Mamata Banerjee’s comment in favor of BJP’s candidate Tirelapathi Murmu in the presidential election has taken everyone by surprise.
Mamata Banerjee, who met reporters in Kolkata yesterday, said, “BJP should have consulted us before announcing the presidential candidate. If it had, we would have supported the BJP candidate Thirelapathi Murmu. He belongs to the tribal community. We would have supported him. The Trinamool Congress has always supported the tribals.”
Mamata Banerjee’s comment has surprised not only the opposition but also the ruling BJP. There are reports that there are political reasons behind Mamata’s sudden change of heart.
When the presidential election was announced, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first to voice that opposition parties should field a unanimous candidate against the candidate fielded by the ruling BJP. Accordingly, former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha was announced by the opposition parties. Mamata Banerjee was instrumental in selecting Yashwant Sinha.
In those days, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had enough strength in the presidential election. However, the alliance needed the support of some opposition parties. Thus, at that time, it was seen as a good political move by the opposition parties to announce Yashwant Sinha, a politically influential leader, as the presidential candidate.
But when the BJP announced its presidential candidate, the opposition parties were thrown into disarray. The opposition parties did not expect that the BJP would field Tirelapathi Murmu, a woman from the tribal community, as its presidential candidate. The main reason for the fear of the opposition parties is that now opposing Tirelapathi Murmu will be like opposing the entire tribal community.
This fear seems to be a bit too much for Mamata Banerjee. Because in West Bengal tribal vote bank alone is 9 percent. In particular, the ‘Chandal’ tribe of Thirelapathi Murmu is the majority there. BJP made inroads in West Bengal by targeting this tribal vote bank ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It was because of the support of the tribals that the BJP was able to win 18 seats in that election.
Knowing this, Mamata Banerjee made great efforts after that election to win back the tribal vote bank. This tribal vote bank was attributed to Mamata’s Trinamool Congress’s victory in last year’s assembly elections. Mamata is not ready to lose her hard-earned tribal vote bank for this presidential election. At the same time, he could not withdraw his earlier announced support for the opposition candidate. With a BJP-backed government in Maharashtra, Thirelapathi Murmu is certain to win the presidential election.
That is why Mamata Banerjee is now speaking in favor of Tirelapathi Murmu to retain tribal support, say political experts.