How did TMC register a big victory in 2021 and why was BJP left behind, why did Delhi’s stake fade in front of Didi?

Results 2021 Analysis: The year 2021 assembly elections were very important in the politics of West Bengal. This was not just a state election but was seen as the biggest political riot in the entire country. On one hand, Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress was struggling to save its power, while on the other hand, Bharatiya Janata Party had thrown its entire power into the land of Bengal.

The slogan of Didi vs Delhi was echoing in the entire election atmosphere and everyone’s eyes were fixed on the results of Kolkata. When the results came out, they not only surprised political pundits but also set a new direction for Bengal politics. In this election, BJP had made a big dent in the fort of TMC.

The magic of Bengali identity and Mamta’s charisma worked

Mamata Banerjee had centered this entire election around her personal credibility and popularity. She very effectively presented herself as the daughter of Bengal which created a deep emotional connect among the common voters. Despite the injury sustained during the election campaign in Nandigram, his picture of campaigning in a wheelchair played a big role in garnering public sympathy.

Trinamool Congress had very cleverly made this fight an issue of outsider versus Bengali identity. Slogans like Khela Hobe strongly connected the local youth and common voters with the party, thereby reducing the BJP’s identity as an outsider party.

Popular welfare schemes became panacea

The public welfare schemes run by the Trinamool Congress in the last few years also played a major role in the massive victory of the Trinamool Congress. Schemes like Kanyashree and Roopashree had brought direct change in the lives of women of the state. Apart from this, the Sabuj Sathi Cycle Scheme launched for students had further deepened the reach of the party in rural areas.

This was the reason that during the elections, women voters ignored all the claims and voted enthusiastically in favor of Mamata Banerjee. At the same time, a large section of Muslim voters also completely united in favor of Trinamool Congress, which stopped the scattering of opposition votes. Trinamool’s strong grassroots organization and the hold of workers at the booth level appeared to be overpowering the BJP’s election machinery.

Lack of local face became a lesson for BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party had put everything at stake in this great battle of Bengal but some strategic shortcomings cost them dearly. Despite vigorous campaigning by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, the party did not have any strong face at the state level who could compete with the personality of Mamata Banerjee. The entire campaign of BJP mainly revolved around the central leadership due to which national issues became more dominant than local issues.

Also read: ‘BJP’s maze in Mamata’s strongest fort, will Didi be able to save Bhawanipur?

The party expressed excessive trust in the leaders from other parties, which led to internal dissatisfaction among its old workers. The irregularities in candidate selection and the Hindutva narrative clashing with Bengal’s own local identity proved detrimental for the BJP. Shuvendu Adhikari’s efforts had given a big lead to BJP.

Increase in vote share, BJP is less in seats.

If we talk about statistics, BJP’s performance was not completely disappointing as the party’s vote share had reached a respectable level of around 38 percent. This was a huge leap compared to 2016, but the party was not completely successful in converting this public support into seats.

Trinamool Congress returned to power with a huge majority of 213 seats by securing about 48 percent votes. BJP was reduced to only 77 seats while Congress and Left parties were almost wiped out. This election clearly teaches that the real key to power in Bengal lies in local connectivity and accountability to the public. Now the big question for the next war of 2026 remains whether BJP will make any fundamental changes in its strategy.