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West Bengal Assembly Election 2021 - 1

 

Much has been written about BJP’s “saffron surge” in the last Lok Sabha election in West Bengal, which saw the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress face certain reverse.

Earlier, the results of 2016 Assembly election saw the TMC win 211 seats and the Congress 44. The latter’s “tactical ally” CPI(M) won 26, RSP – 3, AIFB – 2 and CPI – 1 assembly seats.

Percentage vote share of major political parties in West Bengal in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections

Three seats each went to BJP and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha while an independent candidate won one.

West Bengal assembly comprises 294 constituencies.

On the other hand, in 2019 Parliamentary polls, without overwhelming support from Muslims, Mamata Banerjee's party could likely have slipped to the number two position.

Out of 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, TMC won 22 and the BJP 18. The Congress managed to retain Baharampur and the Maldaha Dakshin seats.

Political debate over eight-phase assembly elections in West Bengal


In the last Parliamentary election, BJP trailed the TMC by only 3% votes. According to some political analysts, Mamata Banerjee’s party could win more seats with help of 65% of Muslim votes.

Muslims comprise 27% of the state's population. A significant split in this due to the United Front – with Congress, Left and Indian Secular Front of Abbas Siddiqui – joining the fray may not augur well for Mamata.

Though Parliamentary poll result does not necessarily reflect on Vidhan Sabha election outcome, in a highly polarised filed, the chips are slightly in the BJP’s favour – albeit theoretically…

(Featured photograph on top: Courtesy TMC party website/http://aitcofficial.org; BJP photo courtesy party media cell, Congress and Left courtesy Rana Patra)

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