The violence in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali and protests by local women against alleged atrocities by Shajahan Sheikh, a leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress, threatens to upset and undo party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s efforts towards consolidating women voters in the state in her favour ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2024.
Around half the electorate in West Bengal is now made up of women voters, up from around 48% in the 2021 Assembly elections. It is an important constituency for the TMC as well as the BJP.
Mamata Banerjee’s government had in this year’s budget pledged to increase the financial aid provided to women under the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 every month for the General category and to Rs 1,200 for the SC/ST category. The scheme, launched in 2021, was believed to be the game-changer that won Mamata Banerjee the Assembly elections that year.
The budget announcement to increase the financial assistance came last week and was hailed by the TMC cadre as another “masterstroke” ahead of Lok Sabha elections. Women leaders of the party even organised thanksgiving rallies across the state.
And now the protests by women in Sandeshkhali threaten to derail the goodwill the Mamata Banerjee government generated with this crucial voting bloc.
The unrest in Sandeshkhali can be traced back to a mob attack on Enforcement Directorate officials on January 5 during a raid related to an alleged ration distribution scam involving local TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan. Women in the North 24 Parganas village have now accused Shajahan and his associates of land grabbing and sexual harassment, leading to further tensions in the area.
The BJP has alleged that Sheikh Shajahan is being “protected” by the police at the behest of the TMC leadership. Countering the BJP’s allegations, the ruling TMC has alleged a “conspiracy” by the CPM and the saffron party to divert attention from the state government’s “movement” over the non-payment of central MNREGA funds to West Bengal.
TMC’s Damage Control
In the run-up to Lok Sabha elections, the TMC had started wooing women voters around a month ago, highlighting its schemes for women and claiming to give poll tickets to more women than rival parties. It boasts of around 30% women candidates in elections and the state’s chief minister, finance minister and industry minister are women too. But with the women-led protests in Sandeshkhali, the party is in damage control mode.
Banerjee was prompt in forming a 10-member team of women officers to be led by a DIG-rank officer to probe the situation on the ground. Sources say some in the party believe the protests were orchestrated for sinister motives, but with scores of women coming forward to allege torture and sexual harassment by local TMC leaders, the party can ill-afford to base its public response on conspiracy theories.
How the BJP May Benefit
While women have formed a major voting bloc for the BJP in general elections as well as state polls in northern states, the party hasn’t quite been able to crack this constituency in West Bengal. Its own review of its performance in 2021 Assembly elections says so. But the saffron unit is geared up to change that with the Sandeshkhali incident.
For starters, it has mobilised prominent leaders like Smriti Irani and Gaurav Bhatia to speak up on the issue, while Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar take charge on the ground. It plans to project that women aren’t safe under TMC rule and that BJP is the only party that can protect them in the state. The visits of the National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes to Sandeshkhali may help the party build this narrative.
The TMC had won the Basirhat seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Sandeshkhali is one of the Assembly constituencies in Basirhat where the TMC was ahead of the BJP by more than 26,000 votes. Will the Sandeshkhali protests bring about a twist in the tale come 2024 elections?
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