Has The BJP Trumped The TMC In Bengal?
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2024-06-03 01:30:31
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
If what the
exit polls predict turns out to be true, the Trinamool Congress is in
for a huge surprise on June 4. With almost all exit polls predicting a hugely
improved performance by the BJP in the state, with India Today-Axis My India
giving it 26-31 seats and ABP-CVoter 23-27 and all others saying that it will
get more seats than the regional party, it seems that the people of Bengal have
finally decided to buck previous voting patterns and start voting differently
in assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
That the BJP
was gaining traction in the state was proved when the party won a record 18
seats in 2019. But after that, the TMC got a thumping majority in the 2021
assembly elections and it got substantial leads in the assembly segments
comprising Lok Sabha seats that were held by the BJP, pushing the national
party on the back foot. To compound the problems for the BJP, those TMC leaders
who joined the party after the 2019 showing started deserting and indulged in
ghar wapasi to the regional party. The BJP was looking like a lost cause till
the teachersâ appointment scam, cattle smuggling scam and the coal scam raised
their head. Senior party leader Partha Chatterjee brought shame on the party
when mountains of cash and gold were found at the home of his alleged consort
(Chatterjee is still in ED custody). And then, just a few months before the Lok
Sabha elections, Sandeshkhali and Sheikh Shah Jahan happened.
It seems
Sandeshkhali was a shock the TMC could not recover from despite a sting
operation that sought to prove that the BJP had engineered the affair to defame
the party. If the exit polls prove to be true and if TMC actually loses ground
in the state, Sandeshkhali and corruption will be the two areas where it would
have failed to convince the people of its clean intentions. There is no doubt
that Bengal is a prestige battle after the TMC decided to pull out of the INDIA
alliance in the state and there were three-cornered contests on most seats.
With PM Modi making record visits to the state (and Amit Shah and J P Nadda
also making multiple visits), the BJP had focused on Bengal like never before.
If the exit polls prove to be true, its efforts would be well rewarded and the
TMC will have a battle on its hands in the 2026 assembly elections.
