‘No caste, simply class in Bengal’- the belief that turned the tide towards Mamata in Bengal

For greater than 4 many years, the politics of West Bengal has revolved round class, due to the domination of the Communist events within the post-emergency interval. In 2011, Mamata Banerjee uprooted the 34-year-long regime of the Communist events on the politics of protest and minority appeasement. In the final decade, Mamata Banerjee has positioned herself “left of left” so far as class narrative is worried. But speaking concerning the ongoing elections within the state, caste has positively develop into an element that may sway the outcomes come May 2.The ‘intellectuals’ proclaimed that caste identities have been worn out of West Bengal and the state is experiencing what of their opinion is ‘progressive politics’. In order to hail West Bengal as the top of the political contest in India, the leftist intellectuals and teachers worn out political violence, bloodbath, and riots beneath the Communist events and TMC authorities led by Mamata Banerjee.However, the facade of casteless politics modified after BJP began making inroads within the state. The occasion, with the organisational power of RSS, labored tirelessly within the tribal and rural areas of the state, the place nearly all of the inhabitants is from decrease castes and Scheduled Tribes.In Bengal, BJP’s prime voter base consists of OBCs, SCs, and STs. Riding on reputation in these communities; the occasion managed to win 18 seats out of 42 within the 2019 normal elections in West Bengal. The constituencies that the occasion majorly gained in 2019 had been rural – primarily within the Western and Northern areas of the state.The occasion has carried out admirably in each the 2016 meeting elections and the 2019 normal elections since Dilip Ghosh was appointed because the President within the area. In the 2019 normal elections, the occasion gained 40.64 per cent votes within the state- solely three per cent lower than that of TMC. In each the elections, the occasion gave tickets to a lot of Hindu OBCs, who’ve been historically ignored by all three mainstream events of the state.BJP has repeatedly accused TMC of ignoring the Hindu OBCs. J P Nadda, the President of BJP, criticised Muslim appeasement politics by the events from West Bengal just like the TMC. He stated, “The biggest example of appeasement [in Bengal] are OBC reservations. To the OBC list were also added minorities – and in large numbers.”“It is due to the votebank politics of appeasement that backward castes from our Hindu religion such as Mahishya and Tili have been kept away from reservations. When we come to power we will set up a commission to try and ensure that all castes identified by the Mandal Commission are included in the mainstream,” he added.The BJP has wooed the voters from the OBC, SC, (Mahishyas, Tamus, Sahas, and Telis, Sadgops and Namsudras) and ST communities, who represent above 50 per cent of the state’s whole inhabitants, and is mainstreaming leaders from these communities.In the title of casteless politics, the politics of West Bengal had been dominated by Bhadralok Community, which constitutes three higher castes- Brahmin, Baidya, and Kayastha. These castes account for simply 20 per cent of the state’s whole inhabitants. But, all of the CMs of the state – whether or not of CPM, Congress, or TMC – have been from the Bhadralok group. OBCs, SCs, and STs by no means had a say within the politics of Bengal.After the Mandal Commission report prompt a quota for Other Backward Classes, the then CM of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu stated, “West Bengal has only two castes- rich and poor.” The Communists by no means realised the peculiar nature of Indian society the place caste issues greater than the category, and subsequently, the politics of the state remained in Bhadralok elitism.Since the early 2010s, BJP has been tirelessly working, particularly within the OBC and ST-dominated areas of West Bengal. Dilip Ghosh, who comes from the Sadgop caste of the Jungle Mahal region-one of the backward areas of West Bengal, was appointed because the President of West Bengal BJP in 2015.In the 2021 Assembly Elections, the individuals from the non-Bhadralok group will almost definitely reclaim their rightful place in Bengal politics and this can change the picture of the state eternally. The earlier left-front governments and the present Mamata authorities have destroyed the financial system of the state, subsequently, a regime change is critical to place it again on the trail of development. Only a regime change can convey again the golden days of West Bengal and the BJP is ensuring of that.