Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called up Rekha Patra, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha candidate from West Bengal’s Basirhat seat, and praised her as “Shakti Swarupa” for raising her voice against alleged atrocities by the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) members in Sandeshkhali village.
The second phone conversation the PM had was with Prof TN Sarasu, the BJP’s candidate from the Alathur seat in Kerala, who has allegedly been targeted by the Left-leaning Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
The larger message from the conversations with the two women nominees in states ruled by BJP rivals that have witnessed many instances of violence linked to electoral politics is that the saffron party stands firmly with such candidates who have stood up against alleged excesses by the local administrations and rival ideologies.
While Patra is being seen as someone who brought before the world what was happening in Sandeshkhalis she was also one of the five women who met Narendra Modi in Barasat after his rally there this month. On the other hand, Professor Sarasu during her bid to improve the educational system and environment has allegedly received a number of threats from SFI.
While speaking to Patra, PM Modi said that the people of Bengal, especially the women, would bless her. Enquiring about her election campaign, he said, “You fought a very courageous battle against some of the most powerful people and were responsible for sending them to jail.”
Patra in turn urged the Prime Minister to help the women of the region, who, she said, largely hadn’t been able to vote since 2011. “The situation in Sandeshkhali has been a matter of concern since 2011. If we were allowed to vote freely then this situation would not have prevailed,” she said. “I want to protect the honour of the people here…This fight will continue…”
“We hope that the Election Commission takes strong cognisance and ensures that the women get their right to vote,” the PM responded.
Kerala is another state where the BJP wishes to make inroads as part of its Mission South. So far, the saffron party has not tasted any success there, failing to get even a single MP from the state in 2014 and 2019. Kerala has seen a string of violent clashes in recent years between activists linked to Left-wing as well as Right-wing outfits.
However, the BJP is confident of making some impact this time with the inclusion of leaders like Prof Sarasu. One of the key aspects that the PM was interested in learning about during his conversation with her was how the youth and the women were reacting to her candidature and what were the prospects for the BJP in the upcoming elections. The former principal of Government Victoria College in Palakkad said to the Prime Minister that the response was very encouraging. “I am talking to people about Modi ki Guarantee. I am very sure that the BJP will do very well in the upcoming elections,” she said.
What drew praise from PM Modi for Prof Sarasu was her focus on issues concerning the common man. While speaking to the Prime Minister, she requested for an investigation into the cooperative bank scam. “I am very happy to see that you are already talking about public issues and raising issues of the common man’s interest,” the PM said, while assuring the people of Kerala that the scam would be looked into. He also conveyed that several complaints had been received on the matter for which legal options were being looked into. “During the course of the investigation, whatever money was recovered by the ED and other agencies by attaching assets of these scamsters would be returned to the people of the state,” the Prime Minister assured.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections beginning next month where the biggest focus of the saffron party will be on the messaging to the women and the youth, these conversations of the Prime Minister directly with the contestants on the ground indicate that while the BJP is confident of getting a third term at the Centre, the top leadership is pushing hard to claim new turf.
Through its decade-long reign at the Centre, the BJP has been constantly focusing on breaching rivals’ bastions. In a state like West Bengal, the party failed to unseat the ruling TMC in the 2021 assembly elections but stunned most people during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by winning 18 seats, up from two in 2014.
With two union ministers, V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, in the fray from Kerala aside from other popular candidates like Suresh Gopi from Thrissur, the BJP, which was able to conquer the Left bastion of Tripura in 2017, is hopeful that God’s Own Country will give its blessings this time.
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