Kolkata, June 15 (SocialNews.XYZ) Senior Samajwadi Party leader from West Bengal, Kiranmoy Nanda, on Monday attacked former CM Mamata Banerjee, blaming her government's governance record and alleged politics of religious appeasement for the electoral setbacks faced by her party.
Speaking to IANS on the state of opposition politics and the INDIA bloc, Nanda said the opposition alliance exists largely on paper and lacks any meaningful ground-level cohesion, as constituent parties continue to contest against one another in several states.
“The INDIA bloc is essentially a political arrangement on paper. If parties that claim to be allies are fighting each other in elections, where is the alliance in reality?” Nanda asked.
Questioning the effectiveness of the opposition grouping, he pointed out that there was no alliance among INDIA bloc partners in states such as West Bengal and Kerala.
“Was there an alliance in Bengal? No. Was there an alliance in Kerala? No. Practically speaking, there is no real alliance between many of these parties at the state level,” he told IANS.
Targeting the previous Trinamool government, Nanda claimed that public dissatisfaction with the administration was reflected in the electoral gains made by the BJP.
“The previous government's 15 years in power was marked by bad governance, not good governance. The BJP winning 208 seats was a reflection of the people's anger against the Mamata Banerjee government,” he said.
Nanda further alleged that the former Chief Minister had introduced religion-based politics in the state, a strategy that ultimately backfired.
“There was traditionally no politics based on religion in Bengal. It was Mamata Banerjee who started the politics of religion in the state, and it eventually boomeranged on her,” he told IANS.
The veteran socialist leader also rejected the notion that caste politics plays a decisive role in West Bengal's electoral landscape.
“There is no caste politics in Bengal. Here, voting patterns are largely determined by the mood of the people. Bengal has historically been different from many other states in this regard,” he said.
Commenting on the growing trend of political leaders switching parties, Nanda described the phenomenon as harmful to democratic values, even though it remains permissible under the existing legal framework.
“Frequent defections are dangerous for democracy. However, under the anti-defection law and the present political system, such movements are legally permissible,” he observed.
Source: IANS
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