BJP IN 1998 LOK-SABHA ELECTIONS IN WEST-BENGAL - TRANSFORMATION OF OPPOSITION POLITICS

The BJP campaign in West Bengal, reflects the national strategy develo ped by the BJP to break its political isolation and for important regi onal alliances throughout India. The basis for these alliances, as in the example of West Bengal, has been to form regional ties with state opposition political formations whose primary concern is the defeat of particular ruling parries at the state level, In order to facilitate its alliance strategy, the BJP has been forced to adopt a political st yle which is as accommodating as possible for an avowedly 'ideological ' party. Whether the particular regional alliance between the Trinamul and the BJP in West Bengal can be maintained is perhaps secondary to the short-term efficacy of the alliance in allowing the state unit of the party to gain an electoral foothold in the state for the first tim e. Nevertheless, given the highly third opposition vote, shifting betw een opposition formations within the state on the basis of their perce ived viability as an opposition force, the relation between the BJP an d the Trinamul leaderships is one characterised by considerable rivalr y, as both parties attempt to place themselves at the forefront of opp osition politics. [This is the second of two papers on the transformat ion of opposition politics in West Bengal. The first paper, by James M ayers, appeared in the issue of August 15, 1998.]