Why are Modi and Mamata at each other’s throat?

The choice of invective in the crossfire between West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Gujarat CM Narendra Modi is being perceived to have multiple political nuances.

Mamata referred to Modi as a “donkey” at a rally on Thursday. “Modi calls everyone who came from Bangladesh an infiltrator. Who is he? From where did he get the audacity… Now he talks about the Matua community. He said they are not citizens of India. Is he a donkey?” she asked.

This follows her party referring to Modi as the “butcher of Gujarat” and Mamata asking for his arrest for making inflammatory statements on Bangladeshi immigrants.

“I will lodge a complaint against him with the Election Commission. Why should he not be arrested?” she had said at a rally in Krishnanaga, West Bengal earlier this week.

The BJP, of course, interprets it as a sign of the Trinamool Congress supremo’s rising paranoia about a surge in Modi’s popularity and the party’s vote share.

“These leaders, whether it is Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh or Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, are getting threatened in their own fortresses.

“That’s the reason for their bitterness. It is quite understandable. The BJP’s expanse and Modi’s popularity scares them,” said BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman.

Mamata’s reasons for attacking Modi are simple enough.

In a State with about 30 per cent Muslim population, it is important for a party that has aligned with the BJP in the past to appear to be perceived as far away from the BJP led by Modi. Opposition leaders, especially the CPI(M), have dismissed it as “empty rhetoric”.

“She (Mamata) has gone with the BJP in the past. A certain kind of rhetoric should be seen as part of the election campaign. I am not so sure where she would be post election,” said CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat in an interaction last week.

What is more complex to read is Modi’s transformation from being an “admirer” of Mamata and “respecting” her in the beginning of the campaign to the kind of mocking hostility that has been on display of late.

“I want to tell all the investors in Saradha from Odisha, Bengal and Assam that after the formation of our government in Delhi, strict action will be taken. Saradha is the other name of Saraswati, she is worshipped everywhere. This Saradha was turned into a chit fund? Mamataji, we did not expect this of you.” he said at a rally in Sreerampur, West Bengal last week.

Modi was typically acerbic when he appreciated Mamata’s talent for painting.

“Your paintings used to be sold for ₹4 lakh, ₹8 lakh or ₹15 lakh. But what is the reason that one of your paintings sold for ₹1.80 crore? I respect art, but still, who was the person who bought the painting for ₹1.80 crore? The people of Bengal, they are lovers of art. They will not tolerate if art is sold to thieves,” he said.

Senior BJP leaders assert that that this newfound aggression is because the local leaders in West Bengal were not too happy earlier when Modi seemed to be handling Mamata with caution. “The workers felt he should be more aggressive,” said a BJP leader.

However, another strain of reasoning is that last-minute jitters over the critical battleground states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have pushed Modi to eliminate chances of any post-poll alliance with the TMC.

“Either the BJP gets a majority and Modi is PM or he would ensure no one else gets a chance,” said a BJP insider.

BJP President Rajnath Singh’s much softer stand on Mamata while Modi has mounted a strong offensive was cited as an instance of the dual response to TMC and what they could possibly mean.