BJP and West Bengal elections |
The BJP's victory in last week's West Bengal state election marks one of the most consequential political realignments in contemporary Indian politics. Regional parties and regional coalitions have ruled West Bengal for nearly 49 years, from 1977 to May 2026. This includes 34 consecutive years of the Left Front (1977–2011) and roughly 15 years under the All-India Trinamool Congress (TMC) (2011–2026). This victory for the BJP clearly signals that, as a national party, it is expanding beyond its traditional strongholds. Mamta Banerjee and her party, the TMC, have raised concerns about the fairness of the conduct of these elections. The Indian Election Commission carried out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and removed 12% of West Bengal's 76 million electorate from the 2026 electoral rolls. The Indian Election Commission justified its action by saying that the revision was meant to weed out duplicate and outdated entries and to ensure that only genuine voters could vote in the elections. But this exercise has resulted in a controversy that is now subject to legal action. The Election Commission of India has released partial results showing the BJP won at least 124 seats in the 294-member West Bengal assembly and was leading in 83 others. Final results are expected Monday evening. Given the margin of defeat, it is fair to assume that the era of the long resistance offered by regional parties to the national parties in West Bengal is over. This also means that with the arrival of the national party, the BJP, the well-entrenched political model of regional governance in West Bengal........