, wins their trust. History is witness to the fact that whenever they staged a big demonstration, Trinamool Congress got direct electoral benefit from it.

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Movement, which made Mamata Banerjee the Chief Minister

There was a leftist government in West Bengal for 3 decades. No democratic communist government, in any part of the world, has remained in power for so long. From 1977 to 2011, the Left’s journey was ended by Mamata Banerjee in a few months of agitation. He defeated leaders like Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in such a way that they remain irrelevant in the politics of West Bengal till date.

• Singur Movement: The then Left government of West Bengal acquired about 997 acres of fertile land for Tata Motors’ ‘Nano’ car factory in Singur, Hooghly. The government was considering it as a means of development, but farmers started protesting against their three-crop land and inadequate compensation. Mamata Banerjee led this movement and gave it the slogan of ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’. Due to a 25-day hunger strike and massive public protest, Tata had to move this project to Gujarat in 2008. The image of the then Left government of West Bengal became anti-farmer and it left power.
• Nandigram Movement: In the year 2007, 14,000 acres of land was going to be acquired for ‘Chemical Hub’ in Nandigram, East Medinipur. Farmers were against it. Opposition to the acquisition turned violent. Farmers dug up roads to save their land and prevented police from entering the protest site. On March 14, 2007, 14 villagers were killed in police firing. Mamata Banerjee was leading this movement.

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What benefit did you get?

Assembly elections were held in West Bengal in the year 2011. Mamata Banerjee, for the first time, succeeded in overthrowing the Left government. In the year 2011, Mamata Banerjee came to power with a huge majority. The opposition was wiped out. Of the total 294 assembly seats, TMC got 184 seats, Congress got 42 and CPM was reduced to 40. This was a big victory for Mamata Banerjee.

Save Constitution Movement, gave lead to Mamta in 2019

In the year 2019, the issue of Saradha chit fund scam came up a lot. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reached the house of the then Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar to investigate this case. Mamta Banerjee sat on strike against this. He accused the Center of arbitrariness. Termed it as a major attack on the federal structure of the country. He linked this election to regional identity by making it ‘Didi vs Modi’. Lok Sabha elections were a few days later. Even in the strong Modi wave, BJP could secure only 18 seats, while Mamata Banerjee’s party, TMC, secured 22 seats.

Mamta played secretly on ‘wheelchair’ amid BJP’s noise

BJP had given its all in the 2021 assembly elections. All the Union Ministers, State Chief Ministers and senior leaders were bent upon campaigning at the booth level in West Bengal. Mamata Banerjee got injured in her leg during election campaigning in Nandigram. Alleged that BJP tried to crush him in Nandigram. She continued campaigning sitting on a wheelchair throughout the campaign. Held public meetings, rallies and raised the slogan of ‘Khela Hobe’. Sympathy towards him increased. She had defeated BJP in the battle of viewpoints. The slogan of Bengal’s daughter reached every home. Despite BJP’s huge lead, it came to power with a huge majority of 213 seats. BJP could not even get 80 seats. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Mamata Banerjee used these methods to win 33 seats and gave a big blow to BJP.

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What is the strategy in 2026 elections?

Mamta Banerjee has attacked several times regarding MNREGA fund between the year 2023 and 2024. She has landed on the Red Road of Kolkata. His nephew Abhishek Banerjee is working on agitation policy only. Abhishek Banerjee is emphasizing on ‘Abar Jite Bangla’, meeting people, working on Mamata Banerjee’s strategy.

What has BJP learned from this strategy?

Mamata Banerjee is raising the issue of funds received from the Centre, accusing the Center of step-motherly treatment and cornering the Center on the issue of SIR. She is calling BJP a party that snatches the rights of the poor. Mamata Banerjee is accusing West Bengal of imposing Hindi culture and calling BJP an outsider party. Their protest is once again increasing the worries of BJP. At present, BJP does not have an answer to this strategy of TMC.