My own view is that Trinamool Congress will win in West Bengal but the strength of BJP in the state assembly will increase substantially. Trinamool will come to power even though BJP is doing its best and will certainly take over as the main opposition. I don’t think they will form the government but they will be the main opposition party and they will constitute a very strong and tough opposition. After the elections, one will witness more argumentative sessions of the Assembly. Less work will be done and more time will be spent in making a ruckus.
Trinamool will return to power because of the personality at its helm. That is Mamata Banerjee, even though her words leave a lot to be desired. I do not see, in the BJP in West Bengal, a leader of this kind. But increasingly, BJP’s cadre in Bengal is comprised of Bengali-speaking youth, which was not the case when the CPI(M) was there. But this tag of bohiragato, or outsiders, a spin given by Mamata Banerjee to criticise the BJP, I do not agree with. I do not believe that any Indian, choosing to work anywhere in India can be considered an outsider. Trinamool has built its campaign around bohiragato – that the BJP has got to find a way to counter.
At the Bengal level, I think that Mamata will give the BJP a run for its money but at the central level she will not score over the BJP. I think in Bengal the BJP will come in as a very strong opposition resulting in more processions and demonstrations, and what disturbs me is that young people will lose their lives in clashes.
