"With our party [CPI(M)] not as strong, our supporters voted for the BJP, in order to unseat the TMC," said Sanjit Roy, a CPI(M) worker from New Barrackpore in West Bengal.
The BJP's rise in West Bengal came at the cost of the Trinamool Congress (TMC)not doubt; but the loyal voters of the Left parties played a crucial role in it.
The saffron spread in Bengal has a dash of red, courtesy, Communist voters.
Do not get surprised; the BJP and the communists had cooperated a few decades back too. That was the year 1989 when the Left and BJP were on the right side of former Prime Minister V P Singh and the Janata Dal and the opposition alliance National Front was fighting the Congress in the name of exposing the Bofors scandal.
Essentially the V P Singh government had come to power with the support of Left parties and the BJP. In fact, for first few effective coordination was ensured because PM V P Singh hosted dinner for BJP stalwart and its national president L K Advani and CPI-M general secretary Harkishan Singh Surjeet.
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| V P Singh, Surjeet and Advani |
Hence, the Left voters in Bengal did not commit any political or Godly or otherwise any sin by voting for the BJP candidates in various assembly segments across the state. In fact, the Left and Congress party voters had played a key role in ensuring Mamata's win in 2021. In the process, the Left scored a zero - in their erstwhile bastion and so did the Congress.
The seat share in Bengal after the vote count in 2026 stood thus:
BJP - 207, TMC - 80, Congress- 2 , AJUP- 2,
CPI(M) - 1
and AISF - also 1.
In total numbers,
the BJP’s polled 2.92 crore votes. Trinamool received 2.6 crore votes and the Left polled - 42.9 lakh votes. Among the Left parties, besides CPI-M; the CPI, Forward Bloc and RSP were also in the fray. In terms of percentage, the CPI-M voteshare was 4.45 per cent.
2026 polls - Ebar Ram, porey baam
(This time BJP, we will vote for CPI-M or the Left later) : guiding theme of Left voters
Left voters quietly helped BJP win Bengal election
One of the crucial factors in the BJP's historic 2026 victory in West Bengal polls has been the silent Left supporters who backed it.
"Repelled by the TMC and lacking any viable alternative, scores of Left supporters voted for the BJP in the 2026 polls," reports 'India Today'.
That phenomenon was attested by Suvendu Adhikari, now the Chief Minister of West Bengal, in his victory speech on May 4 from Bhabanipur after defeating the TMC chief and incumbent chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
"The CPI-M had 13,000 votes in Bhabanipur, and at least 10,000 of them were transferred to me. I also express my gratitude to CPI(M) voters there," said Adhikari.
This vote transfer has been true in scores of seats across West Bengal, including Dum Dum Uttar, of which Sanjit Roy's New Barrackpore is part of.
The CPI(M) used to witness a high vote share in Dum Dum Uttar, but in the 2026 Assembly election, the BJP won from there, despite the Left party fielding Dipshita Dhar, one of the "new generation" leaders replacing the ageing Left leadership.
Left voters are ideological loyalists and most get involved at a young age with Left students' politics. Also, the Left parties had a vast network in West Bengal, having ruled the state for 34 consecutive years, from 1977 to 2011.
This signals a win for Hindutva forces as even Left parties and the Left supporters realised that to defeat Mamata and to get rid off the Syndicate Raj; they had to vote for the BJP in 2026 and may not do so necessarily in 2031.
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| Jyoti Basu and Advani : Before V P Singh Govt fell, Basu had urged Advani to withdraw his Rath Yatra |
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