BJP emerging as second political force in West Bengal

The emphatic win of the ruling Trinamool Congress in the seven urban local bodies polls in West Bengal was much on expected lines, given the number of defections from the Opposition to the ruling party since the 2016 Assembly elections.

What has been a startling revelation is the fine print buried under the massive victory margins of the TMC. The Thursday’s results clearly show the emergence of the BJP as a distant, but a clearly distinct second political force in the state, replacing the Left Front and the Congress.

The paradigm shift is evident from the results. Out of 148 wards that went to polls, the TMC bagged 140. But, the BJP managed to secure six wards with the Left Front bagging just one and the Congress drawing a blank.

On one hand, the results from two municipalities — Haldia and Durgapur — have shown the sheer dominance of the TMC. The party won all 29 wards in Haldia, which the Left Front (LF) had held on to in 2012 civic polls, even after Mamata Banerjee defeated the LF in the 2011 Assembly polls.

In Durgapur, the TMC has bagged all 43 wards, leaving nothing for the Opposition.

During last year’s Assembly elections, the Durgapur and Haldia seats were won by the Congress and the CPI(M), respectively. Of the 43 wards in Durgapur municipality, TMC had lost in 40 wards. In a year’s span, the turnaround has been extraordinary.

Out of the six wards won by the BJP in this civic bodies polls, four are in north Bengal, indicating that the saffron party has made quite a mark among the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Rajbanshis and also continue to hold sway over the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha support base.
Initial calculations indicate that the BJP’s vote share in the seven civic bodies is around 18.08%.

The 2018 Panchayat polls will surely be an indicator. And also a litmus test for the BJP national brass, which has been eyeing Bengal for some time now.