Kolkata, July 27 (IANS) Amid the rising political heat in West Bengal over the issues of ‘Bengali Pride’ and ‘Bengalis in Danger’ with both Trinamool Congress and BJP weaponising their narratives and counter-narratives, the other two political forces in the state, namely CPI(M)-led Left Front and Congress, are gasping for their alternative storylines.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has made it clear that her war cry on the issues of “Bengali Pride” and “Bengalis in Danger” will be her party Trinamool Congress’ principal campaign line against the BJP for the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections next year. The BJP, also, has pronounced its strategy to counter Mamata Banerjee’s “Bengali victim card” by the counter-narrative that this sudden popping up of Bengali Pride is nothing but the Chief Minister’s ploy to protect the illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators in West Bengal since the latter constitute the dedicated vote bank of her party.

Now in the midst of this narrative war between Trinamool Congress and BJP, both the CPI(M)-led Left Front as well as the West Bengal unit of Congress are trying hard to form their alternative storylines, which are neutral and different from the fervours of the BJP and Trinamool Congress narratives.

Political observers feel that creating these alternative narratives is quite a herculean task for both the Left Front and the Bengal unit of Congress. “The narratives coined by both BJP and Trinamool Congress on the issues of Bengali Pride and Bengalis in Danger have straitjacket patterns. However, neither the Left Front nor the Bengal unit of Congress can adopt such a narrative. They have to coin such narratives that neither appear to be tilted towards the BJP’s pattern nor appear to be toeing the line of the Trinamool Congress. That is exactly where the process of producing alternative storylines is difficult in this matter, for both Congress and the Left Front,” a city-based political analyst said.

That is why the leaders of both these forces are currently floating politically convenient statements, which appear to be countering the lines of both the BJP and the Trinamool Congress at the same time.

Both the CPI(M) and the state Congress leaders, on one hand, are describing the alleged events of harassment of Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states as attacks on the Indian democratic system, and on the other hand, are accusing Mamata Banerjee of exploiting the Bengali sentiment to suit her political convenience.

Another point where both CPI(M) and Left Front are attacking the Chief Minister is on describing her party’s movement on this issue of Bengali harassment as the 2nd “Bhasha Andolon (Language Movement”. Historically, “Bhasha Andolan” was a political movement in what was then East Pakistan, advocating for the recognition of the Bengali language as an official language of the country, which ultimately led to the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent nation after erstwhile East Pakistan was liberated from Pakistan in 1971.

At the same time, both CPI(M) and Congress leaders are also holding Mamata Banerjee responsible for the reported plight of the Bengali-speaking people in BJP-ruled states, considering that her flawed economic and industrial polices had left West Bengal dry of employment opportunities, which forced lakhs of Bengalis to migrate to other states in search of livelihood.

According to CPI(M) Central Committee member Minakshi Mukherjee, Mamata Banerjee herself is responsible for the harassment of Bengali-speaking people in the country, as a large number of people left the state as migrant workers during her tenure as Chief Minister.

“Has the TMC government done anything to protect the sanctity of the Bengali language and Bengali-speaking people? Migrant labourers from Bengal are being targeted in Assam and other states. Who is responsible for this situation? Why can’t her government provide them with jobs? She cannot make people forget her government’s failure to ensure a proper livelihood to Bengali-speaking people,” said Mukherjee.

Senior state Congress leader and the party spokesman in the state, Soumya Aich Roy, said that Mamata Banerjee should first stop the exodus of Bengali people from West Bengal due to a lack of jobs and industries, before using Bengali sentiment to mislead the people.

“Mamata Banerjee is trying to tap into the Bengali sentiment by bringing reference to Bhasa Andolan. Instead of doing this, she must provide jobs to the people so that this migration stops,” he added.

–IANS

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