Ram Navami Violence Are Both BJP TMC Leveraging Bengals Communal Clashes

The communal violence that broke out in Howrah in West Bengal on the day of Ram Navami last week, and the clashes that have continued to flare in areas of adjoining Hooghly district, send out a chilling message: In the run-up to the soon-to-be-held panchayat elections in the state and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, Bengal will see a ramping up of the murderous politics of polarisation for likely electoral gains. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) have, of course, blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for igniting the communal clashes, including incidents…