West Bengal: TMC-BJP Binary Not Working This Time, Says Biman Basu

Kolkata: Contesting the narrative of a TMC-BJP binary contest in the Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, Biman Basu, chairman of the Left Front, said this time things were different from the past, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attacks on the Left-Congress alliance in his poll speeches.

“This time,  the Lok Sabha election is not being held within the ambit of TMC-BJP (Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party) binary and this compulsion is propelling even Prime Minister Modi to attack the Left-Congress combine in his electoral campaigns in the state . Once the results are out, many will be surprised with the performance of the Left- Congress combine,” said Basu at a “Meet the Press” event organised by the Kolkata Press Club on Thursday.

Basu accused the TMC and BJP of playing a “political game of loot and communalism” in the state, which he said was being challenged by the seat adjustments between the Left Front and Congress.

“Earlier,  TMC and BJP used to taunt the Left-Congress for zero seats in the Lok Sabha from the state, but after witnessing a spirited joint campaign, they have been forced to bring alliance in the reckoning,” he added.  

Attacking Prime Minister Modi on his ‘Amrit Kaal’ campaign, his ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ slogan, Basu said the dismal outcome was visible.  “In 2014, among 120 countries, India stood at 55th position in per capita income, and in 2024, the country is at the 111th place. As much as 40% of the country's resources are now concentrated in the hands of 1% of the population, and the bottom 55% has only 3% of country's resources,” he said, adding that “ if development is real then it has to be based on the principles of equitable income amongst all sections of the population.”

Highlighting the need to defeat the BJP throughout the country, Basu said that if Modi won again, he would “decimate the country ‘s Constitution.”

He accused the PM of carrying out a divisive electoral campaign and giving out false facts about the king of erstwhile Krishnanagar, while TMC was “campaigning against linguistic minorities of the state.

“Both the parties are not uttering a word about unemployment, livelihood or issues faced by the ‘aam aadmi’ (common person)”, he said.

Basu criticised the TMC on the recent expose by a former party spokesperson saying that the party, contrary to perception, knew everything about the teacher recruitment scam much before 2021, and hence had removed the education minister Partha Chatterjee. He accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “playing an intrinsic role in the recruitment scam by creating posts through a cabinet decision.  “Now she is trying to come clean in those scams,” he added.

On Sandeshkhali, Basu accused the TMC government of changing the nature of land from arable to bheri (ponds) by “allowing her party strongmen to snatch away land from poor people.”

Basu appealed to the people of West Bengal to save the state and the country, by not voting for TMC and BJP.

When asked for a response to sexual harassment allegations against the Governor, Basu refused to comment, saying that he was not aware of “whether any politics is involved” in the matter.

On the Election Commission, the Left Front chairman told reporters that it was clearly being “controlled by people close to the Prime Minister”. 

“Allegations of breaking of the model code of conduct by the Prime Minister are falling on deaf ears. They (EC) are delaying informing the populace on the voting percentage. If it construes that the protected EVMs have been tampered with, then a dangerous conspiracy is being hatched,” he added.