Why the 2026 Bengal assembly election is Mamata’s toughest battle and BJP’s best bet |
Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
Why the 2026 Bengal assembly election is Mamata’s toughest battle and BJP’s best bet
A day after the polling, both parties are on the edge, trying to figure out which way the wave will swing. But one thing is clear. The outcome of this election is going to be a make-or-break for both parties.
In recent times, an assembly election in India has rarely generated the kind of buzz and social media frenzy that the ongoing one in West Bengal has. From meme wars to non-vegetarian food narratives, the contest has spilled far beyond generic rallies and television debates.
It is being called the mother of all electoral battles, a do-or-die situation for the two principle competitors. On one hand, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee aims to defend her turf for the fourth consecutive term. On the other hand, the BJP, which has expanded its footprint in the state in a very short time, continues its venture to finally conquer West Bengal.
Conquering this eastern state is crucial for the BJP playbook, not only because of its strategic significance—the Siliguri corridor, also referred to as the chicken’s neck, a narrow chokepoint in North Bengal connecting north-east to the rest of India—but from an ideological standpoint as well. Bengal happens to be the birthplace of Syama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Bhartiya Jan Sangh, the predecessor of BJP, and winning it will be politically and ideologically significant.
For 71-year-old Mamata, too, this election is crucial. She knows if she loses this election, it will be an uphill battle to bounce back, five years from now. Her nephew and TMC national general secretary and likely heir apparent, Abhishek Banerjee, is there, but it’s largely her face that people of Bengal associate with TMC. In fact, during her campaigning, she has repeatedly said to consider her as the candidate contesting in all 294 seats of the West Bengal Assembly, drawing parallels with the BJP, which tries to make Prime Minister Narendra Modi the face of elections across the country.
The BJP had its eye on Bengal for a long time and built its........