Riding on Saradha scam BJP makes inroads into West Bengal

Just three years ago when a senior BJP leader went to address a rally near Kolkata, there were not more than 400 people.

When it won Basirhat Dakshin by-poll on Tuesday, it caused a ripple in the political circles-- the BJP had made its first foray into the West Bengal assembly. The victory in the seat bordering Bangladesh, even if by a small margin, was the outcome of a meticulously planned strategy dominated by the Bangladeshi immigrants issue and the Saradha scam.

Subtly pursuing its ideological line on the Bangladeshi infiltration issue, the party reached out to the Indian Muslims touching a chord with those who resented the Bangladeshis from their community fearing that they were getting a share of welfare schemes like MNREGA.

"We have got 50-55 per cent votes which means that Muslims have also voted for us," BJP national secretary in-charge of West Bengal Siddharth Nath Singh said. The seat has a Muslim population of over 40 per cent.
The BJP's stance on the Bangladeshi Muslims seems to have won the party some support among the Indian Muslims, party sources claimed.

Besides, the party also assured that the pressure of Hindu migrants Bangladesh would not fall on the border states as BJP-ruled states would share in giving them refuge. Around 5400 Hindu refugees from Bangladesh have been given shelter in Madhya Pradesh, sources said. The BJP has indicated that it would like to change the IMDT Act.

The BJP also banked on the support of non-Bengalis-- the Marwari businessmen and labourers from UP and Bihar.

The Saradha scam came in handy for the BJP which unleashed a scathing attack against the ruling TMC. Singh quoted reports in Bangladeshi papers to allege that TMC's Rajya Sabha MP Hasan Ahmed Imran used Saradha chit fund money to fund subversive programmes of the Jamaat-e-Islami party to try to dislodge the Sheikh Hasina government, attracting a defamation suit.

The BJP, which now sees itself as the alternative to Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress with the CPM reduced to the third place, is now eyeing the assembly poll. The BJP came second in the Chowringee by-poll, which the TMC won.

When BJP chief Amit Shah addressed a rally in Kolkata earlier this month ahead of the by-polls, it was clear that the party meant business in a state it has remained a marginal player. He asked the cadres to focus on the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. He suggested dividing the state into six sectors, on the lines of UP, and forming committees to monitor booth formation.

The party has trained 50 state leaders to further train leaders at the district level on the party strategy and ideology, sources said.

The BJP's Samik Bhattacharya defeated football player Dipendu Biswas of TMC in Basirhat Dakhin by a margin of 1742 votes. The CPM had won the seat in 2011.