Bengal Elections Will Be Determined Not By Usual ‘Poll Issues' ... But By Voter Fear Of Not Choosing The Winning Side
The Times of India Hyderabad|April 01, 2021
Fear – not development, not voting for ‘one’s own’, not a desire for change or status quo, not wanting to root out corruption or keep out communalisation – will decide who wins Bengal on May 2.
Indrajit.Hazra
Bengal Elections Will Be Determined Not By Usual ‘Poll Issues' ... But By Voter Fear Of Not Choosing The Winning Side

This may sound far too pat for pundits who view state elections as a complex cross-referential exercise of identity politics, demands for economic well-being, social aspirations, law and order considerations, hero-worship, ideological moorings etc. That is true for elections in other states, and even in Bengal of the past. But this time, the ‘street’ – captured by the media in snatches as disjointed oral history on which to spread ‘informed possibilities’ – will be blind to ignore the sheer weight of evidence that points to simple (sic) fear as being the determining factor for the Bengal voter.

Fear of what? Of BJP, or TMC? It is the fear of choosing the ‘wrong party’, betting on the wrong horse and then having to face the consequences after the circus has left town and not even Kolkata, never mind India, cares what postmortem takes place in the boondocks populated by precious voters till April 29.

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