Across the state, the CPI-M vote share came down to mere 6.34 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha polls from around 37 per cent in 2006 assembly elections.
In 2021 assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress vote share was 48.02% followed by BJP - 37.97% and the Sanjukta Morcha comprising Leftists and Congress could bag 10.04% per cent. But the communists and Congress could not open account.
Thus the BJP arrived as the principal and formidable rival against Mamata Banerjee. In 2019, BJP had won 18 Lok Sabha seats but it came down to 12 in 2024 parliamentary elections. In 2024, the original BJP/RSS workers were marginalised and this created major setback.
And hence it makes lot of sense that for 2026, the RSS and BJP high command banked on Samik Bhattacharya - a man well connected to the Sangh parivar fountainhead roots.
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| Elderly woman voter casts her vote with the help of central at 260 Bardhaman : 2021 |
In successive bypolls after 2021, the BJP lost all the 11 held so far.
BJP also failed to secure the lead that it had in the Lok Sabha polls in the four Assembly seats of Raiganj, Madarihat, Ranaghat South and Bagdah.
In the last bypoll held for the Kaliganj Assembly seat, the BJP’s vote share went down to 28.29 per cent from the 30.91 per cent it had secured in the 2021 Assembly polls.
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| West Bengal voters - always enthusiastic about voting |
Samik Bhattacharya has certain advantages. "An excellent speaker in Bengali, a razor-sharp intellect and a hold on both organization and public relations,” remarked party veteran and former governor of Tripura and Meghalaya Tathagata Roy.
The desperation in the communists camp in 2021 had made the CPI(M) depend on pro-Muslim outfit Indian Secular Front of Abbas Siddiqui. The ISF vote share was negligible 1.36. The CPI-M vote share in 2021 was also 4.73 percent.
It had contested 138 and won none while the Congress also could not open account after fielding 91 candidates.
The Congress vote percentage stood at 2.93 percent. As soon as the news of Samik Bhattacharya's 'uncontested election' as new BJP chief in West Bengal went vital in social media and TV channels; enthusiasm greeted saffron party supporters and workers across the state.
In Coochbehar, one RSS foot soldier remarked:
"The ground underneath of Trinamool Congress has slipped pretty fast and now all eyes are on the BJP on how the saffron makes the best out of the given situation. The nervousness in the Mamata Banerjee camp is palpable".
Even one Forward Bloc booth worker Ajay Sen said: "We have to work harder. It is a fact in Bengal polity that the anti-incumbency against the TMC government is actually boosting the BJP".
Trader Toofan Bagchi in Jalpaiguri said: "The pro-change wave for real Poriborton is in favour of the saffron party".
“TMC’s ‘visarjan’ (immersion) will happen in 2026," said Samik Bhattacharya.
“The people of Bengal want “Mukti" (liberation) from the current regime. This is not just an election — it’s a fight for the soul of Bengal," he said.
In North Bengal, the Lotus party is hopeful. But it is also true in 2021 during the assembly polls, on the day of the fourth phase of polling, there were certain major instances of violence, both in the Sitalkuchi constituency of the Cooch Behar district.
In Pathantuli, a first-time voter was shot. Later both BJP and TMC claimed he was one of their workers, but family members said he was a belonged to the BJP.
In Sitalkuchi, the CISF personnel who were guarding a polling station in Jorepatki shot and killed four Muslim villagers, who they alleged were part of a mob attacking them.
Hence all these are being recalled today as the BJP has set out on a more crucial part of the mission to rescue Bengal from Mamata Banerjee and her misgovernance punctuated with indiscriminate Muslim appeasement.
sitalkuchi snap
In Dinhata - a key political hub near Coochbehar; one local BJP leader Keshav Barman said:
"Our party's politics has a purpose - development of North Bengal and especially the Coochbehar region. I think more and more youths will join the BJP as Samik Bhattacharya is a respected leader.
If you want to bring change then we cannot do it by staying outside the political system."
In Durgapur in South Bengal, the refrain among BJP supporters is the Trinamool Congress retained hold in south Bengal and seats in and around Kolkata in 2021 and 2024.
Therefore, the BJP strategists say winning political space in south Bengal and crucial hubs in Hooghly, Howrah and Kolkata regions would increase BJP's prospects to storm to power.
snap
** In many places people do not want to talk about politics.
In Konachatra village that falls under the jurisdiction of Adabari Gram Panchayat in Sitai assembly segment. Villages including women spoke about “fear” of political violence. This showed Trinamool trying to dominate.
The village has about 1200 households.
In some pockets violence reported to have been perpetrated by Bengali Muslim youths. In May 2025, one Hindu young girl was raped by a Muslim youth (named Bappa Miyan) and he was arrested too.
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