Today’s Hindu editorial talks about “SNAKES AND LADDERS: ON COMPETITIVE WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY POLLS”. We have picked and chosen difficult words along with their contextual meanings which will further help the candidates to enhance the vocabulary. Vocabulary is quite an important part when it comes to the English section. Questions based on synonyms and antonyms can be answered if your vocabulary is strong and it even helps in the reading comprehension part of the English section.
Difficult Words & their Meanings
| Difficult Word/Phrase | Contextual Meaning |
| rhetoric | speech or writing intended to be effective and influence people |
| ferocity | the state of being frightening and violent |
| combat | a fight between two people or things |
| insinuations | the action of suggesting, without being direct, that something unpleasant is true |
| writ | a legal document from a court of law |
| disconcerting | making someone feel worried or uncomfortable |
| patchy | existing in some parts only |
| alliance | an agreement to work with someone else |
| candidacy | the fact of being a candidate in an election |
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Snakes and ladders: On competitive West Bengal Assembly polls
Disconcerting signs of violence are writ large in the electoral rhetoric in Bengal
Soaring political rhetoric (speech or writing intended to be effective and influence people) has already set the tone for an intensely competitive Assembly election in West Bengal. The ferocity (the state of being frightening and violent) of the combat (a fight between two people or things) between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the challenger BJP is set to go further north. The BJP’s dramatic rise in 2019, when its vote tally crossed 40%, made its ambitions for power realistic, but also prompted drastic corrective measures by the Trinamool, which has been in power since 2011. The BJP has been trying to overcome its leadership deficiency by recruiting defectors, primarily from the TMC. It still cannot match the ground game of the Left Front that is in alliance (an agreement to work with someone else) with the Congress and the ISF under the new umbrella of the Sanjukta Morcha. The Morcha’s rally on February 28 was not surpassed by the BJP’s on March 7, which was addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is leading from the front. The absence of a recognisable chief ministerial candidate, and its patchy (existing in some parts only) presence in much of the State are challenges to the BJP, but winning this election is within its reach. A large segment of the BJP voters remain silent and could mobilise themselves, if one goes by the 2019 experience. The dynamics of politics has changed since then, with new factors at play.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has rolled out new welfare schemes and reached out to regions and social groups that tilted towards the BJP. By declaring her candidacy (the fact of being a candidate in an election) from Nandigram, where she will take on former colleague Suvendu Adhikari who defected to the BJP, she has shown that she is on the offensive. The violence and corruption by her party cadres meanwhile continue to shadow her spirited fight, and that is going to be a focal point of the BJP offensive. Mr. Modi’s speech on Sunday called for a regime change. The second prong of the BJP strategy is communal polarisation, which seems to have been assigned to second-rung leaders who are frequently making not-so-veiled references and insinuations (the action of suggesting, without being direct, that something unpleasant is true) about dangers posed by Muslims. Ms. Banerjee’s appeal among Muslim voters could be unsettled by the mainstreaming of the Muslim outfit that goes by the misleading name of the Indian Secular Front by the Left Front. The Left has always accused the BJP and the TMC of competitive communalism but its new tactic has thrown open various possibilities. If the Morcha claims a segment of the anti-incumbency votes, it will weaken the BJP; if it splits TMC votes, it will help the BJP. And if a sharp communal polarisation emerges, it could benefit the TMC and the BJP. It was for drama effect that actor Mithun Chakraborty, who joined the BJP on Sunday, likened himself to a cobra that can kill in one strike, but disconcerting (making someone feel worried or uncomfortable) signs of violence are writ (a legal document from a court of law) large in West Bengal. Violent language easily translates to violent action, as Bengal’s history has shown over the years.
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This is all from us related to today’s Hindu editorial difficult words and their meanings. Check The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– March 8, 2021 here.
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