FEAR FACTOR IN POLITICS OF HEDGING

WITH the high-voltage poll campaign coming to an end in West Bengal, both incumbent Trinamool Congress and prime challenger BJP are competing to win the war of perception by claiming to be on course to win over 200 seats in the 294-member Assembly.

- SAJJAN KUMAR

While dominating the perception war is a familiar electoral strategy in India to attract the undecided voters, in Bengal’s political psychology and culture of reprisals, it is an indispensable factor for any party to inculcate a sense of confidence among their voters to step out and vote freely. This must be kept in mind while reviewing the ground scenario across the state.

Among the observations flowing from travelling across the state is a palpably stronger anti-Trinamool sentiment among Hindus across age brackets. But, at the same time, the degree to which the same voters are willing to hedge about the possibility of voting as per their true sentiments is way more than in the 2021 Assembly election.

Two, women voters—a trusted bloc whose support Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has enjoyed—are more divided in their loyalties this time, with electorally-divided households noticed in some rural areas. The pull of the ‘Mamata magnet’ also seems to have weakened among urban and working women, as they are weighing security and aspirational issues more than the women-centric state welfare schemes successfully launched.