<p>Weeks away from the Assembly elections in West Bengal, campaigning is on in full swing as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) works to retain power while the 'outsider' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tries to make voters see saffron. Political observers in the state agree that BJP's attempts to make inroads in the state have been gradual in the past decade and the Modi wave is finally seen as Mamata Banerjee's biggest competition in the upcoming election.</p>.<p>Here is a look at the TMC and BJP's performances in the past three state elections, an attempt to ascertain the trajectory of the two parties in the hearts of Bengal's voters.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/west-bengal-people-ready-for-mamata-banerjees-visarjan-says-bjps-dilip-ghosh-961520.html" target="_blank">Read | West Bengal people ready for Mamata Banerjee's 'visarjan', says BJP's Dilip Ghosh</a></strong></p>.<p><strong>2006</strong></p>.<p>After 8 years of its inception, the TMC was still finding its feet in the 2006 elections. Of the 294 seats, the Left Front alliance won by a landslide, bagging 237 seats, whereas the TMC alliance clocked in merely 31 seats. The Congress alliance won 27 seats.</p>.<p>Party-wise, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won the highest seats (176), followed by the TMC (30), All India Forward Bloc (23) and Congress (21).</p>.<p>Interestingly, the BJP contested 29 seats in this election and lost all of them, indicating that the saffron party had no sway in the state at that point. It had a meagre vote share of 1.9 per cent.</p>.<p><strong>2011</strong></p>.<p>On the back of her '<em>Maa Maati Manush'</em> slogan, the TMC rode to power with a clear majority on its own, dethroning the Left Front government which had been in power for 34 years. The TMC won 187 seats of the Assembly and the TMC alliance won 227 of the 294 seats in the state. With it in the alliance were Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist). The Left Front alliance only managed to win 62 seats.</p>.<p>Things did not look better for the BJP in the state as it had 289 contestants in the fray and it failed again to secure any seats. However, in a small victory, the BJP's vote share swelled to 4.1 per cent, the fifth-highest among the 56 parties contesting.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/bengal-polls-mamatas-soft-hindutva-vs-suvendus-aggressive-hindutva-plays-out-in-nandigram-961234.html" target="_blank">Also Read | Bengal polls: Mamata's soft Hindutva vs Suvendu's aggressive Hindutva plays out in Nandigram</a></strong></p>.<p><strong>2016</strong></p>.<p>The last Assembly election is when things took an upturn for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The TMC, once again, single-handedly won 211 seats, coming back to power comfortably. The Left Democratic Secular Alliance, led by the Congress, was the runner up, winning 44 seats. The Left Front alliance led by the CPI(M), came in third with 27 seats. In fourth place was the NDA, BJP and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's alliance, with 6 seats.</p>.<p>Under the party state president Dilip Ghosh, the BJP finally had an imprint on the state, even if it were just 6 seats.</p>.<p><strong>2021</strong></p>.<p>Analysts believe that BJP acknowledged the absence of its force in the state a decade ago and only backed the TMC against the Left Front. The saffron party has, however, emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the state for the upcoming polls. TMC continues to be disappointed with the exodus of its senior leaders towards the BJP, including Suvendu Adhikari, Mukul Roy and most recently, Dinesh Trivedi, among scores of other mid-level and junior party members. It remains to be seen whether the Modi factor and BJP's relentless campaigning will be enough to defeat the ruling TMC.</p>
<p>Weeks away from the Assembly elections in West Bengal, campaigning is on in full swing as the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) works to retain power while the 'outsider' Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) tries to make voters see saffron. Political observers in the state agree that BJP's attempts to make inroads in the state have been gradual in the past decade and the Modi wave is finally seen as Mamata Banerjee's biggest competition in the upcoming election.</p>.<p>Here is a look at the TMC and BJP's performances in the past three state elections, an attempt to ascertain the trajectory of the two parties in the hearts of Bengal's voters.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/west-bengal-people-ready-for-mamata-banerjees-visarjan-says-bjps-dilip-ghosh-961520.html" target="_blank">Read | West Bengal people ready for Mamata Banerjee's 'visarjan', says BJP's Dilip Ghosh</a></strong></p>.<p><strong>2006</strong></p>.<p>After 8 years of its inception, the TMC was still finding its feet in the 2006 elections. Of the 294 seats, the Left Front alliance won by a landslide, bagging 237 seats, whereas the TMC alliance clocked in merely 31 seats. The Congress alliance won 27 seats.</p>.<p>Party-wise, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) won the highest seats (176), followed by the TMC (30), All India Forward Bloc (23) and Congress (21).</p>.<p>Interestingly, the BJP contested 29 seats in this election and lost all of them, indicating that the saffron party had no sway in the state at that point. It had a meagre vote share of 1.9 per cent.</p>.<p><strong>2011</strong></p>.<p>On the back of her '<em>Maa Maati Manush'</em> slogan, the TMC rode to power with a clear majority on its own, dethroning the Left Front government which had been in power for 34 years. The TMC won 187 seats of the Assembly and the TMC alliance won 227 of the 294 seats in the state. With it in the alliance were Congress and Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist). The Left Front alliance only managed to win 62 seats.</p>.<p>Things did not look better for the BJP in the state as it had 289 contestants in the fray and it failed again to secure any seats. However, in a small victory, the BJP's vote share swelled to 4.1 per cent, the fifth-highest among the 56 parties contesting.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/east-and-northeast/bengal-polls-mamatas-soft-hindutva-vs-suvendus-aggressive-hindutva-plays-out-in-nandigram-961234.html" target="_blank">Also Read | Bengal polls: Mamata's soft Hindutva vs Suvendu's aggressive Hindutva plays out in Nandigram</a></strong></p>.<p><strong>2016</strong></p>.<p>The last Assembly election is when things took an upturn for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The TMC, once again, single-handedly won 211 seats, coming back to power comfortably. The Left Democratic Secular Alliance, led by the Congress, was the runner up, winning 44 seats. The Left Front alliance led by the CPI(M), came in third with 27 seats. In fourth place was the NDA, BJP and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's alliance, with 6 seats.</p>.<p>Under the party state president Dilip Ghosh, the BJP finally had an imprint on the state, even if it were just 6 seats.</p>.<p><strong>2021</strong></p>.<p>Analysts believe that BJP acknowledged the absence of its force in the state a decade ago and only backed the TMC against the Left Front. The saffron party has, however, emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the state for the upcoming polls. TMC continues to be disappointed with the exodus of its senior leaders towards the BJP, including Suvendu Adhikari, Mukul Roy and most recently, Dinesh Trivedi, among scores of other mid-level and junior party members. It remains to be seen whether the Modi factor and BJP's relentless campaigning will be enough to defeat the ruling TMC.</p>
