Mamata Banerjee has BJP on the mat, again: Trinamul bags 29 of 42 seats in Bengal

Despite its tall claims about 'uprooting' the Trinamool Congress from Bengal and getting '30-plus seats', the BJP ended a poor second with 12 seats and 39 per cent votes

Devadeep Purohit, TT, 5.06.24 : Trinamool has vanquished the BJP in Bengal cornering around 46 per cent votes and bagging 29 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, cementing Mamata Banerjee’s position as the country’s most formidable Opposition leader for the second time in three years after the 2021 Assembly polls.

Despite its tall claims about “uprooting” the Trinamool Congress from Bengal and getting “30-plus seats”, the BJP ended a poor second with 12 seats and 39 per cent votes.

As in 2021, Mamata has beaten heavy odds at a time when most pundits and pollsters had written her off following the corruption scandals engulfing her party and the Sandeshkhali charges of atrocities on women.

The chief minister braved age and injury to crisscross the whole of Bengal, addressing 107 rallies and 20-odd road shows, to eventually have the last laugh.

“Bengal was tortured the most…. They inflicted the CBI, ED, income-tax department and even the media,” Mamata said at a news conference at her 30B Harish Chatterjee Street home on Tuesday evening, while listing the challenges she had been up against.

“They used the courts to take away the jobs of 26,000 people. Then the OBC certificates of about 15 lakh people were cancelled.”

She also cited other constraints, from the central agencies’ role to the money power the BJP brought into play against her party.

“They threatened my ministers, my MLAs, my councillors.... They sent money to buy us, but still couldn’t do anything,” she said, with nephew and political heir apparent Abhishek Banerjee, the party’s all-India general secretary, by her side.

This election has witnessed Abhishek’s rise as Trinamool’s principal poll strategist, a task performed by Prashant Kishor in 2021. Abhishek played a key role in picking the candidates and working out the campaign planks.

The Bengal verdict holds significance for both the state and beyond. It means the BJP, which won just 77 seats in the 2021 Assembly elections, will have to make a fresh start for the 2026 battle.

The BJP had fielded its topmost leaders in the Bengal campaign, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself addressing 22 rallies since the polls were announced.

While Modi’s personal appeal didn’t work, the results also flagged the BJP’s organisational weakness in Bengal.

Multiple sources in the BJP said the murmurs of discontent against senior state leaders, heard in the party office on Tuesday afternoon, would only grow louder now with demands for some heads to roll.

“Our organisational weakness, caused by factionalism, is well-known. This drubbing will surely make things more difficult for us as factionalism will intensify in the coming months,” a BJP insider said.

The Bengal outcome is likely to have ripples in Delhi, too. Although Mamata made it clear she “didn’t want anything” — pre-empting questions on whether she wanted to lead the INDIA bloc if the NDA failed to form the government — her growing stature in national politics is beyond doubt. “I will certainly help the INDIA team. I have already spoken to so many people. I invite others to the INDIA team. I will try to see Modi is out. I want to keep the country safe,” she said.

Mamata is unlikely to go to Delhi in a hurry to meet the INDIA partners: she is sending Abhishek to Wednesday’s huddle in the capital. But there is little doubt that the next steps taken by the fledgling alliance would bear a strong Kalighat imprint.

Reason for win

After analysing the state and national poll outcomes through the day with Abhishek, Mamata emerged for the news conference immediately after Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge wrapped up their media interaction in Delhi.

In her trademark style, she was at her humble best, quoting from Tagore in her opening remarks. “I thank the people of Bengal and will forever be indebted to all of you,” she said with bowed head.

She also thanked the voters for not giving any credence to the BJP’s narrative of sexual abuse of women in Sandeshkhali. “They tried to defame Bengal in front of the country on the Sandeshkhali issue.... I thank the people for foiling their plan,” she said.

She cited no specific reasons for the Trinamool sweep. Several analysts said that Lakshmir Bhandar — the Rs 1,000 monthly assistance scheme for general-caste women and Rs 1,200 for SC/ST women — was a big reason for her victory.

That Mamata had the women voters’ support was apparent from the turnout data released by the Election Commission, which showed 81.22 per cent women, against 77.96 per cent men, had voted in the first six phases.

When this correspondent asked Mamata whether she owed the victory to this specific scheme, her reply implied she owed it to all sections of society. “Lakshmi, Saraswati, Rehana, Maria, they all are my friends,” she said, underscoring the inclusive character of her politics.

Mamata’s tireless attempt at projecting a secular and inclusive model of governance has been an important reason behind her party’s success in a state with around 30 per cent Muslim voters.

“The fishermen, the workers, the youths, they all are my friends. I have earmarked 10 lakh jobs for the people of the state,” she said, stressing her commitment to job creation.

Another reason could be the state government’s decision to use its own money to pay the over 59 lakh MGNREGA workers denied wages because the Centre had frozen funds over alleged irregularities.

Trinamool’s narrative was that the Centre had stopped sending funds under various schemes out of anger at failing to win the 2021 Assembly polls.