‘Leadership may change but policies will remain the same’

Md Nizamuddin CPM Kolkata district secretariat member
The BJP and its allies are losing all over the country. There is a strong anti-BJP feeling even in the four states where they are in power. In a state like West Bengal which is politically aware and strongly anti-communal, how do they hope to succeed? Not only will they lose, but lose badly and even lose out on earlier gains.
Partha Chatterjee, Senior Trinamul Congress leader and MLA
It is too early yet to comment.A change in leadership does not necessarily mean immediate changes in policy. Any decision in regard to responding to their call for consolidation of anti-left forces will be made by our national working committee. However, any decision will be influenced by the railway division issue. If the bifurcation issue is not resolved in such a way as to favour Bengal, our national committee has decided not to be part of the NDA government, its constituents or policies.
Pradip Bhattacharya Congress vice-president
The new leadership will not be able to make any impact on the state political map. The primary reason being the leadership is weak and their following in West Bengal is negligible. Besides, BJP is a regimented political party and state leadership changes will not affect policy as a whole. The internal squabbles will not subside either, given the political maturity and background of the new president.
Sabyasachi Bagchi, BJP state committee member
A change always brings in new zest within any organisation. The present changes were necessitated because some people had begun to treat the party like their personal fiefdom. The Shyama Prasad birth centenary committee was meant to be disbanded after a year, but continued like a parallel administration to the party mainstream. In the new setup, everyone will speak in one voice and that will reflect in the mandate. There will be a marked change in the vote bank. The anti-left vote which was divided till now, will be consolidated as our new president has an open door policy that welcomes all anti-left forces. The bankruptcy of the CPM government and its failure on the industrial front will also influence voting patterns in our favour.