The Election Commission of India (ECI) is set to announce the West Bengal Assembly election results following a high-octane campaign that saw top leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holding multiple rallies and roadshows to woo the voters, as they constantly attacked and accused each other of looting the state.
For the TMC, the contest carries significant weight as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee eyes a fourth consecutive term in office. She has been the central face of the party’s campaign, leading from the front through extensive outreach, including padyatras and large public rallies. Throughout the campaign, Banerjee repeatedly accused the BJP of being an “outsider” force and alleged that it has been misusing constitutional institutions to target opposition leaders.
Meanwhile, the BJP has made an aggressive push to expand its footprint in West Bengal. The party’s campaign has been spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, both of whom have consistently attacked the TMC over issues such as alleged illegal infiltration from Bangladesh and corruption.
Historically, the politics of West Bengal has been dominated by the Left. The alliance had ruled the state for 34 straight years. However, the Left's rule ended in West Bengal in 2011 after the TMC led by Banerjee stormed to power with 184 seats. Since then, the TMC has remained a force to reckon with in West Bengal, but the BJP has been expanding its base there and has emerged as the main opposition force.
The 2021 elections in West Bengal
The 2021 elections were swept by the TMC and Banerjee became a chief minister for a third straight term, but the elections brought a significant change in the state politics, as the BJP emerged as the main opposition party in West Bengal. The party, which had won just three seats in the 2016 West Bengal elections, went onto increase its tally to 77 in the 2021 elections.
The seeds for this were sowed, though, during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when the saffron party won 18 out of 42 parliamentary seats in the state, political experts would argue. Thus, buoyed by its success, the party extensively campaigned for the 2021 West Bengal elections, with PM Modi and Amit Shah leading the campaign. The big boost for the party was when Suvendu Adhikari, who was once a trusted lieutenant of Banerjee, joined the BJP.
Adhikari's departure from TMC left Banerjee disappointed who later challenged him in his constituency of Nandigram. However, Adhikari was narrowly able to defeat Banerjee in Nandigram, which forced the TMC supremo to contest a byelection from Bhabanipur to get elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly to remain the chief minister.
But in the end, TMC was comfortably able to retain power in 2021 in Bengal by winning 215 seats. BJP's tally, on the other hand, remained 77 seats. Comparing the vote share, the TMC received 48 per cent votes, while the BJP got 38 per cent votes. Others such as Congress and the Left alliance got 14 per cent of the total votes that were polled in West Bengal.
