Ratan Tata's big announcement came in October 2008
In no time he received an SMS from the then Gujarat chief minister - "Welcome to Gujarat".
Eighteen years on, the Gujarati is now India's Prime Minister. Another Gujarati - Amit Shah is a chief political strategist who has taken the battle to the interiors of West Bengal. Hubs like Nandigram and Singur included.
In fact Singur heralded a new era - the downfall of the communists and the emergence of Mamata Banerjee as the chief minister of West Bengal.
But Singur remains trapped between two ruins -- a car factory that never came up and the farmland that no longer yields agri products as before.
In 2006, the then Left Front government acquired around 1,000 acres in Singur for Tata Motors' small-car project.
TMC chief Mamata Banerjee played a spoilsport. She built up a mass agitation with villagers and pro-Naxal elements around claims that the fertile, multi-crop land was being taken from unwilling farmers.
What followed reshaped Bengal politics.
When Ratan Tata announced in October 2008 that the Nano project would be shifted to Gujarat's Sanand, it marked the beginning of the end of the Left's 34-year rule.
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| A Reformist Communist - Buddhadeb Bhattacharya |
2011, Miracle happened. Mamata Banerjee entered the Writers' Buildings, the state's seat of power -- the building was renamed Nabanno.
Kolkata's red identity was replaced by blue. At times even to the level of violation of international traffic guidelines.
She stayed on as the chief minister for 15 long years.
The anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram became part of the history or her-story.
But in Singur itself, triumph has turned into regret. The Supreme Court's 2016 order returning land to "unwilling" farmers was celebrated by the TMC as vindication. On paper, the land came back. On the ground, much of it did not.
Mind Game and claim of 110 seats by BJP for phase 1 -- 152 seats:
Those segments where elections have been done on April 23 - include 54 seats in North Bengal. Now the break up --
Cooch Behar has 9 seats -- in 2021 - BJP had won 7 and TMC got - 2
Alipurduar - out of 5 seats - it was clean sweep for BJP (all five). TMC- score was 'zero'.
Darjeeling -- same BJP sweep -- scored five out of Five
Uttar Dinajpur - BJP had won only 2 out of 9 and Trinamool had picked up 7
Jalpaiguri - out of 7 -- BJP had won 4 and TMC won - 3
Dakshin Dinajpur -- out of 6 -- both the parties had shared three each
Malda - out of 12 -- TMC got 8 and BJP - remaining four (Notably has over 50 per cent Muslim population)
Now Junglemahal region ::: --- West Medinipore - in 2021 TMC had 13; BJP could win only 2.
Jhargram -- In 2026, the region made news for Jhalmuri. But in 2021 - it was a clean sweep for the BJP. Mamata-led out had clean sweep of all four seats.
Purulia - Has 9 seats -- in 2021 - BJP won 6 and TMC remaining 3
Bankura --- BJP had won 8 out of 12; the remaining four went to TMC
Murshidabad (famous as being Muslim-stronghold) - Out of 22 seats - as expected in 2021 - TMC had won 20 --- BJP had won 2 (one of them was Bahrampur)
East Medinipore is also politically crucial in this region. Here out of 16; TMC had won - 9 -- BJP managed to win remaining 7.
Birbhum has 11 segments -- out of these in 2021 --- BJP had won only one; and the rest 10 went to TMC's kitty. Importantly from statics point of view -- there were some seats in 2021 -- where the victory margin was minimum --- Take a closer look ---
In Dinhata - TMC recorded win but the margin was only 57 votes. In
Jalpaiguri = TMC won the seat by a slender margin of 941 votes.
Coach Behar South --- BJP had won; and margin 4931 votes (that is below 5000 votes bar)
Falakata -- BJP won the seat and margin was around 3000 votes only.
Tapan seat - BJP had won and the victory margin was 1300 only
Debate about elections in West Bengal 2026
** Win for BJP and defeat for TMC --- would have serious and several far-reaching consequenes.
** Internal rebellion will catch up TMC.
Gradually Mamata Banerjee may face 'personal marginalization'.
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From analysis point -- For West Bengal, this election transcends mere seat/vote counts.
Sickular journos throwing up big phrases - a so-called contest between institutional headwinds and democratic exceptionalism.
Half the things would not make sense except sounding bombastically intellectual.
They do not want to flag off the real issues - Threats to national security.
Demographic Jihad and illegal immigration of Bangladeshi Muslims.
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