BJP’s Heavy Campaign Against Infiltration Amid SIR, Scams Caused TMC’s Defeat

Kolkata: While the BJP came to power with a huge mandate with a single largest majority in this Assembly Elections for the first time in the history of West Bengal, the aggressive poll campaign against the Trinamul Congress rule on the issue of infiltration for appeasement politics, in an environment where the Election Commission has been heavily revising the voter lists in private, seems to have brought about a regime change in the state after 15 years.

What further helped the BJP claw back votes from the TMC were its manifesto promises of ₹3000 monthly benefit, twice the amount that the Mamata Banerjee government had started paying just before the elections, and the implementation of the seventh pay commission to woo several lakh state government employees on the fulfillment of their long-standing demands. Among others, there was the saffron party’s assurance to ordinary Bengalis that there would be no ban on Machh-Bhat (fish and rice), which is their favorite delicacy and serves as the icing on the cake, and its promise to crack down on TMC unions and scams in government jobs.

All this gave the BJP the desired result as soon as the counting of votes in 293 seats began on Monday morning. The saffron wave was reflected in every part of the state, from the hills to the plains. Till night, the BJP was at the top of the list with 207 seats, winning 187 seats, beating the magic figure that had fallen from 148 to 147 since the poll in Falta seat was rescheduled on May 21.

The saffron party was still leading among the 20 in the trends. On the other hand, TMC, which won 216 seats in 2021, increased its number of seats to 226 this time, but this time it gained only 64 seats and became the leader with 16 seats. Congress and CPI(M), which lost their deposits in the last Assembly elections here, have reopened their accounts. While the Congress won two seats, the Left Party won one seat. Aam Janata Unnayan Party also won two seats in its first poll participation. The Indian Secular Front retained its seat in Bhangar.

Among the biggest losers is party president and three-time chief minister Mamata Banerjee in her home state: Bhowanipore. He lost to his main rival, Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP, by 15,105 votes. “I was shot and pushed inside. BJP is a monstrous party that plundered over 100 seats by cheating. EC is a BJP commission,” Ms. Banerjee said after walking out of the counting center angrily. He looked devastated. This was his second defeat against Mr Adhikari after Nandigram in 2021, where he lost by 1,956 votes.

Mr. Adhikari, who also won in Nandigram this time, said of Ms. Banerjee: “Her defeat was necessary. She went into political sanyas. I dedicate this victory to those who lost their lives for Hindutva.” Other TMC heavyweights who lost included several ministers like Shashi Panja (Shyampukur), Sujit Bose (Bidhannagar), Bratya Basu (Dum Dum), Chandrima Bhattacharya (Dum Dum North). While the exact reason behind TMC’s crushing defeat is yet to be determined, party insiders have hinted that anti-incumbency is quietly hitting the grassroots.

They revealed that Ms. Banerjee was aware of this important factor and desperately tried to cover it up with her anti-SIR drive, including a fierce legal battle in the Supreme Court to persuade the public against large-scale deletion of voters’ names, but failed. Also, the ticket distribution triggered massive discontent as many successful MLAs were dropped by the party in one fell swoop on the advice of the consultancy firm: I-PAC, the I-PAC said, before adding that Ms. Banerjee’s MP nephew Abhishek Banerjee played a major role in the selection of candidates this time.