It is also noteworthy that in spite of being in power for 10 years and repeated efforts, TMC has not been able to win a single Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha seat from Malda.
“In 2016 we contested nine seats in alliance with the Left. We lost one. This time we are confident of wresting it back from BJP,” said District Congress General Secretary Mohmmad Masood. “BJP would not even be able to open its account here this time,” he claims.
Mohammad Ali, TMC leader from Murshidabad and the party’s Lalbagh candidate said BJP has no ground here. “They will be nothing more than vote stealers,” he quips.
Murshidabad resident Imam Rakib said, “Though certain parties are trying to give communal overtones to the election, they will not succeed. Hindu-Muslim solidarity and brotherhood remains as strong as ever here.”
“Muslim voters will keep in mind their own future, Bengal’s future and the increasing communal tension nationwide while voting,” said Mohammad Ataullah, a Muslim scholar and historian in Malda. Mohammad Abdul Rafiq, Director of Malda Muslim Institute agrees. “Voters here do not subscribe or respond to caste and communal politics. We would only vote for a secular party,” he added.
Sushant Ghosh of village Raghunathpur near Farakka Barrage said, “There are a lot of big talk going on, happens before every election. But locals are not going to fall for anything. There are only two parties here, Congress and TMC. No third party is going to have any luck.”
“BJP has been playing its dirty tricks but people have now figured out the game. There is a long tradition of communal harmony in Malda, BJP does not stand a chance here,” social activist Shabnam Jahan said.
