Kolkata polls flatten BJP’s membership claims

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) tall claims of massive membership drive has failed to reflect in the recently held Kolkata civic polls as the party was restricted to only 4-5 per cent votes against 17 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.

The party’s trounce in the state has posed serious questions as to where were its members during the civic polls and why have they vested their faith in the Mamata Banerjee government, instead of the BJP – the ruling party at the Centre.

Many feel that the state BJP unit lacks a credible ‘Bengali’ face who can take the party forward and this might force the central leadership to rethink on organising the party structure in the state ahead of the 2016 Assembly elections.

Ever since party president Amit Shah launched an all India membership drive on November 1, asking people to become a member by giving just a missed call, questions were raised on the authenticity of the BJP becoming the world’s largest political party.

It was noticed that even those who did not follow the procedure to become a party member were issued membership numbers through text messages. “At Chhattisgarh, even senior Congress leaders received membership numbers from the BJP. There should be transparency in such claims. They are exposed,” Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.

Besides, it came to notice that many with criminal backgrounds became the party’s member. The BJP, in its door-to-door campaign, plans to cancel the membership of such people with the help of police data.

Though the BJP is banking on an excuse that the Kolkata civic polls were a state show (with a fact that it was organised by the State Election Commission and managed by the local administration), ground realties suggests that the party’s base in West Bengal is in complete mess, with its support base dwindling.

Even, BJP national secretary and West Bengal in-charge Siddharth Nath Singh admitted that there focus was not on the civic polls, citing that it would be “highly rigged”.  But ground realties suggests that the party is losing its grip in the state. 

Infighting in the state BJP unit was out in the open when disgruntled leaders expressed their anger for being denying tickets in the civic polls. Besides, infighting between state BJP leaders and the central leadership was felt recently in the national Capital. 

It was learnt that Shah had a conversation with the state BJP president Rahul Sinha and had reportedly expressed his unhappiness over failing to take advantage of the political situation that was created in favour of the party after the Lok Sabha polls.

In the civic polls, Mamata Banerjee’s Trnamool Congress (TMC) won 1,425 of 2,090 wards. The party recorded victory in 71 of the 92 civic bodies and wrested control of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) by winning 114 of the 144 wards.