The Lesser Evil: TMC vs BJP for WB and the recent violence in Bengal….

An analysis of the recent post-poll violence in Bengal and why Didi’s TMC is still a better choice than BJP for Bengal ….

I’m someone who supported TMC in the recent Bengal Elections. But I’m not someone who likes or supports TMC in general. I rather hate them, my entire family does so. But I hate BJP more, lotta more….

Before I go into the ‘why’ of that, let’s discuss the recent post-polls violence of Bengal….

The Post Poll Violence

Coming to stats. After cross-checking multiple sources, the stats are at 14 deaths [cross party] and hundreds of homes, shops and offices vandalised [mostly non-TMC]. TMC has a long history of links with goons and supporters acting like mobs. This is not different. Every time some form of violence breads out, if it benefits TMC, Didi and her supports pretend like that never happened. Some other examples would be the vandalisms and mob attacks during CAA and NRC protests, the doctors vs state aggression etc. No actions were taken against the perpetrators then and none will be taken this time either. Just like BJP, Didi’s love for her seat is far greater than her will to solve problems. Also, just like BJP, she is into vote bank politics too [to be honest, almost all parties are]. And her vote bank is the muslim population. She didn’t rise to power through muslim appeasement though. She rose to power by targeting the poor village population who weren’t benefiting from CPIM’s policies targeting the job goers. As it turns out, most of that population in Bengal are muslims. Slowly, she realised that and has been appeasing them ever since. To the extend of pretty much giving them a free pass and turning a blind eye to their wrongdoings….

Yes, that is wrong. The “Lesser Evil” is still “evil” after all….

The Bigger Evil

Coming to why TMC is the “lesser evil” and choice over BJP for Bengal. Let’s discuss the role of the BJP in the recent uprising. Although BJP lost the election by a huge margin [such satisfaction] and didn’t initiate this violence, they are actively trying to escalate it. Also, among the areas that saw the violence, BJP has won in Cooch Behar, Bhatpara and Ranaghat. While Didi and major TMC leaders are calling for peace [taking some actions as well would have been much better of course], BJP members and supporters are actively calling for revenge, central interference and bringing a communal angle. Not just that, many of them have been using photos and videos of Delhi riots and other unrelated events to misrepresent and further escalate the violence in Bengal. This has lead to the suspension of several Twitter accounts and my satisfaction, Kangana Ranaut is one of them. They are simply trying to escalate the situation to a level that brings in the President’s rule and topple the government of Bengal. They have been trying to do it with Maharastra for a long time now. This shouldn’t be a surprise. There’s one more important thing to note. This violence, although linked to TMC, wasn’t promoted or initiated by major TMC leaders. On the other hand, if you compare this to the Delhi riots, the violence was actively initiated and promoted by BJP leaders. No wonder they have a long history of state-sponsored riots. Even during the rallies for Bengal elections, BJP leaders have again and again made communal polarising comments….

Although still evil, the “lesser evil” is a much smaller demon the “bigger evil”….

Conclusion

As many likes to point out, Bengal has a long history of communal tension between the hindu and muslim population. It roots back in the pre-independence era and was its peak during the partition. CPIM has its own history of misgovernance and bad policymaking. They are majorly responsible for Bengal missing out on the IT boom in India and have at least one state-sponsored atrocity under their name. But under their 34 years of rule, the hindu-muslim communal tension somewhat died out. Today, TMC is appeasing the muslims while BJP is provoking the hindus. The day BJP comes to power, those provocations will turn into major civil riots with heavy casualties from both sides. And being a Bong, I don’t that to happen to my home….

Be very careful of what you wish for. Because it might just come true and you might not like the consequences….