A new poriborton: Two villages provide a pointer to the emerging Hindutva politics in West Bengal | The Indian Express

A new poriborton: Two villages provide a pointer to the emerging Hindutva politics in West Bengal | The Indian Express

Written by Mukulika Banerjee |Updated: May 17, 2019 10:39:16 am

Banerjee is author of 'Why India Votes and is based at the London School of Economics and Political Science

A new poriborton: Two villages provide a pointer to the emerging Hindutva politics in West Bengal

Something has changed in Madanpur and Chishti, as across West Bengal. Simply put, more people seem to be supporting the BJP, a party that has been peripheral to their political vision until now. While support for Trinamool remains strong, the BJP seem to be drawing in support from the traditional Left Front households.

While the CPM had indeed become a moribund party in the state, I could not imagine that the left front sympathisers I knew would align with the Hindu majoritarian ideology of the BJP.

Two villages in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, Madanpur and Chishti, situated on either side of the two-lane Panagarh-Morgram highway, have often reflected the prevailing political atmosphere in the state. Since 1998, I have visited and lived in these villages to carry out research for my upcoming book, Cultivating Democracy. I have found that they serve as a lens to understand the shifts in the state’s politics. Despite the district being a communist bastion, both villages voted for the Trinamool Congress in the 2011 assembly election, which ended the 34-year reign of the CPM and the Left Front. I visited these villages in April, seeking an explanation for the BJP’s rise in West Bengal.