In recent BJP turf Cooch Behar in Bengal, it’s Modi’s schemes vs Mamata’s

There is a distinct similarity in the respective pitches of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP as they square up for the Lok Sabha elections in North Bengal.

While the deus ex machina of both parties made their respective stump speeches on the same day — April 4 — and left, the bouquet of their joss sticks hangs heavy as local representatives dig in for the final push before three seats in the Dooars — Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar — vote on April 19.

The Cooch Behar fight is essentially between sitting BJP MP Nishith Pramanik and the TMC’s Jagadish Chandra Burma Basunia — who lost from Sitai in the 2021 Assembly polls. Nitish Chandra Roy of the Forward Bloc (FB) is also in the race, in a “friendly fight” with ally Congress’s Pia Roy Chowdhury.

Barring Chowdhury, all three others are Rajbongshis.

Since at least 2019, the BJP has held the upper hand in this region, and especially in this seat. That year, Pramanik won by over 50,000 votes. In the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP won all the seven Assembly segments under the Cooch Behar Lok Sabha constituency.

Basunia — whom Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described as “our diamond candidate” at her April 4 public meeting — is banking on the promise of a hike in the CM’s direct benefit schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar. At around 2.30 pm on a Tuesday, the TMC’s Basunia, braving the blazing sun, tells the crowd gathered at the chaupal (community space) of Kalitala-Nayarhat village: “Do you want your Lakshmir Bhandar benefit to double from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 (per month)?” The response is an emphatic “Yes.”

Pramanik is reaching out to all, including Muslims, highlighting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development pitch and the recent series of incidents in Sandeshkhali. Addressing