<p> New Delhi: After its drubbing in the last Assembly polls and the drop in its parliamentary seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP went back to the drawing board to redraft its campaign strategy for the West Bengal elections.</p>.<p>Lagging behind the TMC in 2016, the BJP faced three major hurdles — West Bengal’s demography that has nearly 27% Muslim population, its organisational weakness as compared to the TMC, and a lack of larger cultural acceptability in Bengal.</p>.<p>By increasing it vote share by almost 8 percentage points as compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha performance, the BJP seems to have made inroads into all sections of the majority community. The party’s penetration among Dalit and tribal voters had helped it win LS seats in north Bengal in the last two parliamentary polls. The outreach now seems to have expanded to other parts.</p>.West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | Mamata alleges BJP looted 100 seats with help from EC.<p>This vote base seems to have got topped up with the urban middle class disillusioned by the lack of employment opportunities and a stagnant economy.</p>.<p>Despite minority mobilisation driven by SIR-related citizenship fears, the fact that the TMC could not cross the three-digit mark indicates that Mamata Banerjee’s party failed to win seats with 25%-30% Muslim population. This alludes to more than 60% majority mobilisation in favour of the BJP.</p>.<p><strong>Local vs outsider</strong></p>.<p>Among the national leaders, only Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took on the TMC leadership. The involvement of other managers remained understated.</p>.<p>Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who is in-charge of the state, travelled to the state every weekend. Bihar Minister Mangal Pandey regularly visited localities with migrant populations from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Sunil Bansal, an RSS-deputed pracharak in Kolkata, marshalled party’s resources in the state.</p>.<p>Even while challenging the Trinamool, BJP leaders refrained from making personal attacks on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Instead, the party focused on questioning the performance of her 15-year tenure.</p>.<p><strong>Poll doles</strong></p>.<p>Mamata's personal appeal, capped with direct cash transfer schemes, had helped the TMC win over a large section of women voters. As the impact of the existing schemes faded, the BJP, in its manifesto, promised to enhance the cash handouts to women.</p>.<p>At an election rally, PM Modi also announced the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission for state government employees if the BJP came to power.</p>
<p> New Delhi: After its drubbing in the last Assembly polls and the drop in its parliamentary seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP went back to the drawing board to redraft its campaign strategy for the West Bengal elections.</p>.<p>Lagging behind the TMC in 2016, the BJP faced three major hurdles — West Bengal’s demography that has nearly 27% Muslim population, its organisational weakness as compared to the TMC, and a lack of larger cultural acceptability in Bengal.</p>.<p>By increasing it vote share by almost 8 percentage points as compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha performance, the BJP seems to have made inroads into all sections of the majority community. The party’s penetration among Dalit and tribal voters had helped it win LS seats in north Bengal in the last two parliamentary polls. The outreach now seems to have expanded to other parts.</p>.West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | Mamata alleges BJP looted 100 seats with help from EC.<p>This vote base seems to have got topped up with the urban middle class disillusioned by the lack of employment opportunities and a stagnant economy.</p>.<p>Despite minority mobilisation driven by SIR-related citizenship fears, the fact that the TMC could not cross the three-digit mark indicates that Mamata Banerjee’s party failed to win seats with 25%-30% Muslim population. This alludes to more than 60% majority mobilisation in favour of the BJP.</p>.<p><strong>Local vs outsider</strong></p>.<p>Among the national leaders, only Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took on the TMC leadership. The involvement of other managers remained understated.</p>.<p>Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, who is in-charge of the state, travelled to the state every weekend. Bihar Minister Mangal Pandey regularly visited localities with migrant populations from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Sunil Bansal, an RSS-deputed pracharak in Kolkata, marshalled party’s resources in the state.</p>.<p>Even while challenging the Trinamool, BJP leaders refrained from making personal attacks on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Instead, the party focused on questioning the performance of her 15-year tenure.</p>.<p><strong>Poll doles</strong></p>.<p>Mamata's personal appeal, capped with direct cash transfer schemes, had helped the TMC win over a large section of women voters. As the impact of the existing schemes faded, the BJP, in its manifesto, promised to enhance the cash handouts to women.</p>.<p>At an election rally, PM Modi also announced the implementation of the 7th Pay Commission for state government employees if the BJP came to power.</p>