Modi’s triumph |
The unfolding verdict in West Bengal tells us several things, but most important of these is the fact that the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi now extends to the one state that had long eluded the grasp of his party. This will arguably be counted by the Bharatiya Janata Party as the most significant assembly triumph in its history, one for which Mr Modi can justifiably claim credit. As the party cements its national dominance under the Prime Minister, the fact that Bengal was the home of the Jana Sangh’s founder, Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, will be icing on the cake.
It also tells us of the exhaustion of a political formula that once appeared unassailable, one that saw Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress build an electoral coalition that blended welfare delivery, subaltern mobilisation, and minority consolidation into a formidable machine. At the heart of this shift lies a deeper transformation: the replacement of transactional welfare politics with identity-driven consolidation. The rise of the BJP in the state has not been incremental; it has been structural. Its success appears rooted in converting a fragmented Hindu........