The forthcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal are shaping up as a test for the BJP, which is seeking to retain its position as the main opposition in the state as the CPI (M) and Congress revive to be its challengers.
State BJP leaders said even though the saffron party is much better placed to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress in terms of organisation than it was five years ago, the revival of the Congress-CPI (M) alliance has led to a dip in the right-wing party’s share in the opposition vote, which was pocketed entirely by it till the 2021 assembly polls.
The rural polls to the panchayati raj institutions that govern nearly 65 per cent of the state’s population at the grassroots level will also provide an opportunity for the BJP to assess its booth-level organisational preparedness ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, for which Union Home Minister Amit Shah has set an ambitious target of winning 35 of the 42 parliamentary seats in the eastern state.
“Although we are organisationally in a much better position than we were in 2018, it is also true that this time we are not the only ones fighting the TMC, unlike in the last panchayat polls. The CPI (M)-Congress alliance, as per the last few local polls and by-elections, have regained much lost ground,” BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra said.
The senior BJP leader, who has been vocal about infighting in the party’s state unit, said, “The rural polls this time is also about assessing our booth-level organisation and retaining our position as the primary opposition in the state.”
