Three weeks since the results, the dust of assembly elections has all but settled, and though the result in West Bengal was a rupture, a political sameness is again descending. The stillness is broken erratically — now, by the victor extending its strong arm to swat down the impudent Cockroach Janta Party, and then, by rumblings within the vanquished party. But in general, both seem headed back to square one, BJP as well as TMC.

The BJP dare not pause too long on the CJP phenomenon, because that might mean wondering if, like the irrepressible cockroach, dissent finds a way — even in the guise of a reclaimed slur, even in the aftermath of a famous victory. It might mean acknowledging that the people speak, and need to be heard, not just when they cast their vote every five years, but also in between. On the other side, if the TMC stops to listen to the voices within that are raising questions about its own complicities in its defeat, it might have to recognise that the onus of political correction, and action, is on it.

This avoidance of the political imperative is also framed in readings of the West Bengal verdict. Especially in the non-BJP camp, whose future depends on finding the way forward from Bengal, they sound like an abdication of responsibility.

The election was won, and lost, it is being said, because of “SIR”, or “Hindu consolidation” or “anti-incumbency”. All three have truth in them. All three are framed as political dead-ends.

First, the SIR. The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls cast a long shadow over the Bengal election, with about 27 lakh voters in the “under adjudication” category deleted controversially, and not given time to appeal. Going by the scoreboard, the deletions did not impact the........

© Indian Express