BJP MP Nishikant Dubey recently invoked the 1972 West Bengal Assembly polls to target the Congress. He used CPI(M) allegations of booth capture and intimidation to hit back at the Opposition. The CPI(M) had boycotted the term, calling the election a "semi-fascist takeover" after the Congress secured a sweeping victory.
CPI(M), which alleged booth capture, intimidation and obstruction of voters and manipulation of counting, boycotted majority of Assembly terming the election as a "semi-fascist takeover".
More than five decades after one of West Bengal's most controversial Assembly elections, the 1972 polls are back in the spotlight. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey recently invoked the election to target the Congress, drawing on allegations made by the CPI(M) at the time that the grand old party had used state power, intimidation and electoral malpractice to secure a sweeping victory.
The BJP, which has repeatedly faced accusations from Opposition parties of undermining democratic institutions and electoral processes, is now citing the Left's account to turn the tables on the Opposition.