Mamata Banerjee defeated Narendra Modi led BJP’s high voltage campaign in West Bengal by getting around 214 seats out of 294. In 2016, Trinamool Congress had 211 MLAs and no one expected Trinamool Congress (TMC) will get such huge seats in its kitty. BJP which had leads in 121 assembly seats in the Lok Sabha 2019 election by getting 18 MPs from West Bengal was limited to 76 assembly seats this time. In general no one thought BJP’s tally will go below 100 seats and many thought BJP will cross 150 seats easily, considering the huge crowd in the rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Cross-voting the core reason for BJP loss in Bengal?
It is a fact that the Muslims who comprise more than 30% of the state’s population voted to TMC en masse to prevent the victory of BJP in West Bengal. Interestingly, the Congress-Left alliance which bagged 76 seats in the previous assembly election could not get even a single seat this time and it is a general assumption that Congress, as well as the Left cadre, voted TMC to block BJP’s victory. BJP must have spent around Rs.3,000 crore in West Bengal and it is a known fact that many workers were brought in from the neighbouring states including Delhi. BJP managed to wean several TMC leaders over for the past one year but Mamata’s personal stature is what counted in the end. It was a Mamata Banerjee show all the way as she alone defeated the mighty machinery of the BJP, including the Election Commission’s curious choice of holding the elections in eight phases.
In these five-states-election results, the standout winner is Mamata Banerjee who effectively checked the Narendra Modi-led BJP’s election-winning juggernaut.
Vijayan’s resounding win
Another resounding victory is by the Left Front in Kerala which retained power, demolishing the Congress front. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his office were facing all kinds of charges of sleaze, corruption and even gold smuggling controversies for the past one year. But Congress front lost the election and managed only 41 seats in the 140 member assembly. Thus after 40 years, a ruling party retains power in Kerala. The BJP, which expected 2-3 seats, ended up with zero this time around. Even a man of Dr E Sreedharan’s stature was found to be not worthy; it goes to show that a state that boasts a literacy of 100 per cent still votes emotionally.
AIADMK needs to re-group
In Tamil Nadu, it was almost known to all that DMK led by M K Stalin will win as AIADMK was enervated after its supremo Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. DMK and allies bagged 160 seats out of 234. AIADMK’s ally BJP managed to win four seats. In Puducherry, BJP’s ally NRC (N Rangaswami Congress) victory was certain as the Congress party was withering away in this tiny state for the past decade.
Assam reposes its faith again in the BJP
As widely expected, in Assam, BJP retained power. BJP and allies bagged 75 seats out of 126. Though Congress managed a grand alliance with the Left and pro-Islamic party AIDUF, the Assam electorate preferred BJP by giving more seats this time.
Cross-voting a concern
In these five-states-election results, the standout winner is Mamata Banerjee who effectively checked the Narendra Modi-led BJP’s election-winning juggernaut. From 2017 onwards, West Bengal was BJP’s laboratory under the direct charge of Amit Shah, and the results showed as BJP surged in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. But that surge got sabotaged by Mamata Banerjee in the Assembly election 2021. Cross voting the new normal? Indian voters must reflect.
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Lakhs of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas who got adhar cards and voter IDs got begum Mamata victory. This is the naked truth. BJP lost hundred seats by a margin of 200-500 votes. Muslim vote consolidation and divided Hindu votes guaranteed the return of a govt that hates sanathan dharm. Unless the center gives a strong warning to Begum mamata to stop TMC goons attacking BJP supporters homes in many districts, west Bengal will see many riots soon and border districts will expel all Hindus and Muslims will make west Bengal another Kashmir and a big head ache for the nation. we must do recounting in many districts and identify foreign nationals voting and give justice . we need a strong governor like Kiran Bedi as governor .
That BJP increased its seat count from 3 in last assembly election to 77 is spectacular if one ignores the expectations raised by BJP itself. So, it is BJP’s bravado that has made this result look like a fall for BJP. That Bengalis chose to stick with TMC (despite abject failure in governance) does not augur well for the development of WB and the role of demographics in WB election should be a concern for every well-meaning Indians (bit nor the anti-Modi cabal)
In 2019 Like Sabha polls BJP was leading in nearly 150 assembly seats, do in 2 years the rally has come down.
I am not sure I understand you correctly. The electorate for Lok Sabha is different that from Assembly. It would be comparing Apples and Oranges
Majority of muslims (illegal migrants included) will never vote for BJP and will be very discreet in their voting exercise. Hindus on the other hand are ever divided and would never realise the damage they cause to themselves and the nation by such behaviour. Politicians like Mamata will go to any extent to appease the minorities to build on her party’s vote bank. Hindus are more than satisfied by her chanting some puja slokas to treat her as an impartial politician. It is quite possible Hindus will become second class citizens soon in Bengal.
It’s a Swan Song for majority community voters due to massive demographic changes already engulfed in more than 90 districts in the Country in general and nearly thirteen districts in WB state in particular!
Outcome of the just concluded elections, Puducherry is a consolation prize for majboot sarkar lead by the Duo who refuse to learn from past blunders. Duo lacked strategy twice in Kerala and TN though winning four seats in TN this time riding piggyback on AIADMK. Both states are literate but still prefer to vote for two doles/freebies offering ancient regional outfits.
Defeating stateman shri. Sreedharan tells prejudiced mindset of Kerala voters. It is true that Gods Own Country is ruled by the devils / demons! Adding salt to the wound the Kerala and TN state politicians are lucky that the BJP lead Majboot Sarkar did not investigate into their recent and UPA era scams! Kapil Sibal is happy that Modi Shah for nearly seven years now proved his ZERO LOSS theory (on 2G etc..)
In TN the so called Devendrakula Velalar voters having impact in 60/90 seats gone kaput! This vote bank was discovered by the Tughlak Editor duly embraced by the clueless BJP’s top duo! It seems BJP changes its TN State BJP officer bearers like we change shirts making difficult to build the party!
Winning Assam is due to Biswa Sarma’s massive efforts and timely one sentence statements on Ajmal and good governance provided by Sonowal. Both are not from RSS stable or BJP! Hope this time BJP gives CM portfolio to Sarma the east Indian seven States strategist.
Losing the winnable WB by BJP is due to lack grass root supporting candidates and booth managers, lack of projecting probable CM candidate! it’s embarrassing to know that majority of the BJP candidates are from TMC/Commies/Cong-I turn coats at the eleventh hour or few one year from the elections early birds ! Local supporters are afraid of Didi’s street rowdies patrolling and musclemen jumped from Commies ten years ago and BJP lost 200 party workers due to reckless killings, further 400 plus club culture and financial inducements by TMC equal to alleged BJP’s Rs.3K crores spends!
it was reported that Saurav Ganguly was threatened by Didi by calling his consort and Saurav dropped attending rally with Mithun! Majboot Sarkar is on paper only! It was also true that after second round Didi wrote letters to non BJP parties to support her in many ways to stop BJP at any cost. It clicked.
Prashant Kishore and Didi knew that BJP calculated its two years long strategy based on 2011 censes wherein it shows only 30% moslem voters and on ground it was 40% plus now in 2021! Who will weed out fake ID cards? Hence Ministry of Home Affairs and PMO do not read reports of IB published few years ago! Modi Govt lacks sophistry! BJP failed to rope Smriti Iran who speaks Bengali fluently to canvass in majority of the seats and Modi-Shah spoke in Hindi which Bengali hinterland voters do not understand! Of course Modi-Shah do not like others in the party to become popular!!
At the end BJPs “Sonar Bangla” slogan proved a trench in the Bay of Bengal!
Problem is not with Modi. Problem is with Hindus. They have neither foresight nor vision and have Murgi Ka dimak meaning brain of a chicken. Chicken always concentrates on a grain of food not caring that Hunter is behind it. This analogy applies since invaders came to India. For ex Bengal was partitioned in 1932 on religious lines and Hindus were booted out from east Bengal, and later massacred in 1971. They took shelter in India only to backstab native Hindus. Why didn’t these Chatterjees, Mukharjees, Bannerjes , Matuas stay back in East Bengal and fight back, instead of fleeing to Bharat.
Rajiv Malhotra’s prediction that in future Bengal/ Bihar will adopt Islam and south India will adopt Christianity and only western India will remain Hindu state is true. This process started from 800AD and Gandhi accelerated it. All four metro cities are in the control of Hindu hate leaders who are corrupt to the core, and chicken brain Hindus voted for them.
Don’t blame Modi, blame the Hindu born politicians , Hindu born journalists ,Hindu born atheists whose bad karma will haunt their next generations.
Modi would have easily wrested Bengal if he concentrated more on positive agenda of economic development. Instead he mocked Mamata and paid price. Modi Shah duo needs to be humble and follow true BJP ideology of economic development and cultural Hindutva. Instead they allowed all TMC turncoats into BJP, who were trounced at polls.
Enjoy election win & remain in poverty like India has been since 75 years on….. elections glory, but on ground begging & poverty. Tragedy of India. Media including PGurus are glorifying the elections & democracy but cannot feed empty stomachs
For Hindu Nationalists it is a catch 22. We don’t want people like Mamata under any circumstances but victory for Modi-Shah would have made them more autocratic. With a victory in Bengal Modi would have turned a blind eye to economic issues and COVID because that would have validated his belief that economy does not matter to win elections. I see dark days for the Nation not because I am a pessimist but Modi squandered two opportunities to make India prosperous. I doubt he will get a third chance.
You don’t want Modi, you don’t want Mamata, then whom do you want ? Sheikh Hasina? Are you aware that Sheikh Mujibur Rehman wanted entire Bengal and N E to be Islamic state, that was his ambition. Dark days are ahead not because of Modi but because of greedy hindu zamindars ruling different states. They will destroy the country inch by inch with appeasement.
Modi was an accidental PM, destined to teach Hinduism to secular Hindus. His ambition was to become a monk at RK Mission. Accept divine choice and let us do our best for the nation.
I am not a Modi bakt. I am a strong supporter of right wing Hinduism which is pro free market on the lines of US Republicans or UK Conservatives. My lament is Modi is wasting his opportunities by running an autocratic and socialistic regime unlike Vajpayee who pursued free market economy to make India great. We all want right wing politics to succeed in India and make it a prosperous country. Unfortunately Modi is following the footsteps of Indira Gandhi. BJP should always be a cadre based and ideology based party and not bakt based party.
Appreciate your views. Hinduism, free market and democracy are intertwined and are basically right wingers. Modi charges for everything , but it is the Chota zamindars giving free electricity, water, mobiles, fans, sewing machines and also marriage expenses and getting votes.
BJP and commies are the only cadre based parties.while LK Advani wanted to be PM candidate for 3rd time, it is the BJP cadre who chose Modi. There are many other deserving PM candidates in BJP in Q, but only one can occupy the chair.
Your rant that alternative to Modi or Mamata is Sheik Hasina implies that you don’t have any Indian leaders to name. The alternatives are people such as PV Narasimha Rao, AB Vajpayee etc, who focused on economic development. For now Gadkari fits the bill. We have Subramanyam Swamy for FM. By the way Hasina took Bangladesh ahead of India in textile exports and so many other indexes.
My reference was to Bengal election only. Further economic development comes when labour and judicial reforms occur. Modi tried and failed. Pl note centre can frame policies and it is the States who should play active role in industrialisation. Threats, coercion by locals is a feature faced by businessmen. Sterlite in TN closed after running for many years. Serum institute chief takes shelter in UK.
Try starting an industry in Kerala or Bengal, and be prepared to face goons. By the way entrepreneurs are mocked as thieves in India.
The Cat Call “Didi-O-Didi by PM Narendra Damodardas Modi led to BJP’s downfall in West Bengal. The highly cultural state especially womenfolk were insulted by the way Modi repeated in his public rallies which he addressed over 12 until he was forced to cancel as all other parties canceled.
The Rs3000 Crore mentioned in your article is shopping amount and BKP IT Cell members like Amit Malviya and Tajinder Bagga were camping with scores if paid volunteers in West Bengal for over 3 months in this pandemic crisis was a feast for them.
Blaming Hindus for not voting us a lame excuse
Time to play as a team rather carrying 2 men oj party’s shoulder will be a liability for BJP.
Best comment here.
BJP insulted Bengalis by bringing outsiders for the campaign while not putting up a CM face. Many turncoats who joined before election will work against the party’s interests in the coming years.
*Prashant Kishore, the political strategist of TMC, on their winning*:
*Wherever demography has changed and the ratio of Hindu and Muslim population is 7:3 or 6:4 then it is very difficult for BJP to win the elections. He says if BJP wants to win they have to take 50-55% of Hindu votes but it is next to impossible because Hindus never vote like Muslims. Muslims know how to vote. That’s why I was very confident about our win..*
Modi lost to Mamata. That is the crux of this election result