<p>New Delhi: Despite no dearth of resources and high-octane rhetoric, the BJP’s attempts to conquer Fort William and have its first government in West Bengal have so far fallen well short of the halfway mark in the Assembly.</p>.<p>In 2021, its determined push could only take its tally to 77 seats in the House of 294. In terms of vote share, the BJP polled almost 10 percentage points fewer than the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).</p>.<p>In the run-up to the 2026 elections, the BJP seems to have learnt from its mistakes and modified its approach.</p>.<p><strong>Local is Vocal</strong></p>.<p>“Did you see the stage set for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting at Brigade Ground last month? From Dilip Ghosh to Rahul Sinha, only local leaders shared the dais with the PM. Those from outside deputed to manage the elections were sitting in the audience,” said a BJP leader who had defected from the TMC.</p>.<p>This is in sharp contrast to the 2021 elections, when the party's then-state in-charge and Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya was calling the shots. The imprint of joint general secretary Shiv Prakash, the RSS pracharak on deputation to the BJP in ticket selection, was all too apparent.</p>.<p>Not that the BJP has not deputed its central leaders to manage Bengal polls this time as well. Union minister Bhupendra Yadav is in charge and travels to the state every weekend. Bihar minister Mangal Pandey regularly visits localities where migrants from UP and Bihar reside.</p>.<p>Among the national leaders, only Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have attacked the TMC leadership. The objective is to provide little room for Mamata Banerjee to reconstruct an "outsider-vs-local" narrative. </p>.<p><strong>Maa, Mati, Manush</strong></p>.<p>BJP leaders have refrained from taking personal swipes at Mamata Banerjee. Statements like “didi-o-didi” are missing from its repertoire. A direct attack on a woman chief minister who chants "Maa, Maati, Maanush (mother, motherland, and its people)" has proved counterproductive.</p>.<p>Instead, the BJP has sought to attack the TMC on the performance of the 15 years of Banerjee's rule. Union Home Minister Amit Shah last week released a chargesheet against the West Bengal government. However, he was very particular in referring to the TMC leader as Mamata ji or Didi while attacking Banerjee.</p>.<p><strong>Cultural nationalism vs subnationalism</strong></p>.<p>“No fish or egg will be available if the BJP comes to power,” the West Bengal CM has warned. The TMC has sought to brand THE BJP and its leaders "cultural outsiderS" to build a narrative around <em>bhadralok</em>-nationalism. From culinary habits to Gods, Banerjee’s party has tried to give another twist to the "local-vs-migrant" divide.</p>.<p>The aggressive and vocal mobiliSation in pockets during Ram Navami celebrations in March, some believed, was limited to addressing core right-wing Hindutva elements. Otherwise, unlike the last Assembly polls, "Jai Shree Ram" as a political war cry has been replaced with "Jai Maa Durga", the Goddess firmly entrenched in Bengal’s cultural ethos. </p>.<p><strong>The M-factor</strong></p>.<p>Around 125 WB constituencies are Muslim-dominated. The TMC has been consistently winning more than 100 of them, giving it a substantial head start in any electoral battle.</p>.<p>In contrast to the 2021 elections, the BJP is trying to avoid a sharp religious polarisation, which has proved counterproductive in a state with more than 30% Muslim votes. The political rhetoric is euphemised with the use of phrases like “outsiders" and "migrants”.</p>.<p>With the Congress and the CPM putting up a half-hearted show, a further consolidation of Muslims votes works to Banerjee's advantage. The only spoilsport could be former TMC minister-turned-rebel Humayun Kabir, who shot to fame by laying the foundation of a Babri Masjid-like mosque. </p>.<p>The cleaning of the electoral rolls in the controversial SIR conducted by the Election Commission is an undetermined factor in this election. </p>.<p><strong>Women voters</strong></p>.<p>The SIR seems to have impacted the male-female voter ratio in West Bengal. In response to a written question in Parliament recently, the Union government admitted a fall in the gender ratio among voters for the first time in more than a decade.</p>.<p>Subject to corrections based on SIR cases under adjudication, the ratio has fallen from 969 to 964 women for every 1,000 men.</p>.<p>Banerjee has assiduously wooed women voters with a slew of schemes entailing direct cash transfer.</p>.<p><strong>Sunil Bansal</strong></p>.<p>The election machinery is being managed by an RSS leader on deputation to the BJP: Sunil Bansal, the party’s national general secretary.</p>.<p>Bansal, who replaced Shiv Prakash, maintains a low profile and is a trusted aide of Amit Shah. He is credited with the BJP’s spectacular rise in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked as the state organisation's general secretary in-charge.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Despite no dearth of resources and high-octane rhetoric, the BJP’s attempts to conquer Fort William and have its first government in West Bengal have so far fallen well short of the halfway mark in the Assembly.</p>.<p>In 2021, its determined push could only take its tally to 77 seats in the House of 294. In terms of vote share, the BJP polled almost 10 percentage points fewer than the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).</p>.<p>In the run-up to the 2026 elections, the BJP seems to have learnt from its mistakes and modified its approach.</p>.<p><strong>Local is Vocal</strong></p>.<p>“Did you see the stage set for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting at Brigade Ground last month? From Dilip Ghosh to Rahul Sinha, only local leaders shared the dais with the PM. Those from outside deputed to manage the elections were sitting in the audience,” said a BJP leader who had defected from the TMC.</p>.<p>This is in sharp contrast to the 2021 elections, when the party's then-state in-charge and Madhya Pradesh minister Kailash Vijayvargiya was calling the shots. The imprint of joint general secretary Shiv Prakash, the RSS pracharak on deputation to the BJP in ticket selection, was all too apparent.</p>.<p>Not that the BJP has not deputed its central leaders to manage Bengal polls this time as well. Union minister Bhupendra Yadav is in charge and travels to the state every weekend. Bihar minister Mangal Pandey regularly visits localities where migrants from UP and Bihar reside.</p>.<p>Among the national leaders, only Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have attacked the TMC leadership. The objective is to provide little room for Mamata Banerjee to reconstruct an "outsider-vs-local" narrative. </p>.<p><strong>Maa, Mati, Manush</strong></p>.<p>BJP leaders have refrained from taking personal swipes at Mamata Banerjee. Statements like “didi-o-didi” are missing from its repertoire. A direct attack on a woman chief minister who chants "Maa, Maati, Maanush (mother, motherland, and its people)" has proved counterproductive.</p>.<p>Instead, the BJP has sought to attack the TMC on the performance of the 15 years of Banerjee's rule. Union Home Minister Amit Shah last week released a chargesheet against the West Bengal government. However, he was very particular in referring to the TMC leader as Mamata ji or Didi while attacking Banerjee.</p>.<p><strong>Cultural nationalism vs subnationalism</strong></p>.<p>“No fish or egg will be available if the BJP comes to power,” the West Bengal CM has warned. The TMC has sought to brand THE BJP and its leaders "cultural outsiderS" to build a narrative around <em>bhadralok</em>-nationalism. From culinary habits to Gods, Banerjee’s party has tried to give another twist to the "local-vs-migrant" divide.</p>.<p>The aggressive and vocal mobiliSation in pockets during Ram Navami celebrations in March, some believed, was limited to addressing core right-wing Hindutva elements. Otherwise, unlike the last Assembly polls, "Jai Shree Ram" as a political war cry has been replaced with "Jai Maa Durga", the Goddess firmly entrenched in Bengal’s cultural ethos. </p>.<p><strong>The M-factor</strong></p>.<p>Around 125 WB constituencies are Muslim-dominated. The TMC has been consistently winning more than 100 of them, giving it a substantial head start in any electoral battle.</p>.<p>In contrast to the 2021 elections, the BJP is trying to avoid a sharp religious polarisation, which has proved counterproductive in a state with more than 30% Muslim votes. The political rhetoric is euphemised with the use of phrases like “outsiders" and "migrants”.</p>.<p>With the Congress and the CPM putting up a half-hearted show, a further consolidation of Muslims votes works to Banerjee's advantage. The only spoilsport could be former TMC minister-turned-rebel Humayun Kabir, who shot to fame by laying the foundation of a Babri Masjid-like mosque. </p>.<p>The cleaning of the electoral rolls in the controversial SIR conducted by the Election Commission is an undetermined factor in this election. </p>.<p><strong>Women voters</strong></p>.<p>The SIR seems to have impacted the male-female voter ratio in West Bengal. In response to a written question in Parliament recently, the Union government admitted a fall in the gender ratio among voters for the first time in more than a decade.</p>.<p>Subject to corrections based on SIR cases under adjudication, the ratio has fallen from 969 to 964 women for every 1,000 men.</p>.<p>Banerjee has assiduously wooed women voters with a slew of schemes entailing direct cash transfer.</p>.<p><strong>Sunil Bansal</strong></p>.<p>The election machinery is being managed by an RSS leader on deputation to the BJP: Sunil Bansal, the party’s national general secretary.</p>.<p>Bansal, who replaced Shiv Prakash, maintains a low profile and is a trusted aide of Amit Shah. He is credited with the BJP’s spectacular rise in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked as the state organisation's general secretary in-charge.</p>