Having helmed India's cricketing ship through the choppy waters of the early noughties, Sourav Ganguly knows how to make wise decisions. So, when an offer to join the BJP was put forth, he looked before he leapt. “His intuition was right,” said a senior Trinamool Congress leader as counting was on May 2. “He took the right decision as the result is now showing.”
Central BJP leaders, based on internal surveys in the state, had said that the party would cross 200 seats. Such was the bluster that several Trinamool leaders left Mamata Banerjee to join the BJP.
But for those who travelled statewide to gather the on-ground sentiment, it was clear that the villagers of Bengal were holding their cards close to their chests. Usually, such silence would indicate that they would vote against the party in power. Unfortunately for the BJP, this was not true.
But how did a party that led in 121 assembly segments in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections drop to 77 seats this time? While many reasons have been floated, the most prominent was the BJP's over-reliance on Trinamool defectors. Following the impressive performance in 2019, the BJP's central leaders had pumped in a lot of resources into the state ahead of the 2021 assembly elections. However, they seemed to lack confidence in the people who got them success in 2019. The party reached out to ministers and leaders of the Trinamool, many of whom obliged. It seemed as though the BJP was in a hurry to unseat Mamata, and would not mind accommodating most of the turncoats.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 16, 2021 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 16, 2021 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
What Will It Take To Clean Up Delhi Air?
IT IS ASKED, year after year, why Delhi’s air remains unbreathable despite several interventions to reduce pollution.
Trump and the crisis of liberalism
Although Donald Trump's election to a non-consecutive second term to the US presidency is not unprecedented—Grover Cleveland had done it in 1893—it is nevertheless a watershed moment.
Men eye the woman's purse
A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a young 20-something man at my gym walking out with a women’s sling bag.
When trees hold hands
A filmmaker explores the human-nature connect through the living root bridges
Ms Gee & Gen Z
The vibrant Anuja Chauhan and her daughter Nayantara on the generational gap in romance writing
Vikram Seth-a suitable man
Our golden boy of literature was the star attraction at the recent Shillong Literary Festival in mysterious Meghalaya.
Superman bites the dust
When my granddaughter Kim was about three, I often took her to play in a nearby park.
OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Meet G. Govinda Menon, the 102-year-old engineer who had a key role in surveying the Vizhinjam coast in the 1940s, assessing its potential for an international port
Managing volatility: smarter equity choices in uncertain markets
THE INDIAN STOCK MARKET has delivered a strong 11 per cent CAGR over the past decade, with positive returns for eight straight years.
Investing in actively managed low-volatility portfolios keeps risks at bay
AFTER A ROARING bull market over the past year, equity markets in the recent months have gone into a correction mode as FIIs go on a selling spree. Volatility has risen and investment returns are hurt.
