Raj Thackeray is charismatic, with a wry sense of humour inherited from his late uncle—the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. He did not contest a single seat, but overnight evolved into a liberal darling. He gesticulated, he smirked at PM Modi. He set up powerpoint displays, live interviews and demolished the BJP—or at least that was the common consensus—before huge crowds on issues as far-ranging as farm distress, the Rafale deal and their claims of toilet construction. Part of Raj Thackeray's liberal charm comes from the fact that he is a reformed "bad boy"—one who admitted that his support for the BJP in 2014 was a mistake, and others should learn from his wrongs. Then, there was Mamata Banerjee.
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The abrasive West Bengal Chief Minister took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her typical fiery fashion—all guns blazing, with the earthy rigidity that typifies the Bengali matriarch. It was a tit-for-tat, who-will-blink-first competition. If the BJP went after Bangladeshi actor Ferdous Ahmed for visa violations after he campaigned for the TMC, the TMC tried to kneecap the famous wrestler The Great Khali for campaigning in Jadavpur while holding an American passport. After the incident where West Bengal reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's bust was vandalised at Kolkata, the TMC took out advertisements in the print dailies, alleging "shame [on the BJP]". When PM Modi revealed that Banerjee sent him sweets and kurtas every year, she retorted that she will send soil and pebbles the next time.
The two were rightly championed for being streetfighters, willing to take the battle to the BJP. But, was it for the right reasons? In April, MNS workers under Thackeray beat up a man in Ghatkopar for calling him anti-national. Banerjee's reign in West Bengal was dotted was marred by political violence, including incidents in this latest campaign. Arjun Singh, candidate of the BJP in Barrackpore, was allegedly thrashed by the TMC cadres despite he enjoys security of central force. At Hooghly, BJP candidate Locket Chatterjee sat on a dharna alleging that around 100 booths of her constituency were rigged by the TMC workers.
While it is understandable the liberals need their own brand of tough-talking, hard-fisted political leader who can rouse the base, they need to understand that the fallacy that is 'good hooliganism, bad hooliganism'.