IN A mandate as sweeping as it is symbolic, the BJP on Monday scripted history by winning 202 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal Assembly polls, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule, and decisively shifting the State’s ideological and political centre of gravity. The verdict acquired added political drama and symbolic heft as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was defeated in the prestigious Bhabanipur seat by BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, capping a stunning turnaround after initial trends appeared to favour the TMC supremo. What began as tentative early leads soon hardened into a decisive wave, with the BJP winning 202 seats and leading in five, while the TMC trailed far behind, managing to win 73 and leading in eight seats, according to Election Commission data at 11.10 pm. The scale, spread and speed of the BJP surge -breaching the halfway mark of 148 in the 294-member House well before counting reached its midpoint- The scale of the surge, as the BJP breached the halfway mark of 148 in the 294-member Assembly well before counting reached its midpoint, hinted not just at a change of guard, but also to a structural shift in Bengal’s political landscape.

 

The BJP’s vote share rising to around 45 per cent from 38 per cent in 2021 marks both consolidation and expansion, while the TMC’s dip to nearly 40.94 per cent from 48 per cent in the last Assembly polls reflects erosion across segments that anchored its sweep five years ago. BJP looted over 100 seats, we will bounce back: Mamata: TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed the BJP’s landslide victory in the state polls “immoral” and alleged that the mandate in more than 100 seats was “looted”. “We will bounce back,” she said while walking out of the counting centre at her Bhabanipur Assembly constituency. A visibly distraught Banerjee told reporters that the BJP’s victory was “immoral”. “They have looted more than 100 seats,” she alleged. The TMC supremo alleged that the “EC’s activities with the help of central forces in connivance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were illegal”.

 

Alleging that she received flak “for speaking out against the EC’s malpractices”, the TMC supremo said, “I lodged a complaint with Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, but to no avail.” “The CCTV was switched off while our agents were not allowed to be inside the counting centre,” she claimed. There was no immediate response from the Election Commission or the BJP to the allegations.