TMC’s Mamata Banerjee leads in West Bengal with 25 seats, defying exit polls. Her mass following and doorstep delivery scheme boost her government’s perception.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) president and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has held her own in the eastern province, with her party leading in 25 of the state’s 42 seats, bucking predictions by exit polls that showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning a majority of the state.
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Early trends showed that the TMC was doing well in all regions except north Bengal, which has been a BJP bastion for the last two Lok Sabha election cycles – 2014 and 2019. The TMC won 22 seats in 2019, the BJP 18 and the Congress two.
Banerjee held over 150 rallies and walked through the streets of Kolkata and several urban areas, claiming that the BJP was trying to divide the people by creating Hindu-Muslim divide.
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Banerjee since 2021 assembly polls, when the BJP performed much better than expected, has been holding administrative meetings at districts regularly and sorting out people’s grievances. Her government’s doorstep delivery scheme has also helped in improving perception of her government in the state.
It appears that the Banerjee charge against the Central government that it had denied funds to the state on “flimsy” grounds had struck a chord with the people, experts say. Despite the BJP trying to project her as corrupt, she turned around the narrative on the BJP discriminating against the people of Bengal.
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Experts also point out that the results clearly show that Banerjee’s mass following still continues and she remains the state’s tallest leader. It also underscores the TMC’s ground presence as compared to the BJP.
What appears to have helped her is the Left and Congress alliance eating into anti-incumbency votes by getting close to 11% votes as compared to 37% for the BJP. TMC has so far received 47% votes.
