Adi Shankara’s sarpa-sutra nyaya (snake-rope analogy) propounds two levels of truth: what the common man perceives and the absolute truth known only to those who have realised the Brahma (ultimate reality). Big media under prime minister Narendra Modi depicts only what the prime minister’s office (PMO) wants them to portray. Nothing more or less.Consider the voluminous election analysis churned out by the pro-government big media ever since the election results were declared on May 4. People, they said, voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) because under the Trinamool Congress (TMC) they were suffering due to unemployment, price rise and lack of minimum facilities. Some narrated how young voters, Gen Z, restive youth and the aspiring women saw better opportunities under the new double engine government.But the loyal media has obligingly avoided mentioning newly-crowned chief minister Suvendu Adhikari’s dubious background. He has the distinction of having been neck deep in two of most vicious scams in Bengal: Saradha Ponzi scheme and Narada cash-for-favours scam. The BJP had officially labelled him a ‘chor’ (thief). In 2020, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had alleged that he ‘jumped into’ Modi’s washing machine’ to escape the probe by central agencies.Look at some of brilliant explanations in godi media for the state voting for BJP: Government employees expected better deal under Modi; people hoped to get liberated from the entrenched goonda groups under TMC in villages and towns; how Mo-Shah’s rallies helped expose Banerjee and other opposition leaders; how many rallies they addressed and how the suffering poor and women waited hours for their leaders and so on. Also, how the BJP’s top two identified themselves with the common people by eating fish and Jhalmuri.Illustration: Pariplab ChakrabortyThen there were stories of how Shah strenuously scripted the BJP victory with meticulous planning at different levels and how the BJP had worked to save people from TMC’s ‘goondaraj’. Also, there were plenty of stories on the Opposition’s governance failures, extortion by the ‘mafia syndicates’, Banerjee’s selection of unpopular candidates under duress – all of which led to vitiate the atmosphere, according to these reports.After the results came out, sections of the media wrote long stories about outgoing chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s ‘centralised’ model for his failure to win in Kerala. But the same media, understandably, carefully avoided mentioning the much more brutally concentrated power system under the Modi-Shah duo.Shah, no doubt, has performed an admirable feat in West Bengal. For this, he had deployed a mind-boggling number of 2.4 lakh to 2.5 lakh personnel from various central forces in the state. The troops covered all the 61,636 polling stations in West Bengal. In some districts, it worked out to an armed police officer per every 140 listed voters. The troops held frequent field marches in villages and towns to warn the ‘trouble makers’.This was in addition to the 38,297 state police personnel, 142 general observers, 95 police observers, 100 expenditure observers, and several teams of the National Investigative Agency (NIA). They all roamed the streets and selectively picked Opposition workers.They stopped the opposition vehicles and pedestrians at will and searched for funds and incriminating documents.The Election Commission of India’s (ECI’s) observers and armed personnel reportedly openly coordinated with the BJP’s local workers who were seen giving them directions which they seemingly obligingly obeyed, the TMC has alleged. As additional precaution, on crucial days, the troops banned all two-wheelers on roads. Those returning from Bengal say the troops and observers acted in a patently partisan manner.An unprecedented meeting of central forcesKolkata was also witness to an unprecedented meeting of all units of central armed police forces (CAPFs) at the iconic Science City. According to a media reports, the optics were hard to miss – the chiefs of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) under one roof, with hundreds of personnel in a crowded conference hall in a poll-bound state.The sheer scale and extent of the gathering had only sharpened the standoff between the Union government and state government Bengal. The Trinamool Congress was quick to allege that the CRPF gathering resembled plans for a ‘military-style takeover’ rather than a routine meeting. Such happenings had prompted Mamata Banerjee to accuse the central observers of indulging in ‘electoral terrorism.’Thus, paradoxically, the ECI, its special observers and central forces who should have acted in a non-partisan manner and thus earned the trust and cooperation of all parties in the fray, had themselves become the opposition’s direct adversary. Even chief minister Banerjee repeatedly alleged that she was beaten up at the counting centre where the forces and EC officials alone were allowed.Now that the BJP’s West Bengal conquest is complete, it is necessary to emphasise a few significant outcomes it has brought about. The first is the rise of Shah in the hierarchy of the ruling party. Modi cannot any more push any political initiative without Shah. He had begun impulsively following his home minister’s advice. This is because Shah has established himself as a leader in his own right.The second is the BJP’s expanding footprint. As a large state, the BJP can muster a formidable 30+ MPs in Parliament from West Bengal. This is something that deserves a deeper review which we will do later.Third, traditionally, Bengal was an exception with a strong secular credential. But in recent years the BJP has been able to force a considerable extent of Hindu consolidation. But unlike the fully saffronised Hindi heartland, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is yet to get powerful enough in Bengal to dominate the state’s politics or its social and economic ecosystem. This is going to be a major handicap for Shah in his efforts to control its political dynamics on ground.Fourth, Bengal is known for its deeply entrenched mafia both in rural and urban areas. It had flourished during the earlier Congress rule and gradually infiltrated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) networks. When former CM Banerjee captured Bengal from the Left in 2011, mafia elements merrily migrated and became her guardrails. They created an echo system of patronage, divided the fiefdoms among themselves and indulged in extortion and intimidation.In return, the mafia ensured the delivery of block votes to their patron parties and groups. Every ruling party in Bengal loved to cultivate the mafia vote banks in exchange of various kinds of government favours. This election, the BJP, with its carefully cultivated winning aura was able to grab a large chunk of the mafia groups.However, the mafia often caused embarrassment to their patrons. Consider how their obnoxious activities harmed Banerjee politically. This was seen in the brutal rape and murder of a young doctor at the R.G. Kar hospital. We have to watch how Shah handles such unruly elements and save the BJP government from embarrassment.BJP bosses can now effortlessly dismiss and appoint chief ministersFifth, West Bengal is also notorious for the indiscipline among political cadres. They are largely Individualistic and unruly. Their behaviour and frequent tantrum had always been a problem. It has been a tradition followed by the old leaders like Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi and Subrato Mukherjee in their early years. As an irrepressible leader, Banerjee also had revolted and came out of the Congress to form her own party, the Trinamool Congress.Sixth, the BJP bosses could effortlessly dismiss and appoint chief ministers and get the office-bears’ lists accepted by the state units without any open protests. It has not been so easy in West Bengal. Every time the centre announced the names, it evoked open resentment among other aspirants. Often, Bengal lists were to be revised to accommodate new claimants. As a result, the finalisation of the lists got delayed.Seventh, for the first time after independence, West Bengal will lose its historic status as a state with an independent political administration. A state which was ruled by stalwarts such as B.C.Roy, syndicate boss Atulya Ghosh and Marxist stalwart Jyoti Basu will now be ruled from Delhi. Nothing will hereafter move in Bengal without Shah’s personal approval. The CM will have to wait at Shah’s doors even for the sanction of minor schemes.Therefore, after the swearing-in, CM Adhikari went on showering praise on Modi and Shah. ‘Modi is world’s greatest leader’, he said and added: ‘We will work to fulfil Modiji’s ideals’. Such rosy signals apart, we have to watch how the new chief minister will manage the disgruntled elements and bring about a cohesive administration.In the changed atmosphere, Muslims, who account for 27% of the state’s population, are going to be the immediate victims of the Modi-Shah model. The number of Muslim MLAs in the state has dropped from 59 to 37. Unlike earlier, this time Muslim votes were divided and went to different parties.In an age of fractured mandates, personality cults and transactional alliances, P. Raman brings clarity to India’s shifting political equations. With Realpolitik, the veteran journalist peers beneath the slogans and spin to reveal the power plays, spectacle, crises and insecurities driving India’s politics.