Mamata Banerjee was seeking mandate for the fourth consecutive term while the BJP was trying to replace her with its own government that they are now certain to accomplish by winning 206 seats in the state Assembly elections. Some other players in the fray made elections not only interesting but curious too with AIMIM turning out to be ineffective.

Ishtehar and Sankalp Patra, manifestos of TMC and the BJP respectively were most interesting aspect that made election headlines including questioning Union Home Minister Amit Shah about a purported video showing BJP funding Humayun Kabir to defeat TMC, who is building Babri Mosque in Murshidabad. Kabir has won both the seats he contested on. Shah’s reply on Babri mosque was very curt when he said that the BJP would prefer sitting in opposition for 20 years more than having any tact with a person building a mosque in the name of Babur. The alleged video caused the breaking up of the alliance between Kabir’s Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen which is always accused of being B team of the BJP.

Those who believed that the BJP failed to deal with the theatrics of Mamata Banerjee in the past elections were of the opinion that Kabir’s parting ways with the TMC might be her same game plan which would be disclosed as elections come closer. But all such conjectures fell flat with a landslide victory of the BJP. She attempted to outmanoeuvre the BJP as she did in successive elections like her campaign on wheelchair in 2021 Assembly elections turning the tide in her favour by drawing sympathy for attack on her. But there was no takers this time round. People were questioning that how did the CD reach TMC? She also invoked sub-nationalist Bangla sentiment to drive away voters from the BJP for it being the party of Hindi belt but this time round, it was Hindutva slogan on the lips of Bengalies.

Every political arsenal that TMC had, it was fired by its leaders as all this while the party was focusing mostly on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) who claimed that the BJP in cahoots with Election Commission of India attempted to disfranchise Muslims in West Bengal who largely support the TMC. The matter was even taken to the Supreme Court despite the fact that in earlier decisions, the SC refused to stop the SIR process. The court ruled the same in case of West Bengal but Mamata went on with her signature style of politics by appearing in the SC which was technically not possible however it certainly got media attention. Later her lawyers got doubtful voters to be verified by judicial officers appointed by court and tribunal for final adjudication.

Meanwhile, Assembly elections were announced but SIR were still making headlines in West Bengal when seven judicial officials were held hostage while they were on duty to go through cases with logical discrepancy. This has infuriated the SC which castigated the administration and sought answers from the Chief Secretary and the DGP of the state. This has also not gone down well with the people except a section pampered by the TMC. 

When she kept herself and the party busy on the SIR and other emotive issues most of which have become stale for voters for being repeated in every poll, the TMC was targeted by the BJP on issues that were pinching people of the state for long. The issue of demographic change coupled with infiltration campaign was acknowledged by people as a genuine issue plaguing the state. They are losing jobs, land, resources and peace for riots happening every now and then. Even local Muslims have started complaining about losing jobs to Bangladeshi which are security threats too with many arrests.

The state is at the bottom in most of the economic parameters and it is nowhere in competition with big states forget about Gujarat that the TMC leadership hates the most. West Bengal is still giving sixth pay commission to its employees that the BJP offers in its manifesto to give seventh in 45 days after it forms the government. The DA of state employees was released on court orders. The rate of migration of West Bengal people is no less than Bihar. Most of the households in Delhi-NCR and other big cities have Bangla-speaking house help and in other menial works. Bangladeshis hide behind them bringing disrepute to West Bengal for their illegal activities.

Issues like Bengali versus Gujarati that was raised by Mahua Moitra and comments like people of UP will impact West Bengal elections by the CM appeared more of a double speak than laced with facts. If there is so much hate for Gujarat, why was Yusuf Pathan was fielded against Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. TMC MPs Kirti Azad and Shatrughan Sinha are from Bihar. Former Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhle is a Marathi, Menaka Guruswamy is from Andhra/Telangana and Rajeev Kumar, former West Bengal DGP, belongs to Uttar Pradesh. Moitra, who always stokes controversy, is unaware about Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Acharya Kripalani that they were from Gujarat. Mahadev Desai, secretary of Gandhi, translated works of Sharad Chand Chattopadhyay and Ravindranath Tagore from Bengali to Gujarati. Her statements have harmed more than helped because these issues were taken up by the opposition.

But there is something that media and social media was unable to cover in real time and that was the work of the RSS on ground which started to burst the exclusivist narrative of the TMC with their inclusive one. A big number of RSS workers were sent even in the rural areas and some even had life threats. The narrative of TMC telling people of West Bengal that they are different from being Shakti worshippers unlike vegetarian Vaishnava who worship Lord Ram. Interestingly one of the most celebrated saints Ram Krishna Paramhans started the Ramakrishna Mission who was nicknamed Gadadhar (Lord Hanuman) Chattopadhyay. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is Lord Krishna worshipper and respected all across.

Meanwhile, credibility of Mamata nosedived for her theatrics, optics and spreading lies that was being fact checked every day. She miserably failed on law and order front with likes of R G Kar, Shahjahan Sheikh incidents, attack on central forces and I-PAC incident causing constitutional crisis. She relied more on Muslim appeasement than working for the welfare of people which alienated Hindus for taking them for granted. With Muslim appeasement reaching saturation in West Bengal and Muslims with ‘Ye Dil Mange More’ attitude, Mamata, left with little more to offer to Muslims, started speaking the language of veiled threat that what would happen to Hindus if she is out of power. 

With around 91 lakh voters deleted after SIR and difference of votes between BJP and TMC in 2021 Assembly election being around 60 lakhs, the TMC was not only clueless, desperate but confused about how to deal with so many issues. People were also speaking that Bengal failed to deal with pre-poll, during the poll and post-polls violence. So, TMC was talking about the Iran War, India’s foreign policy, impeachment of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, problems in other states especially BJP-ruled states instead of West Bengal. The state does not have money to offer anything to people is a reality. So, a confused campaign of Mamata Banerjee with a campaign of clarity of the BJP has done the trick for saffron camp.