In a masterstroke by the BJP, its West Bengal unit is likely to rope in Swami Aseemanand for the crucial West Bengal Panchayat polls. The seer, who has been recently acquitted by a special court along with four others in relation to the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case, is bound to create a telling impact on the crucial polls. Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh confirmed the development stating that he has personally known Swami Aseemanand for a long time and that Swami Aseemanand has agreed to work with the BJP given the dire situation under the overly authoritative Mamata regime.
Swami Aseemanand, a self-proclaimed monk and a former RSS activist had been arrested by the CBI in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast case in 2010 during the UPA regime. Later, the case was handed over to the NIA. The Congress along with its propaganda machinery tried to project Swami Aseemanand as the poster boy of Hindu terrorism. This was one of the many conspiracies hatched by the Congress to propound the myth of saffron terrorism. However, after an eight-year ordeal, Swami Aseemanand finally got justice when a special court acquitted him observing that the prosecution had failed to provide any reliable evidence. Swami Aseemanand has thereafter been hailed for his fight against the conspirators.
Swami Aseemanand seems to be the perfect person to lead the charge against the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. This masterstroke by the BJP will kill two birds with one stone. It will not only help the BJP take on chief minister Mamata Banerjee who is infamous for her anti-Hindu sentiments, but also help the BJP defeat the Congress in its naïve attempts to malign Hindus and profess the falsehood of Hindutva terror.
BJP leaders agree that Swami Aseemanand has impressive organisational skills and has worked with the masses for years. He will be instrumental in taking the party’s presence in the state to the ground level among the villagers and the tribal people. Swami Aseemanand is expected to tour the state extensively and spread the party’s ideology. He has great popularity in the state especially among the tribals and the villagers for whom he has worked for several years. The BJP is trying to make inroads in the state which has been ruled for several decades by the anti-Hindu forces like the left and the TMC.
Even as Swami Aseemanand is set to spearhead BJP’s campaign in West Bengal, we can expect sharp reactions from the ruling party, the Congress and the left who espouse the ideology of hatred towards Hindus and restrain them from professing their religion. Not only this, Hindus in the state have been denied even the right to live peacefully in face of constant riots and attacks. However, the Hindus of Bengal who have been ripped of their culture and some of the most basic religious rights will find support in Swami Aseemanand, who has come out in flying colours in face of conspiracies to frame him as a Hindu terrorist. In all probability, the fact that Swami Aseemanand epitomises the fight against anti-Hindutva forces and his popularity among the Bengalis residing in isolated and far-flung areas, will give BJP a huge boost.
It appears that the BJP has taken the right decision at the right time. There could not have been a better leader to rally the victimised Hindus of the state. He has a firm grip on Bengali politics and he not only knows the state but enjoys wide popularity in the state especially in the tribal regions. Most importantly, the momentum and public statement is strongly with the resurgent leader and that might just help BJP inch ahead of the TMC. Hindus of the state have in a sense faced the same treatment as Swami Aseemanand. They will most probably understand what he went through. Swami Aseemanand stands for how a Hindu went past attempts to be labelled as a bigot, something that might resonate with the Bengali Hindus.
