The BJP has, no doubt, very visibly expanded its footprints - over the last two decades, in particular.
In this context, to my mind, two broader developments are important - not so visible. One, the weakening of the political hegemony of the "Bhadraloks" - the educated "middle class", as a consequence of and parallely with the "rise of the subalterns". Two, the transmutation of this particular social segment. Coming to the latter factor first, broadly in tandem with the general "Indian" pattern, the composition of the "middle class" has changed - with gradual (very significant) betterment in economic conditions since Independence, and concomitant deradicalisation - shift to the Right. (Had dealt with this aspect, and also the other one, in the broader Indian context, in my *Indian Nationalism, Hindutva and the Bomb*, back in 2003: < http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article10225>.) One should take the standard Leftist rhetoric as regards the constantly worsening economic conditions of the *people* with more than a pinch of salt. (When I look around and look at "people like us", with very few exceptions, things have substantially improved through generations. As a school student, had to regularly spend hours standing in queues before our assigned ration shop. During the summer, from time to time, there'd arise loud wails on account of cholera death in the family from the cluster of hutments (understandably, caused by paucity of potable water and wretched sanitation) just behind the row of our building - in a fairly "respectable" locality. The street in front, people desperately crying for alms would be walking down. At times, the rice - collected from the ration shop, perhaps originating from Thailand, would just stink. In '66, we had a historic food movement. Even during this brutal lockdown, only occasionally, would find (not in Bengal though) some stray ones waiting patiently to ask for alms from carefully selected passersby - almost in whispers.) Beyond anecdotal testimonies, at the time of Independence, the Life Expectancy at Birth was just over 30 years, has risen to around 70 (ref.: < https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041383/life-expectancy-india-all-time/ >). *These are hard numbers*. And the distribution of longevity cannot be nearly as skewed - across class divides, as in case of wealth. In case of Bengal, in particular, the first factor appears to be more important. Unlike India, in general. The "subalterns" didn't undergo any process of independent radicalisation - no Dalit Panther, no Mayawati, no Charan Singh or Karpoori Thakur, no Lalu or Mulayam, no DMK. Having been uncoupled from the radical elite, large sections would come under the strong influence of the aggressively expanding BJP. The painful collective memory of the Partition - among many, would facilitate. While the BJP has, this time, done too well in North Bengal - an area extremely resentful of the very conspicuous dominance of Calcutta/Kolkata in Bengal's political/cultural/social/economic life, in Kolkata itself, guess, it has failed even to open an account. Of course, even in Kolkata - numerically speaking, the Bhadraloks constitute only a minority. But their social weight is far larger as compared to that in the hinterland. I'd imagine that invoking the name of (revered) Tagore - and his ilk, in defence of "secularism" or "democracy", while may move the (often, and not necessarily unjustifiably, despised) Bhadraloks quite a bit, it means little for the "subalterns". For them the various welfare measures - initiated by the TMC government, did, on the face of it, weigh much greater in countering the hate campaign unleashed by the BJP. Continuing in the same vein, post-poll, Bengal is slated to see *Duare Ration* (Ration at Doorstep), and also *Duare Traan* (Relief at Doorstep) - in the wake of the devastating *Yaas*. Finally, Muslims - mostly ethnic Bengalis, in West Bengal constitute nearly 30% of the population. They've hardly any option other than opposing the BJP - tooth and nail. This time - the threat perception being only too acute, the overwhelming majority appears to have done exactly that. As a footnote at least, it needs be added that Mamata - with several schemes specially addressing their needs, has, presumably, been able to build up a women's constituency. Rather a novel development. The coming days, as per the present indications, promise to be quite turbulent - even more than elsewhere in India. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZgDnG3QmnZyLBUqNa2Z5QSzVbPAzzvQwZE6jeAUO7FPeQ%40mail.gmail.com.
