Why TMC's appointment of a Sufi shrine cleric is a significant move as Bengal politics simmers
As the political rhetoric in West Bengal intensifies in the run-up to the Assembly elections next year with the BJP looking to push a polarising narrative, the Trinamool Congress's (TMC) response has been to shore up its position among the minority community, and this is reflected in its recent decision to appoint Pirzada Kasem Siddiqui of the powerful Sufi shrine of Furfura Sharif a state general secretary.
Siddiqui's appointment comes at a time when the BJP has been trying to politically gain from painting the Mamata Banerjee-led party as 'anti-Hindu' over the situation in Bangladesh, Murshidabad communal violence, the Sharmistha Panoli case, and this week's violence on the outskirts of Kolkata between two communities. Though the TMC has no reason to be apprehensive about its Muslim vote shifting — the party has been the minority community's choice since the 2009 Lok Sabha elections — given the BJP's strategy in the run-up to the elections, the party wants to ensure it has a lock on the community's support and does not want to provide a smaller outfit such as Indian Secular Front (ISF) a way in to muddy the waters.
Floated by Furfura Sharif's top cleric Abbas Siddiqui before the Assembly polls in 2021, the ISF contested that election alongside the Congress and the Left and ended up being the only party in the alliance to win a seat. It won in Bhangar, with Abbas Siddiqui's younger brother Naushad getting elected from the constituency in what was earlier a TMC stronghold in South 24 Parganas district. Though it does not pose a big threat to the TMC's Muslim vote, the ISF nonetheless held its ground and never really went away. In the 2023 panchayat elections, it picked up around 400 gram panchayat seats, mostly in the TMC bastion of South Bengal.
The ISF's support base comprises poor agricultural workers and Bengali-speaking, working-class Muslims who are the followers of Furufura Sharif. The ISF's brand of social justice politics, which is also aimed at other vulnerable groups such as Dalits and tribals, is what has helped the party gain traction among voters from these communities. If left unchecked, the TMC believes this has the potential to pose a challenge to its hold over minority votes. In contrast, the TMC till now has relied mostly on political symbolism and fear in the community about the BJP coming to power to keep its hold on the Muslim vote.
It is in this context that Siddiqui's entry into the TMC is politically important. His link to the Furufura Sharif — he is the cousin of Abbas and Naushad — provides him with a heft that the ruling party can utilise to reach out to Muslim voters and negate the ISF's influence ahead of the Assembly election battle, when it will need the entire minority vote behind it. 'Kasem Siddiqui has good organisational skills. That is why he was appointed general secretary,' said TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.
For the TMC, widespread support of women (because of its welfare initiatives) and minority community voters, and the success in portraying the BJP as a party of outsiders have been the ingredients of a winning combination till now. At the same time, it has helped the TMC that the Hindu vote has not consolidated behind the BJP in equal measure despite the latter's best attempts.
Trinamool and ISF
While the ties between the TMC and Furfura Sharif took a hit after the formation of the ISF, and worsened further when Naushad was arrested ahead of the 2023 panchayat elections — he and his supporters clashed with the police after refusing to lift a blockade in Kolkata while protesting against violence in Bhangar — the ruling party of late has tried to mend fences and even reached out to the Bhangar MLA.
In March, Mamata Banerjee made her first visit to the Sufi shrine in Hooghly district in nearly a decade and announced a polytechnic college in the area and a bus stand for pilgrims. During the visit, Kasem was seen by her side, sparking speculation about his entry into the party for the first time. The following day, on March 18, Naushad dropped in to meet the CM at the state secretariat to discuss, as he claimed, matters related to his constituency. Denying that there were any plans to join hands with the TMC, Naushad asked how he could join the ruling party in the state when he spent 42 days in jail for a 'movement against this government' and more than 10 ISF workers had died in the last four years. However, at the time, those in the know said the two sides were considering reaching an 'understanding' and a senior TMC leader said the idea behind the meeting was to 'ensure 100% Muslim consolidation in the 2026 elections'.
In April, the TMC and the ISF MLA were back to targeting each other publicly, with Naushad alleging that Abhishek Banerjee had abstained from voting on the Waqf Amendment Bill and the ruling party's second-in-command calling for legal action against Naushad for making 'false remarks'.
In the end, the crux of the matter is that Kasem Siddiqui was one of the TMC's vocal critics when his cousin was arrested, and now he holds a post in that very party. Whether this is part of some understanding between TMC and the ISF or represents the ruling party's success in regaining a toehold among the Furfura Sharif clerics remains a million-dollar question.
Naushad on Friday welcomed his cousin's political entry but warned him that he had chosen the wrong side. 'I have no problem with my 'bhaijan' joining politics. We have realised that a political platform is required to work for people, but he has the wrong party. That party is corrupt and does not work for people,' the Bhangar MLA told The Indian Express.
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