TMC Blows Lok Sabha Bugle: Balancing Bengali Nationalism & National Identity

At its 'Jonogorjon Sabha' in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee declared candidates for Bengal's 42 seats with many new faces.

At its 'Jonogorjon Sabha' in Kolkata on Sunday, 10 March, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) tried to balance Bengali nationalism while trying to assert itself as a national party. 

The massive public meeting, at which the TMC announced all its candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, saw the party attack “bohiragotos” (outsiders) who were “insulting” Bengal. 

However, at the same time, the party also made a point of displaying all its state units. There was Rajesh Pati Tripathi and Lalitesh Pati Tripathi from Uttar Pradesh and Mukul Sangma from Meghalaya. Former cricketer Kirti Azad, who was later announced as a candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, made a speech as the Chairman of the Goa unit of the TMC. While introducing him, West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja, had to explain that there “was a state called Goa”. 

There was also a Hindi song made for the event — Trinamool sabse pyaara, Trinamool jaan se nyaara.

Three candidates that the party fielded for the elections are not Bengali — Azad, Shatrughan Sinha, and Yusuf Pathan. “I don’t know Bengali, but I know Maithili”, said Azad. “But I promise that the next time I come before you, I’ll speak in Bangla”, he added.

The TMC’s entire campaign, however, was based on the theme of outsiders versus “zamindars in Delhi” and how the TMC will not bow down to them.

The National Pitch

The TMC will be contesting elections in Assam, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh. As a part of the INDIA opposition bloc, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has refused to cede space to the Congress and the Left in her state. However, in Uttar Pradesh she is understood to have struck a deal with Akhilesh for at least one seat, say sources. In Assam, the TMC will be contesting four seats while in Meghalaya the Trinamool is looking at fielding Mukul Sangma from Tura.

“TMC is not a xenophobic party. We stand against BJP’s anti-Bengal agenda — imposed by outsiders like Modi and Shah who have done nothing but insult Bengal. There's not a single minister from Bengal in the Union cabinet. Bengal is being treated way differently than UP or Gujarat. We wanted to put out that message. We are not against people from other states, we are against outsiders who insult Bengal”, said a senior TMC leader.

Trinamool sources added that the party was also trying to earn back its status as a national party and was keen to ensure that the message goes across the country. It is expected to announce its candidates for the other states soon.

Yusuf Pathan To Take On Adhir In Behrampore

The most surprising addition to the list was former cricketer Yusuf Pathan who has been fielded against Congress’ state president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Chowdhury, who was also the leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, is a five time MP from the constituency and a staunch Mamata Banerjee critic.

While addressing the Sabha at the Brigade Parade Grounds, TMC National General Secretary and man no.2 — Abhishek Banerjee — established Chowdhury as an enemy of the party at a time when the Congress leadership in Delhi has said that it has kept its “doors open” for the TMC to come back to the INDIA alliance.

“Our fight is not just against the BJP but against the Left and the Adhir Chowdhury-led Congress”, said Abhishek, indicating that it was because of Chowdhury that alliance talks with the Congress fell through.

Fielding Pathan — originally from Gujarat — as a candidate against Chowdhury was a well thought out decision, say party sources. The intention was to not give Chowdhury an easy run.

Behrampore has a Muslim population of about 9 percent which the TMC is looking to take away from the Congress. They are also hoping that Pathan’s stint as a player in the 'Kolkata Knight Riders' and his popularity as a cricketer will also help in gathering Hindu votes.

“Adhir had a winning margin of 6.4 percent in the last election. That’s something we can contest against. All our surveys showed that Yusuf Pathan is a fantastic candidate”, said a TMC leader.

Kirti Azad on the other hand has been a part of the Congress earlier and was inducted into the TMC only after 2021. His constituency, Bardhaman-Durgapur, has about 11 percent Hindi speakers.

Asansol, where actor Shatrughan Sinha has been fielded from also has a significant Hindu speaking and migrant population. The BJP had earlier fielded Bhojpuri film star Pawan Singh from the seat.

However, after clips of his songs that depicted Bengali women in a lewd manner surfaced on social media, Singh withdrew from the race. The BJP is yet to announce his replacement.

Mimi, Nusrat Dropped; Actor Sayoni Ghosh, Rachana Banerjee In

Actors and celebrity MPs Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty have been dropped, ostensibly due to poor attendance, bad parliamentary performances and lack of organisational involvement. This time, the party has also conducted multiple surveys, apart from the ones conducted by the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), which has helped the party is strategy and campaign since 2019. All surveys showed the two actresses losing.

In Mimi’s place, the party has fielded another actor from the Jadavpur constituency — Sayoni Ghosh, who was appointed the TMC’s youth wing president after the 2021 assembly elections. Ghosh contested the 2021 assembly elections from Asansol Dakshin but lost. Chakraborty, on the other hand, sent in her resignation to CM Mamata Banerjee a few weeks ago citing problems with the local leadership of Jadavpur.

Nusrat was MP from Basirhat, the area where Sandeshkhali, which made national headlines for allegations of sexual abuse, land grab and extortion against TMC leaders, is situated. This time, the party has fielded Haji Nurul Islam in the seat.

It is, however, simplistic to say that Nusrat was dropped because she was not involved in the aftermath of the Sandeshkhali protests. Party leaders suggest that the leadership had been unhappy with her lack of interest in party work for months. Her public wedding, break-up, and motherhood, as well as her involvement in an alleged flat-selling scam which got her under the Enforcement Directorate’s scanner added to the decision-making.

Another surprise in the list was Bengali actor Rachana Banerjee who hosts a game show called Didi No.1 — one of the most popular TV shows in the state. She has been fielded from Hooghly and will be squaring off against the BJP’s sitting MP and also an actor — Locket Chatterjee.