Kamal Ghorui
The resounding victory secured by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the West Bengal Assembly elections has been hard for many to digest. It was only to be expected that Mamata Banerjee, who despite serving as Chief Minister for eleven years, failed to even retain her own Assembly constituency and the “great thinker” Rahul Gandhi would cast doubts upon this victory. However, even many veteran journalists and intellectuals have found themselves unable to stomach this unadulterated success of the BJP, owing to their intense opposition to the party. Some senior journalists even harbor suspicions that there is some sort of ‘foul play’ behind this victory. Driven by a desire to see Mamata Banerjee and her party never defeated, such individuals have chosen to take the path of evading reality. In the modern era, a distinct science of management has emerged regarding the contesting of elections and the achievement of success therein. This discipline encompasses numerous facets. Arvind Kejriwal was the first to successfully demonstrate the practical application of this science.
Contesting elections for the very first time in 2013, Kejriwal and his associates achieved the remarkable feat of coming close to securing a majority in the Delhi Legislative Assembly elections. In the 2015 Assembly elections, they attained record-breaking success by winning 67 out of 70 seats. Neither before that time nor since has anyone in Indian politics achieved such a monumental level of success. Kejriwal’s modern science of election management involved creating a database of voters, formulating strategies based on an understanding of their expectations and needs, and utilizing social media to disseminate his ideology to specific, targeted voter segments. Over the last 10–11 years, the discipline of election management has undergone numerous changes in keeping with the times. Prashant Kishor is regarded as the doyen of this very field of electoral science.
Although Kejriwal secured resounding victories in the Delhi Assembly elections of 2015 and 2020, journalists and intellectuals alike never cast doubt upon the legitimacy of his triumphs. In the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party won all seven seats in Delhi by massive margins. The Delhi Assembly elections were held merely six months after the Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and 2019. However, in the Assembly elections, the voters delivered a massive mandate in favor of the Aam Aadmi Party. At that time, the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party did not reject this mandate.
While directly employing state-of-the-art techniques to connect with voters, the AAP leadership presented them with welfare-oriented programs such as electricity and water bill waivers, Mohalla Clinics, and improvements in the quality of government schools. When BJP opponents adopt these techniques of contesting and winning elections, intellectuals and journalists do not find anything suspicious in those victories. In cricket, video footage of a rival batsman’s previous matches is analyzed to identify their weak points; similarly, the bowling style of a consistently successful bowler is also studied. In the game of elections too, the weaknesses of opposition parties are studied. If the opposition party is in power, issues against that government are identified by gauging public opinion. Accordingly, it becomes possible to understand which issues should be emphasized in election campaigns, which points should be included in the manifesto, and which topics major leaders should speak about in their speeches. Earlier, elections were won on the basis of the personal popularity of the party and the leader. In the 21st century, voters are no longer as naive as before.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is a political party that puts into practice the principle that the organization is paramount. The ‘Panna Samiti’ (Page Committee) at the booth level constitutes a key component of the BJP’s electoral strategy. In 2021, the BJP contested elections in West Bengal with its full might for the very first time. Until then, the presence of the Jana Sangh and subsequently the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal had been merely nominal. As of 2021, the BJP’s organizational structure had not yet extended down to the booth level. Despite this, the Bharatiya Janata Party secured 38 percent of the votes in the 2021 elections. Mamata Banerjee’s party secured 48 percent of the votes in 2021. The Trinamool’s strong-arm tactics exercised with power extending right down to the booth level constituted the primary obstacle to holding elections in a free and open environment. Trinamool village-level workers used to prevent voters from voting.
The situation was no different in urban areas. To ensure that voting took place in a fearless atmosphere, the Election Commission deployed approximately 250,000 personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force for security duty. The immense intimidation exerted by Trinamool workers was significantly curbed thanks to the security cover provided by the central police forces. The record voter turnout, which reached as high as 92 percent, stands as a testament to this fact. In urban and semi-urban areas, the decision to set up polling stations directly within the premises of large housing complexes enabled voters to cast their votes without fear. The behind-the-scenes strategy included deploying teams of workers at every booth, ensuring that the party’s committed votes were cast by 11 or 12 in the morning, and spreading issues against the Trinamool government through WhatsApp groups. Workers from many organizations of the ideological family assisted BJP workers. Seeing the dissatisfaction created by the appeasement of Bangladeshis during Trinamool’s 15-year rule, and the serious challenge it posed to national security, the ideological family deployed all its strength against Trinamool. After the names of infiltrators were removed, Mamata created an uproar.
However, no one could produce proof of Indian citizenship for these infiltrators. Out of the 20 constituencies where a large number of voter names were removed due to “SIR,” Trinamool Congress won 13 constituencies. Mamata, who fiercely attacked the Election Commission, deliberately ignored these figures. In constituencies such as Samserganj, Lalgola, Bhagawangola, Raghunathganj, Metiabruz, Suti, Mothabari, Goalpokhar, Malatipur, Chopra, Sujapur, Rajarhat, and Basirhat, between 8,000 and 80,000 voters were removed. Yet Trinamool Congress won these 13 constituencies with huge margins. The BJP leadership’s strategy was to bring local leaders closer to the electorate by prioritizing Nukkad meetings over large-scale rallies. The rape incident that occurred at a medical college in 2024 completely exposed the true face of the Mamata government. The resentment sparked among women and first-time voters by this incident ultimately translated into a crushing defeat for the Trinamool.
Issues related to Mamata’s misgovernance were continuously impressed upon the minds of the people. The cumulative effect of all these factors culminated in a victory for the BJP. 321 workers have been killed in West Bengal so far. This victory is a tribute to their sacrifice. Union Home Minister Amit Shah camped in West Bengal for fifteen days. He was constantly reaching out to party workers at the booth level. From the war room, he was continuously reviewing the party’s election campaign. It was through a multitude of such small and large initiatives that an atmosphere began to build up against the oppressive tactics of the Trinamool Congress. Journalists and intellectuals opposed to the BJP are undoubtedly aware of all these developments. However, driven by a persistent desire to see the BJP never achieve victory, they remain unwilling to accept the party’s success with an open mind.
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