The BJP and the CPM have pitted themselves against each other in a battle of books this festive season, but the CPM seems to be chapters ahead in this game.
For long, Left parties have set up stalls to sell books and other party literature during Durga Puja festivities. The practice started in 1952 by Left ideologue Muzaffar Ahmed, also the founder of the CPM’s publishing house, the National Book Agency (NBA).
Apart from furthering the party ideology, these stalls help build a rapport with people at large. Although the BJP’s presence in bookstalls is a recent phenomenon in Bengal, the state’s only Opposition party inside the Assembly is yet to have the reach that the Left has in this endeavour.
Aniruddha Chakraborty, the director of the NBA, said they had 1,100 stalls across the state in 2021 and more than 1,300 in 2022. In Calcutta, the number has gone up from 110 stalls last year to 130 this time.
“In 2020 and 2021, our sales faltered because of the pandemic. But even if we consider the pre-Covid era, the sales of 2022 will surpass the figures of 2019,” Chakraborty told The Telegraph, adding that this was possible because of the spontaneous participation of the young crowd.
BJP state chief Sukanta Majumdar said the party still didn't have reports from the districts to calculate the total number of bookstalls set up. “The CPM is ahead by a good distance when it comes to bookstalls,” a BJP state committee leader said, adding that all the district chiefs of the party had been asked to set up as many bookstalls as possible but no data on the final number was available.
“Look at the CPM. They have no MLA or MP yet their organisation is functioning properly. And our party with 16 MPs and 70 MLAs is unable to disclose the number of our bookstalls,” a BJP source said.
Speaking to this newspaper Majumdar said: “It is too early to share the number of bookstalls, but it is definitely more than last year.”
He added that his party was focusing more on post-Puja events.“We will hold Bijoya Sammelanis (post-Pujo meets) at some 1,000 mandals across Bengal. We have 1,267 mandals. These events will be held at almost all mandals,” he added.
The lack of central support to the state BJP’s Durga Puja effort was also evident with Majumdar inaugurating the event on Saturday. The party had initially invited Union home minister Amit Shah to do the honours, which didn't work. Their efforts to rope in actor-turned-politician Mithun Chakraborty also fell through. The first edition of the Puja was virtually inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020.